shows where the marquee went up but never played — Page 2

I share Hal Prince's opinion on WDTW -- no one should ever have imagined that the show would be a critical success; besides, that doesn't always matter. The original reviews of The Sound of Music, another musical about children, were terrible, and besides, no one really remembers what the original reviews of a hit show are (except maybe some of our fellow posters here at BWW). WDTW would likely have been labeled as "sentimental," as The Sound of Music was, and correctly so, but it has a potentially irresistible quality.

For whatever reason, critics over here have never loved it. I think it's the premise of the show -- I believe it's great, but the critics have always savaged it. I feel that generally it's been misunderstood over here. People have a hard time dealing with the idea that Jesus is outside in the barn. But you have to remember that the kids' mother has just died, why wouldn't you want Jesus around, since he can raise the dead? It ran for five and a half years in England. They got it.

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