It is the first Indian-themed musical to hit Broadway.
Now, after a super two-year run at London's prestigious Apollo Victoria Theatre, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams will close shop on June 13. The Apollo Victoria Theatre seats 1,900 people.
A news report in the influential trade publication Variety also mentions that the musical will be relaunched later this year at a smaller London theatre. It will be presented in the modified version that will be on show in New York.
A R Rahman scores the music for this musical, which is choreographed by Farah Khan (who will soon release her first directorial venture, Main Hoon Na, on April 30) along with Anthony Van Laast.
Directed by Steven Pimlott, the Broadway version of the musical stars Manu Narayan, Anisha Nagarajan, Ayesha Dharker, and Madhur Jaffrey apart from a host of South Asian actors. When she performs in New York, Dharker will be the only artiste who has acted in the London and New York versions. Her Shakalaka baby dance number is said to be a show-stopper.
The New York version, which opens on April 29, Ptaszynski told Variety, presents a much more coherent love story and narrative. "Andrew [Lloyd Webber] has fallen completely in love with it. The intention precisely is to watch it open in New York and then bring that version back to tour in Britain and then into the West End."
The backlog of musicals lined up on West End could also explain Bombay Dreams' closure. Adam Spiegel's Saturday Night Fever, directed by Arlene Phillips, will return to the West End in early July. Another Broadway flavour, Thomas Meehan's Hairspray, is also said to be looking at a West End run. It is a huge production and would require a theatre such as the Apollo Victoria.
The London and Broadway versions of Bombay Dreams cost £14.5 million and $14 million, respectively. The producers recovered their investment in London within 15 months of its opening. The advance on Broadway has reportedly crossed $4 million.
Ptaszynski could not be happier: "We're in pretty good shape for what is a fragile, unknown thing on Broadway." Indian-themed shows are a rarity on Broadway.
It is not unusual for London productions to be tweaked for Broadway Les Miserables being an example. And that is why Really Useful asked designer-choreographer Mark Thompson to recreate a new set. Tony-winning Thomas Meehan was brought on as creative consultant with writer Meera Syal.
Van Laast and Khan have added four new dance numbers for the show on Broadway.
Thompson told Variety: "The book is clearer. It's not been made particularly American, actually; it's just been made less quirky."
