Published on: May 23, 2014

I Can’t Sing X Factor musical to close after just six-week run

 

£6m parody penned by Harry Hill and Steve Brown is the latest West End flop despite warm reviews and of course Simon Cowell. The producers announced the closure on the show’s official website, saying they were proud of the production, and tweeted “thanks to our fans for all their love”.

Stage Entertainment and Syco Entertainment, the producers of I Can’t Sing! at the London Palladium, have announced the closure of the production on Saturday 10th May 2014. The show received a series of rave reviews and standing ovations from thousands of theatre goers following its opening earlier this year. Rebecca Quigley, CEO of Stage Entertainment UK, said: “We are sad to be bringing I Can’t Sing! to a close but are immensely proud to have co-produced the show.

End can be an unpredictable place as the closure of a number of high profile productions recently has shown. I Can’t Sing! has had audiences on their feet night after night, four and five star reviews from the critics and an amazing company and creative team, but it seems that isn’t always enough. To open any big musical, and particularly a brand new British musical comedy at the London Palladium, is no mean feat and hundreds of dedicated people have played a part in bringing this unique and wonderful show to the stage.

I thank every one of those people and the audiences who have come to see the production.” Nigel Hall, Syco Entertainment, said: “From the moment Harry Hill and Steve Brown told us their idea for I Can’t Sing we knew this was going to be a fun project. Alongside Stage Entertainment we’d like to thank the cast and crew who have worked so hard on this show. To everyone at Really Useful Theatres and the ever supportive staff at the London Palladium, and everyone involved in I Can’t Sing! I’d like to say a huge thanks and the very best of luck with their next venture.” Ticket holders with seats booked for after Saturday May 10th should contact their original point of purchase.

The closure will make it one of the biggest musical flops since the Spice Girls show, Viva Forever, which survived for just seven months last year, losing a reported £5m. So sad to see it go, so many musical just can’t get an audience we have had From Here to Eternity (Tim Rice) , Stephen Ward (Andrew Lloyd Webber) and now Harry Hill. Of course Ben Elton’s The Queen musical, We Will Rock You, will close on 31 May, after a 12-year run at the Dominion theatre. Maybe summer we will be going back to see “Phantom of the Opera” or “Miss Saigon” two of the West Ends best hits. Stay Tuned !

Some Quick Review One Liners

 

• “A show of eye-smartingly bad taste”: Kate Kellaway, the Observer

• “Uneasily pitched between send-up and celebration”: Michael Billington, the Guardian

• “There is a bonkers, surreal charm to the loopy lampooning”: Paul Taylor, the Independent

• “Wildly eccentric and often wonderfully funny”: Charles Spencer, the Telegraph

• “A splashy, flashy tonal mess that just about succeeds”: David Benedict, Variety

• “The show really is fantastic”: Amanda Holden, the Mirror

• “Witless, infantile, noisy, embarrassing, derivative, shamelessly money-grubbing tripe”: Christopher Hart, the Sunday Times

Reviews from 28th April 2014 Guardian.com