London's Marguerite to Shutter Early

Before I had even had a chance to craft a single blog post about it, the London production of Marguerite has posted a premature closing notice. The new musical with music by Michel Legrand (Amour), lyrics by Herb Kretzmer (Les MIserables), and a book by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil (Les Miserables, Miss Saigon), opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in May, and was originally scheduled to run until November 1st. But now the show will shutter September 13th, nearly two months early. 

The show received lukewarm reviews, and apparently struggled considerably at the box office, despite the brand-name slate of creators and a cast led by London favorite Ruthie Henshall in the title role. 

Perhaps the problem was the subject matter: Marguerite is based on La Dame Aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas (fils), a work better known to much of the world as the 1936 film "Camille," starring Greta Garbo. And...um...it's a bit of a downer. I mean, we're talking depressing, Tosca-like downer here, not cathartic, uplifting, Les Miz type downer. Nazi assassination plots, heroines dying of consumption, that sort of thing. The show produced a cast recording, but future productions would seem unlikely at present.

Marguerite represents yet another in a line of unsuccessful attempts by Schönberg and Boublil to recapture the ol' Les Mis/Miss Saigon magic. Martin Guerre failed to find an audience, despite numerous attempts on the part of producer Cameron Mackintosh to whip the show into shape. And The Pirate Queen, the last S&B musical to date to open in New York, was painfully, wretchedly, horribly, almost irredeemably bad. (Stephanie J. Block was terrific in the title role. Read my review here.)

But then, S&B could surely retire on the Les Mis royalties alone, so it's not as though they have to make money. Maybe that's the problem: they're not hungry anymore. Andrew Lloyd Webber hasn't really done anything financially successful since Phantom. Perhaps they should all give away their multiple millions, remind themselves of what it's like to be a starving artist, and tap into their inner recesses of creativity. Because, despite the knee-jerk dismissal that their shows invoke from bitchy theater queens (present company included), their shows don't completely suck.

Just mostly.

Comments

[Hula Hank]

I so totally hate them!

[Scot Colford]

Poop. I was just in London and waffled about seeing this because of the reviews, but now I'm annoyed at myself for not having seen it. Not that I think I'd like it. But just to say I had. Still... the guys at Dress Circle were talking about how ballad heavy it was and I might have slept through the whole of my half-price ticket...

[chris caggiano]

Scot: Yeah, I hear you. For me, there's no wasted night in the theater. I cherish the bombs as much as the hits. Every production I see adds to my theater education, and means that I can blog about it, and tell my fictitious grandchildren "I was there when..."

Even Lestat.

[Joseph Gomez]

"...despite the knee-jerk dismissal that their shows invoke from bitchy theater queens (present company included), their shows don't completely suck.

Just mostly."

Ha... That's comedy gold. I wish I had written that.

[CK]

I saw it and found it to be pretty laughably bad. The music was just flat out mediocre...only one time did I ever perk up and think something was interesting. The best part was when Ruthie's Nazi lover FINGERED HER on stage. Not to mention when all of her friends cut off her hair and turn on her as she is dying at the end. Seriously.

[Justin]

Chris what was the absolute worst broadway show you have ever seen?

[chris caggiano]

Justin: This may seem like a cop-out, but I really don't think I could pick a worst. Check out my list of the shows that suck for a good idea of the dreck I've sat through. But here's a sampling:

The Most Boring: Lestat

The Biggest Waste of Talent: Lovemusik

Worst Show I Flew to Chicago to See: Victor/Victoria

My First Flop: Roza

The Most Inexplicably Popular Abomination: Jekyll & Hyde

Worst Off-Broadway Monstrosity: Frankenstein

Worst Premise: Into the Light (based on the scientific verification of the Shroud of Turin)

Worst Lyric: Into the Light ("Science without the data is like Christ without the stigmata.")

Least Funny Intentional Camp-fest: Evil Dead

Biggest Disappointment: Big

Worst Riverdance Wannabe: The Pirate Queen

Worst Waste of a Promising Property: High Fidelity

The Flop I Really Wish I Saw Live: Carrie

Worst Night in a London Theater: Mutiny

Worst Blockbuster That Everyone Else Seems to Love: Billy Elliot

Worst Bloated Disney Monolith: Mary Poppins

Worst Excuse for an Andrew Lloyd Webber Show: Starlight Express

Most Cynical and Talentless Recycling of an Unworthy Property: Happy Days

[Kathy]

Hi Chris,

I just finished reading the Dumas fils novel this was based on, and I don't think it was written as a downer - social commentary, yes. And I don't feel down at the end of Verdi's opera either. So it must be something in the musical writing, book for the play, or the cast that gives this impression for the musical. Still it would be interesting to see it to compare with other incarnations.

[chris caggiano]

I guess "downer" is a relative term. There's something about a heroine throwing herself off the battlement that seems to lower my mood a tad. ;-)

[Justin]

thanks Chris for your answers!

[SarahB]

Camille...Duh! I've been listening to the cast recording and I'm sort of taken with it. Without doing any research at all, I kept think that it felt like a familiar story...voila! Of course, Camille, and La Traviata, and Moulin Rouge. I'm sorry it's closing early. It just seems so hard to get interesting new works (in this case new-ish I guess) going - it's rather depressing isn't it?