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Wilde? More like crazy
By Peter Robertson, Evening Standard 07.03.08
Trying again: Mike Read is hoping to prove the critics wrong
Poorly received: Oscar Wilde: The Musical closed after only one night
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A West End show which had the shortest ever run in modern times after it was booed off stage on its opening night is to open in New York.
Oscar Wilde: The Musical, about the life of the flamboyant playwright by DJ Mike Read, was panned by critics and chucked out of The Shaw theatre after one night in 2004.
But the former Radio 1 and Top Of The Pops presenter, who hosts a daily radio show in Essex, is to resurrect the musical with an all-American cast for a run off-Broadway.
It held a successful preview performance on 27 February, playing to Broadway writers and producers. They are now negotiating a start date.
Reviewing the musical at the time, the Evening Standard's Matthew Sweet said the evening was a "cruel and unusual" punishment.
Read today blamed the Shaw Theatre for the show's terrible reception, which led one critic to say it was "hard to feel anything other than incredulous contempt" for it. Read said the theatre was more like a conference centre and should have been relaunched before the musical - his West End debut - was staged.
He said: "That was one of the worst times of my life - an absolute nightmare. It hit me pretty hard, and lost me a small fortune."
The closure cost him £80,000. He added: "The Shaw Theatre was an unmitigated disaster. Had we staged it at any proper theatre, West End or otherwise, it would have worked. Indeed, Oscar had previously been well-received at The Old Fire Station in Oxford and The King's Head in Islington.
"It was hard to find and contact, and they didn't have a website. They were utterly ill-prepared and ruined our chances on press night. They'd had someone in the day before who'd totally wrecked our delicate sound balance, so none of the actors could hear anything."
At the time, responding to critics who derided his rhyming couplets, he said: "Rhyming couplets did not do Shakespeare or Gilbert and Sullivan much harm."
He said a man who worked on the London show subsequently went to work in America, and suggested Oscar to the York Theatre. Read said: "They loved it and immediately wanted to try it out. Initially I was reluctant, because the London experience was still raw. But the theatre kept pushing me to do it and, once a couple of years had passed, I thought 'If they're that keen, I should give it a go'."
The play has showcased at the York and is now set for a run.
Read said: "The showcase really worked. The audience, which included Broadway writers and producers, clearly loved the show. They were raving about it, comparing the songs to those by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In fact, one lady involved in New York theatre liked it so much that she invited all the cast back to her penthouse suite for drinks afterwards. I was left thinking, 'We've got a hit on our hands here'."
Read, 57, said he was also encouraged that the show's biggest number, Grief Never Grows Old, was recorded by Cliff Richard, Brian Wilson, Bill Wyman, Boy George and The Bee Gees. The song went to No 4 in the UK charts.
He said: "Artists of that calibre wouldn't have recorded that song if they didn't like it. In fact, when we put Oscar on in Oxford, Cliff Richard helped back it financially."
Sir Cliff is a friend and Read's stage tribute Cliff: The Musical was well received along with a production based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oh Puck.
Talking about the possible reception to Oscar Wilde in New York, Read said: "I wouldn't think critics are influenced by other critics. I imagine they prefer to go their own way. If anything, they'd probably go in the opposite direction."
He added: "A bit of me may be tempted to go 'Ha! See, I told you!'"
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