Итак, некоторые мои худшие опасения относительно будущности мюзикла на Бродвее подтвержэдаются. Вот что написал небезызвестный Майкл Рейдел в Нью-Йорк Пост о его возможных перспективах . Из статьи также следует, что мюзикл имеет лишь относительный финансовый успех, что все-таки аванс продаж в США есть, хоть и не шибко большой, что переделанный спектакль вновь показали критикам, которые наконец-то "распробовали" музыку "..м-да, долго раскачивались
И здесь же, специально для Влада - сам Рейдел пишет: B]The ad is extremely clever, linking "The Woman in White" to "Phantom"[/b] так что связь эта все-таки есть и она усиленно педалируется как критиками, так и постановщиками и используется для раскрутки мюзикла, вот теперь и в США. Так что, возвращаясь к нашему спору, Кроуфорд вовсе не отсебятину нес, когда бросал зал некие "фантомские" намеки. Уверяю вас, что если бы он по прежнему играл Фоско, эта ассоциация с РОТО выпячивалось бы еще больше., но с его уходом этот козырь Соня Фридман утратила.
'WOMAN' IN PLIGHT
By MICHAEL RIEDEL
October 12, 2005 -- WHEN a group of New York producers announced they were bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Woman in White" to Broadway, there was plenty of head-scratching around Shubert Alley.
The $8 million show, which opened last year in London, had three strikes against it: West End critics gave it mixed reviews; reporters and critics for The Post and the New York Times who attended the opening night performance registered their reservations; and the box office never took off (an investor in the London production says it's nowhere close to paying back).
The prospects for "The Woman in White" in this town looked bleak.
This is why Lloyd Webber and his co-creators — director Trevor Nunn, lyricist David Zippel and book writer Charlotte Jones — decided to rework the show.
They trimmed the bulky plot and tried to clarify the murky ending. And they scaled back the show's cutting-edge video projections, which, with fast pans, swoops and zoom-ins, made audiences sick to their stomachs.
They put all these changes — which I was hearing were real improvements — into the London production.
And then somebody had the bright idea to invite back the London critics.
"At a time when musical comedy is making such a welcome comeback, this emotionally incontinent . . . and often drearily lugubrious musical seems desperately old-fashioned," wrote Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph. "I tremble for its changes in New York.
"No matter how many . . . 'creative modifications' Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest musical undergoes, one year after opening, it remains a troubled show."
Not all the reviews were bad. The Times of London's Benedict Nightingale said his feelings for the show have "mellowed," calling it "tauter, sharper, more coherent than it was a year ago."
And a critic for the Daily Express said his initial admiration for the show had "grown stronger" with subsequent viewings.
But these are not exactly what you could call raves, and the negative notices, especially the influential Spencer's, are cause for concern in New York.
A person involved in the production says some of the creators, who really believe they had solved the show's problems, are dispirited.
Sonia Friedman, who produced the show in London and is co-producing it here, is said to be upset about the second round of London reviews, and worried that they will further depress the show's prospects in New York.
Based on Wilkie Collins' riveting gothic novel, "The Woman in White" begins previews Oct. 29 at the Marquis Theatre.
Starring are Maria Friedman (Sonia's sister) and Michael Ball, last seen on Broadway in Lloyd Webber's "Aspects of Love."
The advance ticket sales is just over $5 million — not bad, but nowhere near the heights scaled by Lloyd Webber during his heyday, when his "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Sunset Boulevard" opened with advances of $20 million or more.
His music is still a draw, however, and it remains, according to several critics, the best thing about "The Woman in White."
Even Spencer said he undervalued the score the first time around, calling it Lloyd Webber's best score since "The Phantom of the Opera."
A person working on "The Woman in White" says a radio spot featuring music from the show is what's driving ticket sales.
The ad is extremely clever, linking "The Woman in White" to "Phantom" and driving home the point that Lloyd Webber has returned to the style of lush, gothic romance that's served him so well in the past.
That's no small thing, but it's not enough to insulate the show from the New York drama critics.
The producers of "The Woman in White" are just hoping there are no Spencers among them.