hello darkness my old friend...
i've come to talk with you again.
(hey penni, you didn't by any chance
go to see the ahem formerly known as the
new paul simon broadway musical, did you?)
Posted at 6:40 p.m. PST Thursday, March 5, 1998
Simon's $11 million musical closing quickly
Reuters
NEW YORK -- Paul Simon's $11 million musical ''The Capeman'' will close on March 28 after only 68 regular performances, its publicist announced Thursday, making it possibly the biggest flop in Broadway history.
The much-anticipated show, based on a 1950s double murder, was widely rumored to be in trouble during previews, and elicited uncharacteristically uniform opinions from critics when it opened Jan. 30.
The problematic show, years in the planning, had four different directors at various points, two choreographers and a delayed opening.
The show was one of the most expensive ever produced for Broadway and stands to lose its entire $11 million investment. Other big losers were ''Big'' at $10.3 million, ''The Red Shoes'' at $8 million and ''Legs Diamond'' and ''Carrie,'' both in the same ballpark.
Critics were nearly unanimous in liking Simon's score, as well as the sets and lighting. But Nobel Prize winning poet Derek Walcott's book was found woefully lacking, and noted choreographer Mark Morris, directing his first Broadway show, came up short even on the choreography, they said.
''What I enjoyed the most, apart from the creative process, was the intensity with which the audience, in particular the Latino audience, responded to the play,'' Simon said in a statement.
The musical was the life story of Salvador Agron, a Puerto Rican gang member who at 16 stabbed and killed two Irish teen-agers. He was paroled in 1979 after writing his life story in prison and died in 1986.
One theater critic told CBS radio that part of the problem was that ''it didn't really occur to Paul Simon how collaborative a place the theater is.''
''He insisted on running the show,'' Dennis Cunningham said, ''and being the last word on everything ... but he's not someone who has specialized in staging things.''
On a more positive note, the cast album has been recorded.
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