"Behind The Iron Mask" to close early 20 Aug

"Behind The Iron Mask" to close early 20 Aug

The new musical Behind The Iron Mask, which only opened at the Duchess Theatre 2 Aug 2005, following previews from 20 July 2005, has posted early closing notices for 20 Aug 2005, following poor notices from the popular press.

A press statement says, "The current state of the West End has meant many shows are discounting to keep running. It has been difficult for a new musical to sustain sufficient audience levels and meet its running costs."

(The show was booking to 5 Nov 2005)

FIONA MOUNTFORD for THE EVENING STANDARD says, "..wretchedly overamplified production and the actors seem to have decided to conserve energy by expressing no emotion whatsoever in speech or song.." PAUL TAYLOR for THE INDEPENDENT says, "There were weird, vacant moments when it seemed to run completely out of steam, as though, like its audience, it was losing the will to live." LYNN GARDNER for THE GUARDIAN says, "Nobody comes out of this with any real credit, although Ferguson does at least inject some energy into her musical numbers." BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE for THE TIMES says, "The music sometimes has a pleasant Lloyd-Webbery lilt, but the lyrics are mostly vile and the sudden twists of behaviour would take platoons of psychologists to unravel." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "It's so bad that it is merely unendurable.

Behind The Iron Mask features Sheila Ferguson, Robert Fardell , Mark Mckerracher.

Music, lyrics and original idea are by John Robinson with book by Colin Scott and Melinda Walker. It is directed by Tony Craven, designed by Nicolai Hart Hansen, lighting by Tim Mascall, sound by Mark Dunne & The Orchestrator and Musical Director is Alasdair MacNeill. It is produced by GBM Productions Ltd.

In 1669 in bizarre and mysterious circumstances, an unknown man was secretly masked and imprisoned for life by Louis XIV of France. He died in 1703, having been in four different jails, but in the custody of Monsieur St Mars the same jailer. The Prisoner was allowed the best of everything and given anything he desired other than human companionship; but he was not allowed to discuss his identity or the reason for his imprisonment. St Mars was sworn to secrecy in fear of death. Due to the indiscretion of the Jailer, a Gypsy becomes entrapped in the relationship between the two men.