Some things shouldn’t go to Broadway

I have an extremely soft spot in my heart for the film version of High Fidelity[imdb]. Yes, it would be in my top five, all-time favorite flicks. It’s clever, has a great soundtrack, and has John Cusack. Don’t know why, but that third ingredient always brings me to check out any project that he is involved in. I tried to read the book it was based on, but it was one of those many things that I picked up and simply failed to get past the first fifty pages. It’s not that it wasn’t any good. I just didn’t have the attention span.

But did you know that it was being made into a Broadway musical? I certainly didn’t, and it looks like not very many people will get a chance to see it.

It might not rank on the list of the Top 5 Broadway Flops, but it comes close.

Last Thursday the stage adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel High Fidelity opened at one of the biggest theatres on Broadway. The story of a nerdishly dysfunctional record shop assistant, the hit novel had translated into a hit film. The hit stage musical, it seemed, was assured.

But on Tuesday, after just 14 performances, the show’s producers announced that it was closing. [guardian]

Ouch. I can’t say that I’m too surprised though. For the life of me, the character of Rob singing on stage, prancing around, and singing off his top-fives just doesn’t play out well in my head. In fact, I call the images of thinking about such things to be down right scary. There are certain things that work well for musicals, but I’m not sure why someone thought this would be one of them.

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