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The Mambo Kings Calls Off Summer Broadway Opening

By: Jun. 27, 2005
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The troubled musical The Mambo Kings will not make it to Broadway this summer, as previously scheduled. The Latin-flavored show was slated to open at the Broadway Theatre on August 18th after beginning previews on July 20th, but poor reviews and rockiness within the creative team have beset the show.

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"We are deeply grateful for the amazing dedication and remarkable spirit of the entire cast, crew and creative team of The Mambo Kings. While we had pursued several incredibly talented people to join the team and help us realize the full potential of the show, it became apparent to us all that the production could not successfully go forward on the current schedule," said Daryl (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and Jordan Roth (The Rocky Horror Show), the mother and son team whose first Broadway collaboration as producers was to have been marked by the show.

When the musical adaptation of Oscar Hijuelo's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love opened at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco on May 31st, critics were not kind. "As fiery and sexy as a trip to the DMV, The Mambo Kings...fizzles way more often than it sizzles. This Mambo scorches only when it moves," wrote Karen D'Souza of the San Jose Mercury News. Critics also found fault with the book (by director Arne Glimcher and Hijuelos) and score (by Glimcher and Carlos Franzetti). Sergio Trujillo was the choreographer. Before the summer opening of the show was called off, reports were flying of a creative overhaul for the show, with such names as Tommy Tune, Maury Yeston, and most recently the team of Jerry Mitchell, Jason Robert Brown and David Ives mentioned as possibilities for replacement (although none was ever confirmed).

The Mambo Kings, which recounts how two Cuban jazz musicians travel to New York in search of success and romance, starred Esai Morales, Jaime Camil (as the brothers), David Alan Grier, Albita, Justina Machado, Cote de Pablo, Christiane Noll and Dennis Staroselsk in its out of town tryout. An Oscar-nominated film version, also directed by Glimcher, starred Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas. The design team for The Mambo Kings comprised Riccardo Hernandez (sets), Ann Roth (costumes), Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer (lighting) and Acme Sound Partners (sound), with Constantine Kitsopoulos providing the musical direction.

At the current time, there is no word on when and or if the show is to be rescheduled, but if it closes, it will be at a projected $12-$15 million loss, according to The New York Post. With the Broadway Theatre now vacant, The Color Purple may take the slot that was to have gone to The Mambo Kings.



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