Closer to Heaven! Am I alone?

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:34am

OK while I'm not a Broadway snob, I hope anyway (I took my 7 year old to a tour of Cats this past week for crying out loud--and enjoyed it) I do sometimes show some snobby sensibilities... Sondheim, Fosse, Bennett are Gods, nearly everyone else is below them, I love LaChiusa, etc etc. :P

But I am a huge Pet Shop Boys fan (and as any Boys fan nows of course when it comes to dance/pop you can't get more intelligent than them). Havign enarly everything from them for years, seeing their great tour last year, etc, I only recently finally got their musical Closer to Heaven. I always knew about it but was nervous to actually buy it--terrible reviews, I'm not a big fan of playwright John Harvey who wrote the script, I didn't like Taboo which it's always lumped in with, and while I knew the Boys were huge musical theatre fans (both of classics and of Sondheim)

I already knew a few numbers from the score of course as they've covered them on their albums (or else the show covered them in the case of Shameless-an old bside of theirs) and I had downloaded, and loved the full 8 minute opening number which they had for free on their website (and is annoying edited to a much les sinteresting 3 minutes on the CD--inexplicably as there is room). Anyway... I absolutely love it.

Now I admit from the very little video clips, pictures and bits of script I can find it was very flawed. I think the basic story is too cliched probably--but it's amazing to read how hateful a good deal of the London press was (to be fair 1 or 2 critics loved it)--one major paper critic actually said something to the extent that promiscuous homosexuals didn't deserve to be characters on the West End which is a bit insane.

WHat I do really appreciate about the score though is it's true to the story and the drama/character but also true to the Boys sound. It's a true pop musical in a way that is rarely done well--IMHo it's a real theatre score while it doesn't sacrifice what makes people love the Pet Shop Boys in the first place...

So--am I alone here? Anyone else think this is a severely underated score/show?

[devonian.t]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:30am

Although it has its dodgy moments, it's a very strong score. The musical supervision/ arrangement on the show was excellent. I really thought it would last longer.

Most annoyingly, the critics seem to have nipped in the bud the potential of a composing team with a genuine interest in the musical form. I hope the PSB's do return to writing another musical again one day.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:51am

I have it and played it once. I really don't recall much of it, but I'll have to revisit it now.

[matty159]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 12:23pm

Funny...I was just thinking about this show yesterday and how much I loved the disc. It was one that I kept in fairly constant rotation...so yeah, I definitely agree that the score was underated. Sadly, when my car was broken into a while back, that was one of the few discs taken (only in Richmond VA, folks, only in Richmond). I am now inspired to track down a copy. Thanks for that!

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 2:06pm

i enjoy the score. paul keating, who starred in it, recently did an interview saying that the big problem with the show was that they did only one workshop (and it needed a few more).

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 2:13pm

I watched this in London and have to say it was awful , it didnt seem to have a clue what it was doing.

The music was average at best.

[fossemoves]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 2:18pm

The music itself is lovely. I didn't see the production so I can't comment, but I'm surprised a commmodity like this doesn't tour. It surely would sell, no?

Additionally, are rights available for it? I can't think of any regional companies who've done it?

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 2:34pm

Did this show actually play in the states?

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 3:34pm

OHMYGOSH! total guilty pleasure! I LOVE this show. I never saw it, but i have the album which i play whenever I'm feeling down! talk about awesome,cheesy, pet shop boys at their finest! i dig it to the max!

who can forget that instant classic 9 out of 10

*techno music*
*sexual groaning*
GIRL: this is great
*sexual groaning*
BOY: I'm straight!

Posted: 4/9/07 at 7:24pm

Yeah one thing I didn't realize was even the London small scale production was seen (so say the Boys now) as something of a workshop with the hopes of opening it bigger later. I always thought it was a flop but apparantly officially it ran its intended run (but of course then had no afterlife). The reeviews are inane though--in some ways they remind me of how 60s critics complained of Cabaret that it was questionable to put such morally bankrupt characters on stage, etc--which is beyond the point.

Actually both Chris nad Neil have said they'd liek to work on another musical so the experience didn't turn them off at all (I'm more shocked by the playwright, Jonathan's response--at the time he said it was probably the best thing he's written, now recently he has said it's probably the worse thing he's written--this coming from the man who was recently writing Coronation Street--no offence to Corrie fans. Like I said I'm not a big fan of his though--Beautiful Things is probably his best work and it's overated IMHO).

I dunno what the status is for the show rights wise though I know it had a successful Australia proudction either last year or two years back--I wonder if it's been performed ANYWHERE in the US. Another thing some British critics said the boys should just have done a jukebox musical--I'm SOO glad they didn't

Yeah the score is wonderfully cheasy in bits but I think even there it's partly on purpose--they're too smart for that. Has Keating done anything else? i love his voice.

Oh and I have the full 9 minutes opening My Night that they hosted on their website for 3 years which isn't on the CD if anyoen needs it--they've given the OK to distribute it between fans

Songanddanceman maybe the music didn't work on stage but it's pretty great on CD--then again you have to like that kinda music (going back to my comment about it being a true pop musical true to the composers--it woul dbe like someone who hates Bacharach complaining about the Promises score)

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:33pm

It is good on CD, but I remember looking back on some reviews that were quite scathing. Anyone know what theatre did it play?

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 9:51pm

It played at the Arts theatre in London

It ran from May to October and the critics hated it.

I do have the cd (i must admit a few songs are fun) but i just remember the show been horrid.I also remember that when i went to see it the theatre was half empty.

Its a shame because i LOVE the pet shop boys and was hoping so much that it would work.

Also the show only played to full houses for a few months(mainly the gay community in London who went back several times but the audiences fell away very quickly.

I dont think the sept 11th attacks helped either as tourism in London fell away.

Updated On: 4/9/07 at 09:51 PM

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:25am

The Sep attacks were a part though I dont' wanna pretend I think it coulda been a hit--from the little of the libretto I've read it was a mess.

but I think the score is beyond solid or "fun"-0-I think it's very good--and regardless I do think the attacks on the very idea of the Boys making a musical were realy ill grounded. (it probablya lso needed a better director--the woman who did it has since done their subsequent tours, which i've foudn great and very theatrical but she started off in experimental design--not too ideal for a musical play) I found a scaterring of review quotes but nothing solid:


"All this campy farrago really proves is that the boy-meets-boy musical can be every bit as self-regarding and sentimental as its straight counterpart."

– Michael Billington, London Guardian

"Here's a lyric for you, Neil: 'I love you/you've produced a show that's possibly even worse than Rent.'"

– Christian Ward, NME.com

"A terrible mess—tacky and tasteless when it isn't being quite nauseatingly sentimental…. I fear that this show is closer to closure than it is to heaven."

– Charles Spencer, London Telegraph

"The overwhelming impression was of watching a version of The Wizard of Oz in which Dorothy introduced the Munchkins to smack, burnt Oz to the ground, and then tried to cheer everyone up by singing 'I Will Survive.'"

– Caitlin Moran, London Times

"I thought it was absolutely brilliant…. It was one of the most incredible nights I have had at the theatre for a long time."

– A completely unbiased Elton John, as reported by the Associated Press

"It's better than a lot of musicals I have seen."

– A perhaps not totally unbiased and possibly equivocating Andrew Lloyd Webber (the show's primary backer), as reported by Reuters

"I have worked with them so it is hard for me to be objective…. I thought it was fabulous. I enjoyed it."

– An admittedly biased but nonetheless quite believable Boy George, also as reported by Reuters

"The best thing about it is the music, ranging from pumping, high-energy disco to enjoyably maudlin ballads…."

– Charles Spencer, London Telegraph, who otherwise pretty much hated it (see above)

"It delivers its tat with fervour, and its giftedness lightly: the music is better, the rhymes sharper than most of what cruises round the West End. It's essence of camp."

– Susannah Clapp, Observer

"Stomping disco, clattering synths, Sondheimesque wordplay, complex vocal harmony, moments of almost chamber-like intimacy and intricacy: all confirm the impression of a duo more than equipped for the task of writing for the stage."

– The Sunday Times, singling out the Boys' music for particular praise in a generally glowing review

"All that's really wrong with the show comes down to theatrical inexperience, which could easily be fixed if the Boys are not now too discouraged to try again. If they are, we will have killed off at birth one of the few really intriguing breakthroughs in the contemporary British stage musical."

– Sheridan Morley, International Herald Tribune, in an article titled "Give the Pet Shop Boys a Break"

"In short: sometimes I thought that Closer to Heaven was the worst new musical I'd seen in more than a year, and sometimes I thought it was the best."

– The critic for the Financial Times Tribune, encapsulating the show's mixed critical reception

I wish I could find the one (I think it was another Spectator review) that went on about how these people had no place being on West End stages--degenerate characters etc

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/10/07 at 12:45am

oh the score had some totally ravishing moments. but it was filled with equally as cheesy moments. Hence- I LOVE IT! i only wish i coulda seen it live. for a while, they had the full 9 minute opening on youtube. it has dissapeared though

Posted: 4/10/07 at 1:16am

Wha? there's a clip of the opening? i'd kill to see this--anyoen still have it? I'm surprised at the lack of clips considering how anal PSBoys fans are...

I know what you mean by cheay I just think songs like 8 out of 10 are MEANT to be cheasy--it's not like Wildhorn cheasy

E

Posted: 4/10/07 at 8:51pm

Bump *grin*

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/12/07 at 5:46pm

"I lost Billie's drugs... now she'll have my kneecaps."

gotta love. Also, if you think about it- some of Taboo's score/number idea/number placement almost identically matches Closer to Heavens. they both open with a flamboyant narrator figure and have these indtroductary songs etc etc.

i actually did think about this really hard once and came up with ALL these parallels. it was a little frightening.

anyway, i just adore this show

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/12/07 at 6:01pm

I saw it and hated it. The characters were all rather 2-dimensional and completely unlikeable with Billie Trix being the shining beacon of wit and style in a desert of soulless mediocrity and cliches. I didn't care what happened to any of them. The score had a couple of standout numbers, but like the catalogue of the Pet Shop Boys was largely monotonous in tone and style. Yes, it was a small show, but the sets were rather cheap, the choreography basic and sloppily executed.

The only remarkable memory of that show was meeting Sandra Bernhardt and her girlfriend (very embarrassing story). They loved it. Sandra dubbed it "fabulous".

Posted: 4/12/07 at 6:42pm

From what I've read and heard of the script you're probably right--as for the score though, I don't find that at all.

ANyone who thinsk the PSBoys work is monotnous in tone and style obviously has never givenany fo their albusm a serious listen just their hit singles--Neil's vocals *can* be I agree but the sogns and productions themselves--and themes of--far far from

Caroline I think the Taboo comparisons (and there ar elots I agree0 actually hurt Closer in the end. I still would love to be abel to see that UK only DVD of Taboo though--my curiousity is high
Updated On: 4/12/07 at 06:42 PM

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/12/07 at 6:46pm

I actually think Closer to Heaven came before Taboo! I didn't get to see Closer to Heaven, but i DID see Taboo in London. it was fantastic.

Posted: 4/12/07 at 8:47pm

Yeah I only knwo the NEw York Taboo which is a mess but I'd love to see that DVD of theoriginal London

Boy George was a fan of Heaven... interesting... What I meant by hurt is I meant future chances for Heaven--they seem to be intermingled in peoples minds

Posted: 4/13/07 at 8:47am

It always amazes me that there isn't aq cult following--if you compare the often shockingly great lyrics of Closer to Heaven to, say Dean Pitchford's REALLY clumsy attempt at mixing pop lyrics with theatre lyrics with the often praised Carrie (a score I like--chease and all but the lyrics are a mess) there's no comparison--for one example


Problems with the book (is this another example of blame the book *grin*) aside I honestly think that the score proves that the Boys had what it took to use what made their music work so well as pop--and keep that while making it work for theatre, the way say Bacharach and David did for Promises Promises (oh boy I did just compare the two :P) and something that is often missing when pop composers have in the past tried Broadway shows Updated On: 4/13/07 at 08:47 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/13/07 at 10:46am

"ANyone who thinsk the PSBoys work is monotnous in tone and style obviously has never givenany fo their albusm a serious listen just their hit singles"

I've listened to all their albums and the majority of their original material sounds very much the same in tone, style and sound. It was their unique and innovative sound that rocketed them to fame in the 80s, which has remained firmly in place over the years. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just not my thing. Fans of the Pet Shop Boys will undoubtedly love the score unconditionally and that's great. It's not a bad score, but it's not a good score either. The score was, however, the strongest element of the show, for what it's worth. The CD comes across much better than what actually appeared on stage.

Closer to Heaven was produced in 2001. Taboo was produced in 2002. Both played at The Venue.

[goldes]

Posted: 4/13/07 at 11:15am

Closer to Heaven was at the Arts theatre. Taboo opened The Venue.

Both shows had a lot on common. If I remember correctly, Paul Keating had done a workshop of Taboo before Closer to Heaven. Boy George suggested him to the PSB for Closer. And David Burt was in Closer, and then also appeared in Taboo.

Both were trying to accomplish the same thing - a modern musical that would appeal to a younger generation, and that used pop music rather than the traditional Broadway sound. Both resisted being jukebox musicals (though did use a small number of pre-existing songs not originally written for the project).

I saw C2H in previews. Loved the opening, but felt it went downhill from there. I remember standing outside the theatre during intervals. Neil Tennant was there, chatting to the director. As a fan, I would have loved to speak to him. But as I wasn't enjoying the show - felt it would be the wrong time! The second half didn't end change my mind, though there were some good points throughout.

I always regretted not going back to see if the show had improved. I've grown to love the CD, and think the show could work. I don't blame the book - I blame the director. The PSB are always try to make something artistic, when for this endeavour they probably needed a director who could help make it more commercial.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/13/07 at 11:28am

I could have sworn I saw Closer to Heaven at The Venue, but you're right, it was the Arts. My bad.

I do remember I wanted the wonderful Billie Trix T-shirt, but it was sold out when I went back to purchase it.