Blaming poor reviews and the commercial tastes of North American audiences, the producer of Toronto's lavish Lord of the Rings musical said yesterday the show will close early and be reworked for its "spiritual home" in London.

Kevin Wallace said harsh critics discouraged a mass audience from coming to the production, an ambitious adaptation of the fantasy trilogy that cost $27 million -- tops for a theatre show. The show opened at the Princess of Wales Theatre to largely negative reviews three months ago.

He said any positive word-of-mouth was no match for published criticisms that emerged from a nearly five-hour preview (delayed by technical glitches) -- criticism that lingered despite revisions that eventually cut the show to under 3 1/2 hours. "The North American sensibility reflects the appeal of commercial theatre in primary colours," Wallace said, adding, the audiences were put off by too much talking.

The show will close Sept. 3. Tickets had been on sale for performances until Sept. 24.

Source: London Free Press

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Posted by Lawren at June 30, 2006 07:27 AM | Trackbacks (1)

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You Said

Oh, this show has been so savaged. But then, so were "Grand Hotel" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman." But I cannot possibly see how a show can recoup a 27M dollar investment. I think "Wicked" had a budged of 9M, and it had to fill the theatres for over 2 years before it even broke even.

Says: chuck at June 30, 2006 07:32 AM

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