Gone With the Wind to close

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 6:49pm

Playbill.com article

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 6:50pm

Shame.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 6:55pm

Man, I would have loved to have seen this.

[achangeinme]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 6:56pm

I'm so sad that this musical didn't turn out! GWTW is my all time favorite movie, book and story in general. I prayed for a musical for years (partly in hope I could someday play Scarlett, ha!) and I was so excited that it was happening. Jill Paice is just wonderful. I was devastated when I heard that people were saying the music was contrived and forgettable.

Did anyone get a chance to see it/listen to any tracks? Was it really as bad as it was being made out to be?

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 6:57pm

Found out about this earlier today but couldnt say anything until the announcement

A truly hiddeous show with very little redeeming aspects.
It now joins Desperately Seeking Susan as one of the fastest closing 'Big' musicals in the past few years

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:00pm

Bryan

We need you to campaign for a cast album of GWTW.

[bestinshow2]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:01pm

Oh, I should go see this before it goes

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:03pm

You really shouldn't see it, its the most mind numbingly boring musical on the planet

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:07pm

The 70's version hung around in london for about 10 months I think

It tried to make a go of it on the West Coast but quickly closed.

[winston89]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:08pm

When I heard of this show comming to be I wondered how they could do that and do it well. Turnes out that they could do it. But, they clearly couldn't do well at all.

I feel bad for Jill because she is such an amazing performer and VERY VERY nice. I had a nice time meeting her at the stage door of curtians awhile back.

Considering that she has an equel number of Broadway and West End credits ( Curtians and women in white on Broadway. Women in White and Gone With the Wind in London) she finds something tro do somewhere.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:15pm

I think the person who stands to gain from this will be Darius who turned out to be a bit of a revelation in the show

The 70s production played just under a year at Drury Lane, the show was playing to a half empty house for the most part but some coach parties kept it limping along.It lost all its investment

[achangeinme]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:15pm

I'm with you about Jill! She is so talented, and seems very genuinely nice. Hopefully, the next show she is cast in will be a true "breakthrough" role that will give her widespread recognition. IMO, she deserves it.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:24pm

Campaigning for a cast recording to be made is redundant as the show is closing at a colossal financial loss to its investors. Cast recordings cost money. Money the producers provide. Wise producers don't like to lose more money, which explains why numerous shows (and revivals) went unrecorded when they closed quickly. Yes, there are the exeptions (THE PIRATE QUEEN, HIGH FIDELITY, etc.), but most can't afford to lose more money.

If you want a cast recording, then YOU provide the funds to do so or locate a wealthy investor who'll provide the funds to do so. If you contact the producers of the show and inform them that you found an investor, I'm quite sure they'll gladly help you with the rights and issues involved to get it made because they're not going to do it if its on their dime.

I'm just sayin'.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:26pm

Trust me you do not want a cast recording of this show, the music is awful and i mean really awful (one song was OK but the rest sounded like supermarket music)

[allofmylife]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:33pm

I just scratch my head and stand in wonder. How in the name of God did a first-timer composer manage to talk the Margaret Mitchell estate and a world-class director into this enormous bomb? This show has been privately tackled by every major composer - even if just in their dreams.

The hubris on display here is both fantastic and frightening.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 7:34pm

Will SOMEONE come to their senses and realize that GWTW is simply not a musical property -- it's already failed three times, so give up already!

[Weez]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 8:03pm

I'm another unfortunate who saw it. The cast did their very very best with the material they were given, and I even found myself impressed with Darius. The music was boring and forgettable, the staging was bland and made me wish 'Parade' was still in town, and I could have forgiven this, I could have forgiven ALL this, but the book was so wretchedly AWFUL that I still get headachey just thinking about it. The first rule of story-telling is "show, don't tell". Martin did PRECISELY the opposite! She'd have whole scenes of boring conversations where nothing happened, then bring on a Greek chorus to narrate things that actually sounded interesting (and no, people weren't acting them out while they were being narrated, cast members literally just stood there and spoke). If I ever encounter another book as wretched, I'm bombing the theatre, no questions asked. Happily, it was SO awful that I seriously doubt I ever will.

I still get nervous twitches when I see 'Gone With The Wind' buses. Good job I don't live in London yet. o_O

[achangeinme]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 8:07pm

Weez, your description almost brings me to tears. With so much good original theatre happening locally and regionally, it is almost ironic that Broadway/West End gets bombarded by so many atrocious flops. In fact, the constant flops makes the mediocre theatre look good in comparison. And with this, I will end my rant, because I could really go on for hours about the state of modern Broadway. :-X

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 8:08pm

It made me miss Rent Remixed

[Weez]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 8:10pm

Yeah, believe me, it almost brings me to tears too. I'll take your modern Broadway over our jukebox/s***e-infested West End ANY day. When it comes to musicals at least. We'll keep our plays, I like them. :3

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 9:39pm

Well, you boys certainly know how to produce a damn good play, Weez. You also know how to do a damn good miniseries as well.

[kec]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 10:42pm

I saw it on my recent trip to London, and while it wasn't the greatest thing I ever saw, I didn't think it was as dire as the critics made it out to be. True, the songs weren't memorable, except for Wings of a Dove (sung by the slaves and the company at the end), but the show kept my attention, and I was sufficently into the performances to be moved to tears by the end. Jill was outstanding, and Darius was excellent, especially when you stop to consider the shoes he was filling.

I read on one of the British theatre boards that extensive trimming had been done; the person who posted had seen the original and disliked it, but was more positive about the show after the changes.

[musicaltheatrefan3]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 10:44pm

Guys, check all of the boards before you post a topic on it. The West End board has a thread about this.

[philly03]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 10:50pm

I'm on the same bus with the Jill Paice fans. She is so genuienly nice and talented, it's too bad for her. I actually sent her a letter in London and she responded back by giving me a signed Programme :), she is so kind to fans! Luckily though, this will be something to add to her resume`, and something that will look good in the years to come that she was choosen for the role? I think so!

[EugLoven]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 11:02pm

At least they tried. That was some epic original material.