Wait a while longer - the failure of CTH

[Sandy Shaw]

I went to original screening in London and felt it was OK, I enjoyed the soundtrack. It was a really challenging period for PSB in general with Nightlife also stuttering (I liked it). I never forget Zoe Balls luke warm intro to I don’t know what you want on BBC. It’s all a process. I listened to Nonetheless yesterday for first time in a month and what an album..CTH played a part in getting us here..

I assume you mean original production and original cast recording!

[telys]

If they ever were to write a musical with a gay theme they should've, as I pointed out, waited for a really good story to come along, not doing a generic thing like they did. And the story they should've waited for was sort of already written by themselves: about being gay at certain points in history. Neil wrote about being gay in the 70's, the 80's and AIDS, they had written stuff about Oscar Wilde... so they already had material which they could've fleshed out with newly written stuff (hey even keeping In Denial for the musical, not for the album). A musical like that would've never been forgotten.

[PopArt]

It was a very strange time for PSB. The imperial years were long gone and it wasn’t clear how much further they would “fall” from their commercial peak- could they decline as much as Erasure? Their commercial survival wasn’t a given in 2001.

I saw one of the early shows, first week of June, shortly after it opened. The theatre was packed. I had the free Telegraph CD and thought the new version of Closer to Heaven was great and absolutely loved Friendly fire. Then came the opening number- My night- which was a superb way to introduce the characters. However, sadly, in my view, it was downhill all the way after that. The script was clunky. The storyline predictable and unoriginal. It was neither funny nor profound. Though I guess it was a bit “shocking” in West End theatre terms but sometimes it felt like it was trying to be “shocking” for the sake of being “shocking”. The songs often felt forced into the story. Nothing worked, as far as I was concerned, and I left the theatre fearing the worst for the future of PSB.

However, 25 years down the road and I have a very different view of it. It was an important part of PSB’s “cult/indie” phase. And it showed that they were prepared to take some considerable creative risks. Plus, it has been clearly shown it wasn’t a sign of creative decline. Quite the opposite. It many ways it was their unleashing. Would we have had Battleship Potemkin without it? The Most Incredible Thing? A man from the future? Their output post-CTH has been remarkably diverse. They haven’t stood still. That they could put on that musical in 2001 and then put out Release less than a year later- an album that couldn’t have been more different- only demonstrates that.

So it didn’t turn out to be the great disaster I thought it was in June 2001. That doesn’t change the fact I’m not a huge fan of it to this very day, but I think it has an important place in their journey. Plus, the number of successful revivals proves it has a significant and enduring audience.

[Gabby]

I always picture "My Night" being sung by muppets.

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[Ramzy]

This is interesting to read because my recollection is the opposite - that, although the premise shocked the boring old homophobes writing theatre reviews between glasses of lunchtime port, the music itself was seen as a return to form after Nightlife, partly thanks to the return of Stephen Hague. John Earls in particular I remember saying its songs had restored their reputation. And seeing it aged 13 before I had ever seen them live, it was the most like the version of PSB I fell in love with that they had sounded since I became a fan in 1998. For me, Very was the pinnacle of how PSB were supposed to sound and (though I love them now) I didn't really understand Bilingual and Nightlife. CTH I thought was just a lot more beautiful and a lot more "them" than they had sounded since Very. I remember hearing other audience members during the interval saying it sounded very PSB too.

I loved the show but I was a kid and, the times I've seen it since, I've realised it isn't the greatest piece of writing in the world. But the music I still think is majestic - Something Special, My Night, Positive Role Model, For All Of Us, even Call Me Old Fashioned - imagine having that many great original songs to chuck into a flop musical without using any of them for anything else.

[Patrick Bateman]

If they ever were to write a musical with a gay theme they should've, as I pointed out, waited for a really good story to come along, not doing a generic thing like they did. And the story they should've waited for was sort of already written by themselves: about being gay at certain points in history. Neil wrote about being gay in the 70's, the 80's and AIDS, they had written stuff about Oscar Wilde... so they already had material which they could've fleshed out with newly written stuff (hey even keeping In Denial for the musical, not for the album). A musical like that would've never been forgotten.

Yes, I wish they'd got the rights to Brighton Rock. I have never seen the musical but my impression is they wanted to write something like Cabaret. Unfortunately, they were working with the guy behind Gimme Gimme Gimme, not Christopher Isherwood.

I suppose the timing (after a flop album featuring several of the songs) didn't help either. We didn't even get a I Know Him So Well out of it.

[telys]

This is interesting to read because my recollection is the opposite - that, although the premise shocked the boring old homophobes writing theatre reviews between glasses of lunchtime port, the music itself was seen as a return to form after Nightlife, partly thanks to the return of Stephen Hague. John Earls in particular I remember saying its songs had restored their reputation. And seeing it aged 13 before I had ever seen them live, it was the most like the version of PSB I fell in love with that they had sounded since I became a fan in 1998. For me, Very was the pinnacle of how PSB were supposed to sound and (though I love them now) I didn't really understand Bilingual and Nightlife. CTH I thought was just a lot more beautiful and a lot more "them" than they had sounded since Very. I remember hearing other audience members during the interval saying it sounded very PSB too.

I loved the show but I was a kid and, the times I've seen it since, I've realised it isn't the greatest piece of writing in the world. But the music I still think is majestic - Something Special, My Night, Positive Role Model, For All Of Us, even Call Me Old Fashioned - imagine having that many great original songs to chuck into a flop musical without using any of them for anything else.

Odd time and place to become a fan but I guess we are all happy that you are still with us
Greetings from somebody who begun the PSB journey in 1986 (Suburbia era).

[Ramzy]

Ha yes, it felt very strange at the time too. Incredible that it's been nearly 30 years...

[before]

If they ever were to write a musical with a gay theme they should've, as I pointed out, waited for a really good story to come along, not doing a generic thing like they did. And the story they should've waited for was sort of already written by themselves: about being gay at certain points in history. Neil wrote about being gay in the 70's, the 80's and AIDS, they had written stuff about Oscar Wilde... so they already had material which they could've fleshed out with newly written stuff (hey even keeping In Denial for the musical, not for the album). A musical like that would've never been forgotten.

Yes, I wish they'd got the rights to Brighton Rock. I have never seen the musical but my impression is they wanted to write something like Cabaret. Unfortunately, they were working with the guy behind Gimme Gimme Gimme, not Christopher Isherwood.

I suppose the timing (after a flop album featuring several of the songs) didn't help either. We didn't even get a I Know Him So Well out of it.

A Barbara Dickson/Elaine Paige style music video for In Denial with Neil and Kylie would have been amazing. The shoulder pads and the big hair!

[NotInvisible]

This is interesting to read because my recollection is the opposite - that, although the premise shocked the boring old homophobes writing theatre reviews between glasses of lunchtime port, the music itself was seen as a return to form after Nightlife, partly thanks to the return of Stephen Hague.

The push and pull is interesting, because while the musical is often slammed as hackneyed, it's difficult to think of many direct ancestors, especially taking the music into account. When you consider that it had been in development since the mid '90s and debuted just two years after Queer as Folk exploded onto Channel 4, I think there's some degree of allowing the present to influence our view of how common this sort of thing was in the past.

I still think it's rubbish, mind you.

[Morse]

I've always quite liked the fact that Jonathan Pie was in Closer To Heaven!

[Kompakt&Bijou]

Interesting comments all round. I'm afraid I'd temporarily lost interest in Pet Shop Boys at the time but my brother planned to buy me tickets to see the show for my birthday that November. Sadly, it was pulled. It was explained that in the wake of the 9/11 bombing and collapse of transatlantic air traffic that it had fallen foul of the subsequent severe drop in visitor numbers to Theatreland.

If I may offer further mitigation I did enjoy the 2019 spin off 'Musik', which I thought was a lot of fun.

[telys]

It's not as if they didn't fail before CTH.
It Couldn't Happen Here (the film) was a failure as well.
Mind you, there was nothing wrong with making a film in 1988. It's just that it was done in the wrong way.
There was nothing wrong with a musical in 1999-2001, it's just that they failed with the story and many of the songs.

[NotInvisible]

It's not as if they didn't fail before CTH.
It Couldn't Happen Here (the film) was a failure as well.

The reappraisal on this one was overdue - of course it's a BFI release nowadays. I love it!

[oakey]

It's not as if they didn't fail before CTH.
It Couldn't Happen Here (the film) was a failure as well.

The reappraisal on this one was overdue - of course it's a BFI release nowadays. I love it!

That movie is unwatchable. I have the BFI release, watched it once and that'senough. I do not hate them for that, but it always was a vanity project paid for by their Actually and Please royalties. In no way is ICHH comparable with C2H, which is a very enjoyable musical with great (and mostly new) music, even though there are many haters. But the latter goes for PSB in general, it has never stopped me from loving them.