An immersive jukebox musical manufacturing primarily based on the 1994 Australian movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is to shut greater than 4 months early within the West Finish. Priscilla the Occasion! had been reserving till the tip of September however will now have its final efficiency on 26 Might. In an announcement, the producers stated that it was “now not sustainable” to assist the present financially and that “the manufacturing has been dealing with tough occasions”.
Billed as an “all-singing, all-dancing immersive social gathering and musical theatre extravaganza”, the present is operating at London’s £1bn Outernet complicated within the Right here venue with an viewers capability of simply over 700. Theatregoers can be a part of within the present on the dancefloor or select a seated ticket together with eating choices. The present’s web site reveals “good availability” for all however one of many remaining 23 performances. Costs begin at £45.
Priscilla the Occasion! is the newest in a string of current high-profile West Finish musicals to announce an early closure. The Temptations jukebox musical Ain’t Too Proud closed greater than three months early final September. Regardless of rapturous evaluations, Loopy for You closed three weeks early on the finish of final 12 months. In February, The Time Traveller’s Spouse ended a month sooner than deliberate. Opening Evening, starring Sheridan Smith, will shut two months early on 18 Might attributable to what producers known as a “difficult monetary panorama”. Eyebrows have been additionally raised when Disney’s Frozen, which has obtained five-star evaluations, introduced it is going to shut at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in September after a three-year run.
Priscilla the Occasion! opened in March to some beneficial evaluations, together with three stars from the Guardian’s Kate Wyver who stated the viewers delighted in its “glittering camp chaos”. A number of critics predicted it could take pleasure in a substantial run. The movie has an enormous fanbase and a 2009 West Finish musical adaptation starring Jason Donovan ran for greater than two and a half years. Nonetheless, on Monday night, producers Randall A Buck, Patrick Bywalski and Rod Gunner, in affiliation with Nullarbor Productions, Blue Stage Leisure and MGM On Stage, introduced Priscilla the Occasion!’s closure “with remorse and disappointment”.
Their assertion added: “We are able to discover consolation in realizing that the choice to shut has nothing in any respect to do with the present itself. The extraordinary evaluations and overwhelming optimistic response from audiences is strong proof of that. Numbering a whole lot, each particular person in each division ought to be pleased with their contribution.”
