Doctor Dolittle Pulls Forward Close to 5 June

Leslie Bricusse's Doctor Dolittle, starring Philip Schofield and directed by Steven Pimlott, has pulled forward its closing date once again. In mid-March, it was announced that the musical, which opened 14 July 1998 (following previews from 29 June) in the 3,500-seat Apollo Hammersmith, would close 28 August 1999. It will now close 5 June 1999 after an 11-month run.

A comment made by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and reported by The Sunday Times newspaper in January prompted many to speculate about a West End shake-up of musicals in anticipation of the Broadway hit The Lion King, which arrives at the Lyceum Theatre in October. In particular, Doctor Dolittle, Lloyd-Webber's Starlight Express and Cameron Mackintosh's Miss Saigon were all rumoured to be closing. But, at the time, producers of all three shows, including Doctor Dolittle, hotly denied any plans to end their runs.

Bricusse adapted Doctor Dolittle for the stage from his own score for the 1965 film which starred Rex Harrison and was based on the classic stories of Hugh Loftus. Schofield, who also starred in the West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, plays the good doctor with a knack for talking to animals. But the show's real draw is the hundreds of animatronic animals from Jim Henson's Creature Shop, including the Pushmi-Pullyu and the giant pink sea snail. Julie Andrews lent her pre-recorded voice for Dolittle's trusty parrot Polynesia.

Doctor Dolittle had been booking through September 1999.

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