The much hyped but little seen London production 0f the Broadway musical, 'spring awakening' will close at the ill fated Novello in 2 weeks time, on Saturday 30th May.
March 21st 2009 -May 30th 2009.
Thats a smash hit run compared to 'Desperately Seeking Susan', 'Eurobeat' and 'The Drowsy Chaperone' -it's outrun all of theses!
When I say abit longer I thought it would have held out for the Summer crowd and shut in September. So many shows like Carousel/Blood Brothers etc. Hold out on MASSIVE discounting, so a shame Spring couldn't do the same.
As its been in trouble for its entire West End run its probably a case of that they were told to go and that Cameron, being landlord, has a few shows as possibilities for the Novello. 'Blood Brothers' and 'Carousel' are slightly different than 'Spring Awakening', they both run to good houses and the latter is on a limited run with a big star anyway. 'Blood Brothers' has people there most nights that have paid as little as £5 a ticket.
This show proves the average theatre-goer pays no attention to reviews- SA garnered raves across the board, (though not entirely on this board), yet it could not pull in any kind of audience.
Good timing for a Piazza transfer for a limited run...although prob too big a theatre.
I really liked Spring Awakening on Broadway, far better musically than Rent and other musicals of the same mould, but the book was very weak to non existant and how it beat Mary Poppins and Legaly Blonde (hated the show but the dancing was great) at the Tonys for Choreography I just dont know.
This transfered too quickly, was over priced and went to the wrong venue.
I agree Paul. Although I know the professionals here didn't like it, I fail to understand why it didn't build up the large teenage/young-adult following it had in New York - with such good reviews you can only blame the marketing.
I probably won't be able to get to see it again before it closes.
Oh well, I am off work now until Monday week, flying out to Italy for a few days but back Monday night, so do my best to give this the once over next week.
Also hope to catch Sister Act, if I can get a good deal at the box office and tempted to see A Little Night Music again.
'It is with overwhelming regret that we have had to announce the closure of 'Spring Awakening'. We remain incredibly proud of the production and the remarkable cast members who have put their hearts and souls into every performance. Despite the most positive critical response to a theatrical production in recent years, the enthusiasm of the media, accessible ticket pricing and the incredible response audiences give the show each night, simply not enough tickets are being sold. We are grateful to all of the people who have supported the show and to those who have worked so tirelessly and passionately throughout the run. We also salute all of those involved who have made efforts in the last few days in an attempt to avoid this unfortunate outcome. We simply urge everyone to see this wonderful musical, and its extraordinary cast, before it finishes'.
Im not sure why, I saw Rent 3 a few times in London in the 90s and it was always packed (the last time was near to its closing date and it was about 75 percent full) but the box office just fell quick.
The tour did very well though
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
Please don't shoot me down for this, but I'm actually pretty devastated. I also feel as though people are being a bit too harsh on this production. The number of posts I have seen across boards going "Oh harhar *snort* the balcony was closed today, must mean it's doing really badly, oh well, lets move on now", when shows like Priscilla (Mama don't kill me =)) are having the same problem! I was there tonight, and I didn't find out it was closing till afterwards. Pretty much the entire cast was crying the whole way through the show, we were just thinking about what it would be like on the last night if tonight was just normal, but now we know it wasn't normal. They screwed up with the advertising, big time, but it doesn't mean that a huge tonne of hard work and dedication wasn't put into it. I think it should not just be so easily dismissed as it is being, and I know there are arguments about it everywhere, but it is a new show, with a new score, so people should think about it, the next time they moan about how many revivals and reality shows we're getting on the West End. I'm really sad that this is closing, especially for the young performers, who must be so disappointed. My best wishes are with all cast & crew, and I've got several careers to follow!
For what it's worth, the advance and attendances for SA were going up week by week (no specifics). Unfortunately, this doesn't make any difference when it's still losing money hand over fist. The post-Hammersmith transfer baffled a lot of people, despite having been on the cards since the show was first announced; looks like they were right to be cautious.
I loved SA, but I remember having a conversation with someone who was thinking about investing in it. I told him I didn't think there was an audience for it in the UK, that we wouldn't find it particularly innovative, and there weren't enough "young people" going to the theatre to keep it alive. He told me it was the most exciting thing he'd seen on Broadway in years and he was certain it would be a hit. I hope he didn't invest in the end.
A serious question tying in with this - do a lot of teenagers/young adults pay to go to West End shows? I wasn't a student in London, but there was so much student theatre happening at my university I went to all of that instead and wouldn't have dreamt of going to the West End; even now I get comps or other freebies where I can, I can't even really afford £20 for a ticket (and certainly don't want to sit in the gods...). Even most people my age seemed to think SA was pretty boring - most comments I got were that it was just a bunch of whiny teenagers on stage, and who wanted to watch that!
Anyone know how the other international productions of the show have done? I know Japan has happened and Vienna is on its way, I think there's a Finnish production in Helsinki at some point but that's probably their own version... be interesting to know.
Witches won't be taking the Novello. The tour is finished, Marti is moving on, yadda yadda yadda. Besides, sorry for not drinking the Kool Aid but the production was pretty bad overall and wouldn't have stood up in the West End.
I think it easily could have had a healthy run if they had actually bothered to advertise the show. I'm sure most of the target audience had no idea it existed.
.gif?width=300)
