X Factor musical gets a yes from Simon Cowell on its opening night

 
27 March 2014
The Weekender

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Nigel Harman insists the cast of I Can’t Sing, the new X Factor musical, don’t care what the critics say.

But if any of the stars do risk a sneaky look at the reviews today, they’ll find plenty saying “it’s a yes from me”.

The surreal spoof received three to five stars across the board, with critics praising its “glorious gags”, “winning wit” and unbridled mocking of showbusiness narcissism.

It enjoyed a star-studded press night at the London Palladium, with a delighted Simon Cowell urging fans to “check out the reviews”.

The musical, written by Harry Hill, stars Harman as Cowell and mercilessly ribs many of the figures associated with the show including Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and Dermot O’Leary.

Harman, 40, told the Standard: “It’s loving parody. It’s a general rule in life — if you can’t laugh at yourself then who is going to laugh at you? It’s a strange time for critics and audiences. You get something like the Full Monty which is closing after getting brilliant reviews, and then We Will Rock You which the critics didn’t like but ran for 12 years.

I Can't Sing! premiere night

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“It’s impossible to guess. We’re not really thinking about it much. It’s completely out of our hands.”

The show is said to have been rewritten ahead of the official premiere following lukewarm reviews for some its early run.

Cowell, who attended the press night with girlfriend Lauren Silverman and mother Julie, said after the show: “It was a special night ... fantastic. Credit to the cast who were on top form. Check out the reviews.

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“I think it’s going to work based on word of mouth. The word on Twitter is that everyone who’s coming to see the show loves it, they’re telling their friends and it’s creating a buzz about it.”

Louis Walsh, Sinitta, David Walliams, Philip Green, Jennifer Saunders, Ronnie Corbett and Gemma Arterton were among those who attended the gala performance at the Palladium.

Absent, however, were Cole and O’Leary. Walsh said: “I’ve got a sense of humour — I’m not afraid to send myself up, unlike other people who weren’t there.”

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