Lempicka - Broadway

Absolutely loved it too, now I do think Act 1 needs tightening up and they to tone down the ‘villain’ character but I adored it too, it’s got an incredible score..’Chess’ meets ‘Evita’

www.broadwayworld.com/article/LEMPICKA-Announces-Broadway-Closing-Date-20240502

The first casualty of Spring. Closing 19/5

Funny you mention how unknown the figure of Lempicka is; I heard someone compare this to Evita in terms of it covering a less than known figure in the West.

The difference with Evita is that it was the work of a duo who'd just made the BIGGEST thing to hit the theatres in the early 70's, and Evita was an ALBUM beforehand, which promoted the show prior.

Lempicka, from the outside, I feel hasn't done a great job in telling me what it is, what it is about in any of its marketing, in any external reading I've done. Three songs on an EP and mixed reviews with all conflicting takes only give the impression of a vague, confused show, in a packed season where you have to be feeling like you're getting your money's worth.

I can totally understand why critics and audiences probably aren't jumping to see this. I wish I could've seen it to get to the heart of it, but it's a shame when shows close early. Always.

And not just that; "Don't cry for me Argentina" was an absolute smash in the regular charts, beloved by countless people who didn't even know it was from a musical and who were then ready to see the show just to hear that song live on stage.  Same thing happened a few years later with "Memory".

Would Evita have been a success today, when musicals barely exist in the public perception and without a mega hit? I doubt it. 

I also can't remember the last time a new musical had an album/concept cast recording out that had already become a big hit on its own and was making people itch to see it live on stage. Given how endlessly fractured the music scene is these days I don't think it will ever happen again. I even doubt we'll see jukebox musicals with music by artists popular after the 90s because so many people are lost in their own little niches these days. Except for the inevitable Taylor Swift musical where we'll follow some young lost female around her relationships and affairs and moans about them all later (yawn). 

Anyway, much much harder these days to establish a musical not based on a book/movie/existing music, although shows like Hadestown prove it can still be done. 

True, it's crazy how I keep forgetting that about my favourite show When it was announced for London (back then at the National Theatre), it was an American friend who told me I should go and see it and check out the existing recording (not the very first one, the NYTW one that was still fairly new at the time). I listened to it, fell in love and the rest is history, as they say.

So, yea, you may be right, Hadestown DID have that starting advantage (and tickets in NY have been selling like hot cakes since Ani DiFranco joined as Persephone) that may well helped them a little on Broadway. Though I don't think it's comparable to just how HUGE "Don't cry for me Argentina" had been back then.

Oh no worries, not condescending at all... just a "duh" moment for me especially since the three different Hadestown albums are such a nice way to chart the development of the show (along with Anais Mitchell's book).

And yea, right now Hadestown and Lempicka are across from each other, they even named that stretch of 48th Street Rachel Chavkin Way, though not sure if it's permanent or just a marketing gag for the time being. She does have more pressure now to deliver on the A.R.T. Gatsby in Boston.