I Can’t Sing! to close after just six weeks!
by Oliver Mitford on Monday 28 April 2014, 1:20 pm in West End News & Gossip
Big budget X Factor musical I Can’t Sing! has posted its closing notice for the 10 May just six weeks after it opened to glowing reviews at the London Palladium.
Co-written by Harry Hill, I Can’t Sing! parodies the ITV talent show and its creator Simon Cowell, who is also listed as one of the musicals producers. With a rumored £6 million budget, the show is due to lose its backers a fortune.
I Can’t Sing! now adds to the growing list of recent high-profile West End casualties such as, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Stephen Ward that lasted for just four months, Sir Tim Rice's From Here to Eternity which closed after a meager six months, and Sheffield Theatre’s transfer of The Full Monty, which closed after a terrifyingly short five weeks.
The chief executive of Stage Entertainment UK, Rebecca Quigley, (lead producer on I Can’t Sing) said in a statement: ‘The show had been well received, but it seems that isn't always enough. The West 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.’
Announcing the closure, Nigel Hall of Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment, said: ‘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.’
I Can’t Sing! had been taking bookings until October 2014. We will be sending out an email to all customers affected offering a refund or an exchange to another show or performance.