Why did Jane Eyer close so soon?- Page 2

[Elphaba]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:32pm

AND, of course, Sweeny Todd

[shira467]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:40pm

You JUST made my day, iruv!

[iRuvPrinceton]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:44pm

It's what I do!

[bwayfan4ever]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:49pm

I loved the show...especially the music!!

This is all I would listen to during the times of september 11..

I WISH i COULD HAVE SEEN IT and was upset that it had closed so suddenly!!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 6:49pm

I saw the show. It was overly long and had some dull sections, but the performances of the leads were good. I think it failed to sell tickets for a couple of reasons.

First, it was too serious at a time when the popular taste was running more towards light-hearted comedy (THE FULL MONTY, PRODUCERS.)

Second, it seemed too much like the creators were trying to copy the LES MIZ formula and just not succeeding.

Finally, and most crucially, the show took too long to arrive on Broadway and failed to develop any pre-Broadway buzz. It began with a 2-month try-out in Toronto in 1996 where it also got its first cast album. (The CD was sold mainly to audience members and through a few specialty shops.) In Toronto it had the misfortune to open the same week as RAGTIME and while the critics here loved RAGTIME they found JANE EYRE to be slow, dull, staged unimaginatively and lacking in the music department. I saw both shows on successive nights. RAGTIME played like a hit and went to New York with few changes. JANE EYERE did not play like a hit. The authors did some rewriting the next four years but it arrived in New York essentially the same and received the same types of reviews.

It takes a special skill to adapt a classic novel into a stage musical. The creators have to understand what moments need to be musicalized, what parts to leave out and how to stage the piece effectively. What often happens is that the adaptors are not up to the challenge and find one scene that leads into a song where the hero and heroine declare their love. Then they write a 5 minute songs that basically says "I love you/you love me/we're as happy as two can be" over and over with no subtext, and no emotional thrust. And usually a song like this brings the show to a complete standstill. (LES MIZ nearly falls into this trap with "A Heart Full of Love" but they cleverly weave in counterpoint comments from Eponine and Valjean. Still it is one moment in the show where the action does grind to a halt. Fortunately it doesn't last long and recovers quickly.) Too often in JANE EYRE the musical numbers failed to illuminate the characters and story.

A successful musical must NEED music.