10 shows that closed too soon...

The 2006 Broadway revival production of A Chorus Line was brought over to London's West End in February 2013 and it had previously been announced that the show would only play a limited run at the London Palladium. After receiving numerous 4 ad 5 star reviews and being named 'Timless and Thrilling' by the Dail Mail the show closed the following August after previously booking until January 2014. The show takes a behind-the-scenes look at 17 hopefuls auditioning for just eight places in a new Broadway musical, it has a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Date, with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban. The production will reportedly embark on a European tour before returning to the UK for a tour "beginning in autumn 2014".

Cameron Mackintosh's first original musical in over a decade was Betty Blue Eyes, opening at the Novello Theatre in April 2011 but closed the following September. The show is set in a Yorkshire village after the Second World War, where rationing presents a challenge for the locals who want to celebrate the Queen's Royal wedding to Prince Philip in style. Looking to slaughter an illegally raised pig (a blue-eyed creature named Betty) for the event, chaos ensues when the sow is stolen and a food inspector arrives, determined to stop such activities. The musical features a book by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman with music and lyrics by  George Stile and Anthony Drewe. The show is currently touring the UK. 

Review of VIVA FOREVER post changes

*WARNING: If you haven't seen the show, be warned that there may be spoilers in this review. 

Viva Forever! opened in December at the Piccadilly Theatre and opened to negative reviews, everyone seemed to hate this production! I for one actually enjoyed the show when I saw it; I honestly thought it was fun. It’s not a National Production, so I have no idea what people are expecting when they go and see this show! Admittedly, it was far from perfect and it needed to be revised but it wasn’t as bad as people have said. People just seem to be going in with a bad attitude. 

For those of you that don't know (where have you been?!) the show has been adapted since opening, script re-writes have been made, songs have been cut/added in, scenes have been mixed up and the show as a whole as a hell of a lot better. It’s still a tacky, Friday night show that is purely a good time but it’s now a lot tighter than before. First things first, the fact that Viva is adopted isn’t such a huge thing anymore. It is brought up and tried to use as a story to get her in the newspapers when they go to Spain but it’s not a big deal and genuinely comes as a surprise to the audience. 

Viva Forever the Musical: Theatre Review

After the world-wide success of the hit musical Mamma Mia! it was a given that producer Judy Graymer would take on another juke-box musical. She teamed up with Geri Halliwell and Simon Fuller to develop a new musical using the songs of the Spice Girls entitled Viva Forever. The show has been approached in a similar way to that of Mamma Mia. The production opened in the West End on the 11^th December 2012 at the Piccadilly Theatre to mainly negative reviews. Just over a month after it opened I went along to see it, I wasn’t expecting anything. In fact I was ready to hate the production. But I told myself I wouldn’t go in with any expectations or go in wanting to dislike the show and I actually had a great time! The show follows Viva on her journey to stardom through an X-Factor style reality TV show. She originally auditions with her 3 best friends as a girl group but she is singled out and decides to follow her dream on her own. Within the show you also see Viva’s mother coming to terms with what her daughter wants in life. If you break down the story it is basically Mamma Mia but more topical. What you see on stage in Viva Forever is going to be something that a modern audience is going to recognise, they use the reality TV show really well in this show.