"Glory Days" closes immediately

It's true.

I'm impressed. Most producers try to keep it going for a month or two, under the delusion that a deus ex machina will suddenly show up and save the day. I commend the producers, who decided to go with reality instead.

And as for the two writers who created it, best of luck to you. You're really quite young, and even Sondheim didn't win a Tony award for Best Music till he was 40. Company, and the other times before that were just for his lyrics only.

By the way, did you know that the year of Company's original Broadway production, for the first and only time, the Tonys for Music and Lyrics were split into two categories? (and, Sondheim won both awards)

8 Comments

franklinshepard | May 8, 2008 11:02 AM

Um, he didn't win any awards for his lyrics prior to Company. He was nominated for Do I Hear a Waltz, but didn't win.Anyway, I'm sad I didn't go to a preview. I knew it would close fast. I just didn't know it would close that quickly.

David Rigano's Theatre Reviews | May 8, 2008 11:07 AM

It's a shame, because it had potential. But it really was not there. They should have opened it off-Broadway first. It might have done better there. But there's an expectation for a Broadway show, and this one did not meet that.

Gil | May 8, 2008 11:24 AM

Franklin: You're right. I just assumed that he'd won for West Side or Gypsy; apparently not.David: Never actually saw it, but you know, you'd think this would have gone off-broadway, had some changes, gone on-broadway in a different form... I understand that the financial model of Off-Broadway made it seem to make more sense On, but the financial model for all of theatre is really broken.The show is so simple and cheap, it may prove well for young performing groups in the future.

yebsakin | May 8, 2008 11:40 PM

also, I happen to live in the Washington area, and a few friends of mine went and enjoyed it, didn't think it would go to Broadway, but it was a fun little romp. The Washington Post critic gave it this full out rave review (inexplicably) and also stated (quietly at the end of the review) that the show needed a lot of work. She was also assigned to cover the Bway opening and said there had been very few changes in the book and score since the VA premiere and that is why the (stricter) NY critics didn't care for it. From what I've heard of the score, it's quite good, Nick Blaemire could be the next Stephen Schwartz, and the bookwriter whose name i can't remember had a good if slightly boring book. Also, 1971 was the first year best score or lyrics were awarded since the 50's, so neither West Side Story nor Gypsy were nominated. They probably would have lost to Music Man and Sound of Music (respectively) as they were generally more popular to Tony voters at that period (MM and SoM beat the two of them for Best Musical Tonys, Robert Preston (of Music Man) beat Larry Kert (of West Side Story), Mary Martin (the original Maria) beat Ethel Merman (the original Rose), etc.)

franklinshepard | May 9, 2008 12:13 PM

I actually think the funniest thing about this whole debacle is that on just about every poster in the city, under the tagline - "What happens when two 23-year-old guys write a musical about four 20-year-old guys?" people have scrawled, "It closes on opening night!"Unfortunately, based on the songs on their MySpace page, I wouldn't say this was a great or even good score. Some of the songs are pleasant enough, musically, but most are undistinguished. And the lyrics are pretty bad for many of the songs. I don't know if this will become a staple around colleges, although I'm sure adventurous theatre students will want to stage this show. At the very least, the producers have given the title notoriety.

Gil | May 9, 2008 12:14 PM

"What happens when two 23-year-old guys write a musical about four 20-year-old guys?" people have scrawled, "It closes on opening night!"Dune, that's the abridge of that show right there.

mattbrain | May 11, 2008 8:49 AM

Dude, what you said about the producers going with reality? That's exactly how I feel. I felt the same way when High Fidelity announced they were closing. I didn't see either show but I respect those producers for knowing when to throw in the towel. I don't believe in giving up in general but when it comes to Broadway, I guess there are just some fights not worth fighting.

David Rigano's Theatre Reviews | May 16, 2008 1:42 AM

The score had its moments, but was overall rather unimpressive. There were a couple of songs that I liked, but maybe it's the curse of rock scores that it's VERY difficult to write something that echoes the music of today and doesn't sound exactly the same as everything else. I don't remember any real clunkers in the lyrics (and as a lyricist myself, I've heard things that make me cringe) but many of them were nothing more than serviceable. Especially in the lyrics department, I don't think they could be compared to Stephen Schwartz. These were pretty pedestrian.My biggest problem with the show was the direction. I found it sloppy and ill-focused. The director could have created a real sense of a friendship that had actually existed between these four characters, and instead we got something resembling the idea of "best friends from high school." When that falls apart, it was never anything tangible to begin with. I think that's a big reason why the show didn't land the way it had the potential to.The other thing is the writers had no perspective and the producers put it out there too soon. Okay, this is turning into one of my reviews... I'll stop!