23 Aug 2011
It stars a pig voiced by Kylie Minogue and open to rave reviews.
Yet Betty Blue Eyes, one of the best critically acclaimed new musicals of the final 20 years, has turn the West End's most high profile casualty of the economic downturn.
Sir Cameron Mackintosh said his star-studded show will close because cash-strapped audiences do not wish to read a risk on new material.
The production, which stars Sarah Lancashire, has been playing to almost half-empty houses at the Novello Theatre despite being described as "witty and delicious" and "satisfyingly meaty".
Sir Cameron said audiences are seeking asylum in the safety and familiar.
His early hits, Les Misrables and The Shadow of the Opera, continue to turn to packed houses with Les Mis having a record 5 billion in advanced
bookings.
"After such amazing reviews and positive word of mouth, no one knows the very reason why Betty couldn't get a larger audience," he said today.
"We have been consistently playing to simply over 50 per cent but it just isn't plenty to comprehend the costs. Of class I am disappointed."
It follows the early closure this month of another musical, Lend Me A Tenor, while some long-running shows are set to end late in the year including Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
Nicholas Allott, managing director of Sir Cameron's business, said he feared higher VAT, lower returns on savings and the public's reluctance to pass were finally start to bite.
"In the 30 years I've worked with Cameron this is likely the most mystifying closure I've had to post," he said. He suspected other shows were also playing to but half-full houses - or if winning audiences were doing so at discounts generating only half of normal revenues.
Julian Bird, chief administrator of the Order of London Theatre, said the project was "mixed" with productions like Much Ado About Nothing starring David Tennant, and Touch the Musical providing big draws.
The class began with box office down 6 per cent and audiences 10 per cent lower than the like period last year.
But the 2nd quarter saw audiences up one per cent and revenues up two per cent. The West End was on track to surpass 500 million for the 3rd year, he said.
Terri Paddock, founder of theatre website whatsonstage.com, said the end of Betty Blue Eyes on September 24 was "surprising - but the West End is still remarkably resilient". Closures were not necessarily a bad thing. "There's always more musicals that need to do in."
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