I read an interview he gave shortly after the 1991 French production of
Les Miserables closed in the Spring of '92, after having opened at the Theatre Mogodor in Paris that last October. He was obviously upset, having lost a lot of money on that mounting, of what at the time seemed like a sure bet. The show had been a wild success in every country. It didn't matter if the acclaimed Broadway/London production and staging were used or not, the show sold-out and audiences the world over loved it...
...except the French.
It's not so much they didn't like it; in fact, it was met with excellent reviews and an enthusiastic local audience reception but sales fizzled out soon after and the production struggled. Of all the so-called "mega-musicals," Les Mis is the least expensive at only 4.5 million (original production) to mount. Regardless, it didn't make back its investment and it closed early, leaving Mackintosh reeling from the money he lost after making so much worldwide.
I do not recall him using "aberration" in describing France as a destination for musicals but I wouldn't blame him if he did as, to date, that is the only country where the show has lost a significant amount of money. It could be the story is so well known there, it was initially celebrated due to its international success and for simply being a national treasure in its original novel, but people obviously did not bother sitting through it and attendance suffered. Take that with a grain of salt as I don't have stats or other objective criteria and only using France's known aversion to musical theatre, although I believe it's changing and musicals have found success there since.
I know
Sweeney Todd was recently staged there, in a production that looked awesome judging by photos.
Show Boat has also recently been staged in France, although I'm not sure if any of those were performed in French. The new, craptastic 25th ann. reduction of a production of Les Mis (DREAM THE DREAM!!!!) played Paris for a few weeks and I did not hear of Mackintosh tipping over with hand over his chest so I guess it made some money. The new version costs about 2/3 of the cost of the original (and it shows) yet travels in 10 semis, whereas the original traveled in 8.
I've seen both and I don't get how the 25th ann. abortion could possibly take up more truck space since the original is a LOT more lavish and complex, not to mention larger in scale and far, far more technically advanced despite its age. I guess movie scrims and projectors and age-old scenery change techniques requiring that big-ass wall of shutters to conceal set changes just takes up that much more space. Awww, innovation these days. *eyeroll*
Don't be upset with uncle Mack for allegedly calling France an "aberration", Lorenzana, my friend. He had already said when the idea of adapting Les Mis was first brought to his attention, the first thing he thought was "Hmmm. 'Les Miserables,' a French musical; sounds like a contradiction in terms." I had never heard the use of "contradiction in terms" when I first heard him say that as a kid and understood it to mean an oxymoron, or something. Unlike today, the Mack of yesteryear was reasonable in feeling butthurt over the failure of his French Les Mis. Nothing he does these days is reasonable. Ah, well. Dream the effing dream, I guess.
Hope this halped!
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
