Why Did Amour Close? Explain It To Me

[Megan Marie]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 11:15am

I was listening to the recording with my vocal teacher this weekend, and it has some of the nicest, most beautiful music ever. So why in heavens name did it close so quickly? Its quite upsetting...

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 11:17am

Well, lots of people didn't like the music but beyond that it was a very small show on Broadway and small shows tend not to do well, especially in this day and age where people want more razzle dazzle for their buck.

[JakeB]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 11:18am

Didn't the critics get their teeth into it prior to opening, ala Taboo?

[Megan Marie]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 11:22am

Thats what I figured why it closed. I just think the show was with such raw talent that people would love it for that....but i guess your right about the whole razzle dazzle thing

[sparky310]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 11:38am

the music was ok..but the story and the staging were remedial...and the show should never have come to broadway..and malcom gets was wonderful and some of the supporting cast was good but the show was just not good.

[twogaab2]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 12:21pm

"Amour" was a small, dark horse candidate. While none of the reviews were what you would call "bad", none of the critics seemed very excited by it. A show like this needs better reviews than "eh" to servive.

That being said I found it to be one of the most perfectly staged, completely charming moments I have EVER spent in a broadway theater. I would not have changed a THING about it. I caught the final performance and left the theater feeling VERY angry that someone could not have generated more excitement about this beatutiful production.

A GREAT loss!!

TWOGAAB

" A Class Act" will never die!

Updated On: 1/14/04 at 12:21 PM

[Cadriel]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 12:36pm

Amour, as I've always said, was beautiful and I loved it. It was just not Broadway material, never could've been - it was too small, it was French.

It's amazingly hard to get an import musical to work here anymore. Mamma Mia! is a hit, and before that the last European show to be a certified hit was Miss Saigon (AFAIK). Good recent examples include Amour, Dance of the Vampires, and Taboo...I have a feeling Bombay Dreams will be next.

-Wayne

[sparky310]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 1:09pm

Agreeed..i hate to say it but i have the same feeling about BD

[JakeB]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 1:42pm

NO! Please stop with the Bombay Dreams negativity.. it is a good show. It has some brilliant ballads, one hell of showstopping number in Shakalaka Baby (water jets spouting out of the floor), and Bollywood choreography. The storyline is stupid, predictable, but that's the Bollywood-ness about it. If they sort out the staging for Broadway it will be fine. Seriously don't start bad mouthing it.

End!

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 1:45pm

Yes but if someone is pointing out that foreign transfers, particularly ones using a foreign storytelling technique and style, haven't done well on Broadway, why not then carry the discussion to 'Bombay Dreams,' which is a foreign transfer employing non-standard storytelling techniques and styles (namely, Bollywood.)

No one's bad mouthing anything, we're discussing something.

[DefyingGravity2]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 1:52pm

I never saw it, but i was told by many people i know who did that it closed b/c it was a simple and nice and beautiful show. there wasn't a WHOLE LOT to it. it wasn't SHMALTZIRIFIC. you know? i was told that it would have thrived off b'way in a smaller theater.

[QueenS]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 3:27pm

I found the music dull and the lyrics insipid. Except for Norm Lewis, the tremendously talented cast did everything they could to make the material come to life, but just weren't able to. Mr. Lewis, at least the night I was there, walked through his performance more easily than Malcolm Gets was able to walk through walls.

I did enjoy some of the vocal arrangement and the idea of the sets being fashioned off Magritte. However, the latter didn't quite come off very well.

However, it was the lyrics that did this show in for me. Perhaps adding a script and cutting the recitative (which all came off as silly, badly rhymed couplets) would have helped.

[Megan Marie]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 4:35pm

I think it would have had a better chance off-broadway because I still stick to that its a fantastic show. No its not a huge production you know, but I think it would have had the staying power being off-broadway. At least I hope it would have, I guess we may never know right?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 9:20pm

I never saw it, but I'll never forget the ad that featured the awful Brantley quote:

"A twinkling trinket of a musical!"

Not a "Money" quote by any means.

Updated On: 1/14/04 at 09:20 PM

[cbrown828]

Posted: 1/14/04 at 11:32pm

F*** all critics, go see a show and form your own opinion!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/15/04 at 2:39am

Good grief, Charlie Brown! lol

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/15/04 at 3:08am

And of course, cbrown, you pay full price to see every show you want, with out reguard to any reviews or word of mouth?

Updated On: 1/15/04 at 03:08 AM