Vintage of the Century
17 June 2011 Filed in: Miscellaneous
Nobody is quite certain how long the comic farce Vintage of the Century has been running and the bad news received today is that the Guinness Book of World Records will not consider it for inclusion due to the multiplicity of its authorship. It would be difficult to enumerate all the hands that have had a part in Vintage’s success but the list certainly includes: wine writers, Bordeaux negociants, châteaux owners, wine merchants, sundry smoke and mirror practitioners, PR spinners and the man in the street, including the social media tweeters and their ilk, commissioned just a few years ago to “freshen up the script.”
Most commentators are agreed that it was first staged in the 1980s, probably 1982, with near-endless revivals ever since. It went from success to success through that decade, culminating with a three-year world tour in 1988, ’89 & ’90. It lost a bit of steam in the 1990s, though connoisseurs found much to like in the 1998 production, which was a little right wing for some.
Sage doomsayers predicted that it would not survive the turn of the century but how wrong they were! (Remember Y2K?) Paradoxically the dawning of the third millennium reinvigorated it and successful productions were staged in 2000 and 2003 (with some questionable special effects and ghastly lighting). Then came the still-talked-about sell out in 2005, which was never, ever, going to be topped. (Only Riverdance had higher box office receipts at that time.) Until 2009 that is, when riots broke out amongst fans in China on the arrival of the lead male, Monsieur La Feet, at Shanghai airport. Most recently the 2010 production, which is still running, has elicited theatrical shrieks of approval from audience members while others have simply swooned away as soon as the curtain has gone up.
“They have suspended all critical judgement,” say some show biz old timers, with any who have seen Vintage of the Century usually mentioning the strange sense of déjà vu experienced during and after the performance.
Most commentators are agreed that it was first staged in the 1980s, probably 1982, with near-endless revivals ever since. It went from success to success through that decade, culminating with a three-year world tour in 1988, ’89 & ’90. It lost a bit of steam in the 1990s, though connoisseurs found much to like in the 1998 production, which was a little right wing for some.
Sage doomsayers predicted that it would not survive the turn of the century but how wrong they were! (Remember Y2K?) Paradoxically the dawning of the third millennium reinvigorated it and successful productions were staged in 2000 and 2003 (with some questionable special effects and ghastly lighting). Then came the still-talked-about sell out in 2005, which was never, ever, going to be topped. (Only Riverdance had higher box office receipts at that time.) Until 2009 that is, when riots broke out amongst fans in China on the arrival of the lead male, Monsieur La Feet, at Shanghai airport. Most recently the 2010 production, which is still running, has elicited theatrical shrieks of approval from audience members while others have simply swooned away as soon as the curtain has gone up.
“They have suspended all critical judgement,” say some show biz old timers, with any who have seen Vintage of the Century usually mentioning the strange sense of déjà vu experienced during and after the performance.
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