A Tale Of Two MonthsPerhaps it was a far, far better thing on paper than the turkey that opened just two months ago at Broadway's
Al Hirschfeld Theatre, but the two-month old tuner
A Tale Of Two Cities used Election Day in electing to post its closing notice for November 16. Perhaps they thought no one would notice!
The $16 million musical, adapted from
Charles Dickens' classic book, opened to
dismal reviews. The critical response, mixed with a tough economy, resulted in a tepid box office. This past week, the show attracted a capacity of only 44.5% -- hardly enough to sustain itself over the long haul.
Personally, I had absolutely no desire to see this show, particularly after taking the advice of countless friends, as well as witnessing the overwrought and overblown debacle on the West End known as
Gone With The Wind.
Once it closes,
A Tale Of Two Cities will have performed just 68 regular performances.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Tale Of Two Cities, Box Office, Broadway, Charles Dickens, Closing Notices, Gone With The Wind, Musical
Critics Mostly Find Musical Tale As Worst Of TimesLast spring, London had its inglorious over-the-top literary-derived flop with
Gone With The Wind - The Musical. Apparently, now it's Broadway's turn, as critics gleefully dug and twisted their knives into
A Tale Of Two Cities - The Musical, which opened last evening at the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
Critics had a dickens of a time with the show, with their reviews taking direct aim at
Jill Santoriello, whom many noted began writing the book and score 22 years ago. Helmed by
Warren Carlyle,
A Tale Of Two Cities is the first -- and one presumes it will long remain the only -- stage musical adapation of
Charles Dickens' classic 1859 historical novel opens.
Deriding it as a "lumpish musical adaptation,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley pans: "This stolid poperetta, which features book, music and lyrics by Jill Santoriello and is directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, is one of those unfortunate shows that are neither witty in themselves nor able to inspire wit in others. To say it could have been worse -- i.e., gloriously, hilariously bad -- is not a cause for rejoicing."
Deeming
Tale as a "middling Masterpiece Musical, a paint-by-numbers throwback,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer provides a somewhat middling review: "It has lots of nice period costumes and good actors singing their lungs inside out on material that all sounds the same.... The results, especially considering the relative inexperience of the creators, are surprisingly solid. The show is less bombastic than some examples of the musical-potboiler genre, less foolish than some others. If this sounds like a recommendation, you know whom you are."
Lamenting that
Tale Of Two Cities "is so formulaic it feels recycled and reused, but not refreshed,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News is more critical in his two and a half (out of five) star review: "The book, lyrics and music are by newcomer
Jill Santoriello, who's been working on the project for 20 years. The inexperience is evident from the borrowed moments and characterizations from other shows.... The music should fill emotional gaps, but like stealthy revolutionaries, songs drift in and out without rousing much attention, even anthems belted at maximum volume.... Classics will always have a place on Broadway. The lesson of
A Tale of Two Cities is that they need imagination and innovation."
Suspecting that "any show that boasts more producers than leading actors must be suspect,"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes musters up a one and a half star (out of four) review: "Jill Santoriello's book clings closely to Dickens' own, with some nips and tucks, but her lyrics are unimaginative and her music sounds like
Les Miz and dishwater.... Here is an attempt at an epic musical with no superstructure to support it.... Helping this low-rent musical rise even to one and a half stars are
Tony Walton's ingenious skeletal settings and impressionistic backcloths,
David Zinn's stylish costumes and
Richard Pilbrow's imaginative lighting."
Calling the "hammy ending" "inexcusable," Bloomberg's
John Simon eviscerates the show: "Santoriello's tunes could give 'familiar' a very bad name, although some of them avoid embarrassing indebtedness by virtue of being tuneless. Worse yet are her lyrics, whose inspiration must have been the rhyming dictionary, and a skimpy, pocket-size one at that. As for her book, there is the template of Dickens's tawdry and melodramatic novel, famous for its first line ... and its last ... and for nothing of note in between."
Criticizing "Jill Santoriello's pell-mell pageant of bad wigs, worse lyrics, and a handful of decent melodies,"
The New York Sun's
Eric Grode clearly demonstrates he's seen far, far better shows: "Ms. Santoriello -- who has been working on the score, lyrics, and book since 1986, the heyday for pop-opera treatments of this ilk -- and director/choreographer Warren Carlyle get bogged down in finding room for all the heroism and squalor and vengeance. By the end,
Two Cities chugs along like a student scrambling to finish the assigned reading before the test, dragging its hard-working cast along."
So folks, any guesses on just how soon we'll see the closing notices posted?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Tale Of Two Cities, Book, Broadway, Charles Dickens, Critics' Capsule, Jill Santoriello, Musical, Warren Carlyle
A Tale Of One Opening Night
A Tale Of One Opening NightThis evening, the very first Broadway musical version ever of
Charles Dickens' classic 1859 historical novel opens. Helmed by
Warren Carlyle,
A Tale Of Two Cities comes to life as a tuner with a book and score by
Jill Santoriello.
The cast includes
James Barbour as Sydney Carton and
Aaron Lazar as Charles Darnay, along with
Broadway stalwart
Gregg Edelman as Dr. Alexandre Manette and one of my favorite touring musical actresses,
Natalie Toro as Madame Therese Defarge.
Will critics find the best in this show? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule of the reviews for
A Tale of Two Cities.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Tale Of Two Cities, Aaron Lazar, Book, Broadway, Charles Dickens, Gregg Edelman, James Barbour, Jill Santoriello, Musical, Natalie Toro
Broadway Preview: A Tale Of Two CitiesThis August, it could either be the best of times or the worst of times for new musicals based on other source material. What the Dickens am I talking about?
Well, come August 19, the very first stage adaptation of
Charles Dickens' classic
A Tale Of Two Cities to hit the Great White Way, incredibly enough, since
Freeman Wills' 1899 adaptation
The Only Way was
revived in 1902 will begin previews!
Helmed by choreographer
Warren Carlyle (
Mame, 2006,
Kennedy Center)
, the new version of
A Tale Of Two Cities will make its Broadway debut at the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre ... as a
musical, with book and score by
Jill Santoriello.
Although the show enjoyed a March out-of-town tryout at Sarasota's
Asolo Repertory Theatre (which drew raves from
Man In Chair), casting for the Main Stem has yet to be announced. But if indeed the Rialto production elicits critics' praise as being the best of times upon its September 18 opening,
A Tale Of Two Cities can settle in for a long, open-ended run.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Broadway Preview: for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf (June 25, 2008)
Broadway Preview: [title of show] (June 24, 2008)
Broadway: What's Next (June 20, 2008)
Barbour Affair: A Minor Trifle? (January 9, 2008)
Starring Roles Whether Or Not They're The Ones You Want (August 16, 2007)
Which Broadway Musical Will Depart Next? (August 21, 2006)
Labels: A Tale Of Two Cities, Broadway, Charles Dickens, Jill Santoriello, Man In Chair, Musical, Prev, Warren Carlyle
