Sir Cameron Mackintosh is planning a shock revival of one of his biggest failures.
The impresario’s 1992 Moby Dick musical, which was harpooned by critics and closed after only four months at the Piccadilly Theatre, is set to resurface. “I was dealing with someone who wants to bring Moby Dick out next year, an American producer,” Mackintosh reveals.
The production, which tells the story of a girls’ boarding school that stages a musical version of the Herman Melville novel in the school swimming pool on parents’ day, was lambasted for its cross-dressing vulgarity. But Mackintosh says there are now two revivals in the works: “A production that’s going to open in London in a pub theatre and there’s one being eyed up for Broadway in the next two years.”
The Les Misérables producer is also working on a revival of his other notorious West End flop, Martin Guerre. “Believe me, once we get it all right, Martin Guerre will rise again.”
Sir Cameron argues there is always a second act for a musical closed before its prime. He says: “Good old shows never die. I keep them in my Lazarus locker.”
