Shows to close and new work??

I've got to say I think thriller will hang around for a while yet. Much as I think it's run its course.

With the third Bridget Jones film soon to be released, this is a project that may be revisited

It's just incredibly difficult to understand why.

Because there are nightly more people wanting to buy tickets than there are seats in the theatre.

Almost continuous popular music and dancing with no dialogue. Thriller Live is box office gold.

Hmmm, I'm quite sure that long-runs like Phantom and Les Mis also rely mostly on the (foreign) tourist audience. People who saw Phantom some years ago in their home country perhaps and would now like to see the original version or just revisit it, knowing the story well enough to follow it even with bad English, etc. Same as Disney stuff like Lion King where everyone knows the movie anyway.

But yes, I get your point that dance-based shows consisting solely of existing pop hits are even more accessible to foreign audiences and something like Thriller is also more appealing to the countless school groups in London than Phantom or some such.

I think Thriller wouldn't be half as annoying if it wasn't clogging up one of the theatres along Shaftesbury Avenue in such a prominent space and which we always pass. I find it easy to forget that Stomp exists for example, because it's tucked away in a little side street.

For some years I kept hoping that the whole jukebox thing would go away, but now I think it's established itself as a genre on its own firmly aimed at tourists, hen nights and other groups looking solely for some mindless entertainment. While I would like to see the theatres freed up for some "better" shows, considering the string of bland new musicals that pretty much flopped, I realize that I don't care all that much anymore. The most exciting stuff seems to be happening on the fringe in recent years anyway.

Glad to hear. Jersey Boys isn't one of the shows I could see twice a day, but I really enjoy seeing it once every six months. I think the West End would lack something if Jersey Boys wasn't around anymore.

Very true, but sometimes this works better than others.
I prefer the other sort of jukebox musical, that's a biography of an artist or group, rather than a made up narrative. I As a music fan, I find that interesting. Some are a clever mix of the two. But it has to be music I enjoy, I'd hate to sit through a whole evening of music by certain artists...
But because of the familiarity of the material, jukebox musicals will always be steady sellers and I agree that Thriller will endure for longer.
I think it's the more traditional musicals that struggle.

I believe they have only been given 6 month rather than 1 year contracts this time with a view to extend....could be due to uncertainty over such a big cast change, or could be due to sales. Some week night are very quiet.

Overall though I'd much rather the shows I dearly loved closed up shop to make way for something new than run for years and years, so I feel justified saying the same thing about Thriller, or Stomp. I love Miss Saigon a painful amount, but am quite happy for it to leave so we can have something different.

My view is that too many long running shows is not good for the West End, theatre isn't a museum and new shows good or bad bring variety to the West End.

Things have been pretty fluid the last few years with many shows not hanging around, both due to failure and limited transfers like Gypsy.

We've lost chicago and Blood Brothers and Charlie and Billy will be off soon. Most of the biggest theatres have had a lot of movement.

I think the poor quality/unreadiness of new shows like Dagenham, Beckham, I can't sing etc has been more of an issue than the museum pieces sticking around.

We need a reasonable amount of long runners (and probably harry potter) to remind producers that theatre is still worth risking their money on.

Jersey Boys for me is a mix of songs I enjoy listening to combined with a - for a jukebox musical - tight and well delivered storyline. It works and appeals to not just the generation that grew up with listening to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
I'm not saying it's in the same league as lets say Sondheim and such. But in my eyes it's definitely one of the good jukebox musicals and I'm glad it's still doing well.