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 The demise of the musical parody of the TV talent contest,
which reportedly cost 6 million pounds ($10 million) to produce,
comes hard on the heels of the closures of musicals by long-time
West End and Broadway hotshots Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
It also follows the expensive fiasco in 2012 of a musical based
on the Spice Girls pop band.
The closure of "I Can't Sing!", which featured a talking dog and
portrayed Cowell as a megalomaniac, was announced on the show's
website and was also tweeted to its followers.
"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 statement on
the website said.
"The show received a series of rave reviews and standing
ovations from thousands of theatre-goers following its opening
earlier this year."
Despite reviews praising the show's irreverence, it struggled to
fill one of the West End's largest theaters, and on some nights
a hoarding outside advertised the availability of choice seats
for only 20 pounds just before curtain time.
"The West End can be an unpredictable place as the closure of a
number of high-profile productions recently has shown," said
Rebecca Quigley, the CEO of Stage Entertainment.
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"'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."
The West End and the London stage in general have been celebrating a
successful period for ticket sales. Last year was a record for
revenues and attendances, with more than 14 million theatre-goers
and gross sales of over 585 million pounds, according to the Society
of London Theatre.
But despite that there have been some major casualties.
Lloyd Webber's "Stephen Ward", based on the 1960s Profumo sex
scandal, closed after a run of less than four months.
His erstwhile lyricist Rice's "From Here to Eternity", based on the
James Jones novel about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, closed
the same day as Lloyd Webber's show after a six-month run.
($1 = 0.5948 British pounds)
(Editing by Pravin Char)
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