ALW's Cinderella - Gillian Lynne / U.K. Tour (rumour)

Bit gutted that it's my mugshot on the bit Shenton has quoted, as I had my facts right and was referring to Carousel. He was sat six rows down from me on press night, so I definitely didn't make it up... I'd have thought "there's no such thing as bad publicity" might apply in this instance and might drive people to his website.

I've always found it sad when people measure somebody's worth or status by whether they are "known" or not. It's the height of rudeness to blank somebody just because they're not in the club you yearn to be part of.

Mr Shenton is very inconsistent. He went on and on (usually tagging ALW etc) about how irresponsible the ill fated “freedom day” performance of Cinderella was.

But when it was cancelled turns out he was planning on going! Don’t know if he was gifted a ticket so forgot his principles. Or if for some unknown reason he bought one!

Very British. I doubt the Americans will know what a "knob" is.

I'm not sure it will translate that well to the USA. The whole opening is a pastiche of a panto opening number. When I watched it I surprised by the Britishness of it but that was because the only thing I knew about the book writer was that they had just won an Oscar so I assumed (turns out incorrectly) they were American.

I think it'll be tweaked and taken to Broadway.

I’m sure I saw a production photo of the statue with a cock sprayed onto it…. Maybe I dreamt it?! It’s mentioned in the song too I think?

Shame re HG as she’s great. I’d have paid to see her!

Broadway/US is prudish?  had to laugh out loud over that.  As an American I couldn't disagree more... and considering some of the other things that have played on our stages a giant spayed cock would hardly be shocking.

There are elements that sound very british which didn't bother me when I was listening to it, but I would imagine could be tweaked with 

Then what do you call the moron that is president now?

I think you need to take a step back from the specific content of Cinderella and look at Broadway trends and ALW's popularity there more generally.

Similar to the West End, with exceptions of course, new sung through musicals are sadly not the current trend. Jukebox, films, non sung through and 'names' remain popular.

Further ALW's name alone tends to ensure something runs for at least a year or so here. The exception of course being Stephen Ward. But Love Never Dies, Woman In White, Whistle Down the Wind etc, not thought as big hits, but did all made it past a cast change. That isn't the case on Broadway, with his last success in the sung through oeuvre being Sunset Boulevard in the 90s (as we know it didn't make money for other reasons but it did have an excellent box office take). Since then there has only been School of Rock. But that is based on a popular film and is not sung through. Huge generalisation but also Americans love kids on stage more than we do. And there was probably some local appreciation that the show was developed there. But ALW the name doesn't guarantee you a year+ as it (usually) does here.

Anyway, those are the reasons I can't really see Cinderella being a huge success on Broadway.

As for the piece itself? I love it. I don't really see any panto elements in it myself. But yes, in addition to the above, I do find it quite British and I do think Americans may not 'get' it. Not prudish, not panto, there's just something I can't quite put into words which I think appeals to British sensibilities. Though I guess the fact in itself that I can't describe this means I may well be wrong.

And even though I think it would struggle to succeed on Broadway - my hunch is that ALW WILL aim to take it there. In which case we will all find out how well it does!

But unless I’m remembering wrongly (and I know my memory isn’t brilliant, but it’s not been that long!) Cinderella isn’t sung through. I do agree with you that I’m not sure it “feels” like the sort of thing that will do well on Broadway though.

I’m in on a cheap ticket tonight for press night, entirely because I’m nosey about any changes. Wonder if I’ll spot anyone I even recognise, given that I don’t watch Love Island or the like.