Will ‘King’ Fall Down in London? : Troubled from the outset, the play about the civil rights leader is scheduled to close after a run of less than two months

“King,” the troubled and controversial $4 million musical based on the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., has closed less than two months after opening here at a West End theater.

The musical, from which two successive writers and two directors departed before its opening, aroused the anger of one of its lyricists--the writer, poet and black history professor Maya Angelou, who disassociated herself from the show because of the way King was portrayed.

At one point, King’s widow Coretta Scott King had also withdrawn support. She eventually changed her mind and gave “King” her blessing--but not before reports of ugly infighting behind the scenes and charges of reverse racism in the hiring of key production staff marred the musical’s reputation before it eventually opened April 23.

“King” was also dogged by an indifferent publicity campaign before its opening. The public seemed to know little about the production, despite reports of its backstage problems; one man reportedly called the theater’s box office to inquire whether “King” was about Elvis Presley.

Hostile reviews from London’s theater critics and indifferent ticket sales compounded the show’s problems. It will not be mounted in the U.S. as originally planned.

Richard Blackford, the British opera and theater composer who wrote the music for “King,” said just having opened at all was “a miracle.” Even the opening night had to be delayed 16 days because of the problems backstage.

“King” starred opera singers Simon Estes and Cynthia Haymon in the roles of King and his wife. The 73-strong company, about two-thirds of whom were black, stayed united through the successive controversies, according to Blackford. The company met en masse on several occasions to discuss the show’s problems. “Some of these meetings . . . ended in prayer,” said Blackford.

But one meeting also ended in the departure from “King” of director Graham Vick--a veteran of the English National Opera Company--and American writer Richard Nelson, both of whom are white, and both of whom were the second person to hold those positions. Vick came in after Sir Richard Attenborough, director of the Oscar-winning movie “Gandhi,” had to back out, pleading other commitments; Nelson had succeeded the black American writer Ron Milner, whose script, it was generally agreed, did not work.

After Vick and Nelson quit, they were succeeded respectively by Clarke Peters, who thus became both director and cast member in “King,” and Lonne Elder III, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter for the film “Sounder.” Both are black.

The emphasis on color among these various players is important because Angelou has insisted that “King” specifically needed black men in senior positions to do justice to King’s memory.

Angelou and Coretta Scott King shared several other concerns about “King” as its original opening night approached. Angelou told reporters she thought the play was “terrible,” and that it “trivialized” Dr. King’s life. It also portrayed him as inarticulate, she complained. She especially objected to a scene in which King said of some food being cooked: “Them victuals, they smell like soul food.” “He had a doctorate,” Angelou said. “He would never have said that. It’s written by someone who thinks black English is bad English.”

Enter Elder, himself a veteran of the civil rights movement. According to Blackford, Elder extensively re-wrote major portions of the script.

Still, the criticisms from Angelou and Coretta Scott King stung those in charge of the production. Though Angelou was regarded as intractable, one of the show’s principal backers, Swiss businessman Peter Hargitay, flew in from Atlanta for talks at the King Centre with Coretta Scott King and her son, Dexter.

Hargitay’s initiative, combined with the hiring of Elder and Peters, clearly did the trick. King subsequently wrote a letter to the cast, stating she was now happy with the production.

In the meantime, Elder’s changes helped deflect the objections from Angelou and the King Centre. In the version of “King” which finally opened, King spoke throughout like an educated man. Though earlier drafts of the script had apparently portrayed him as a womanizer, the subject was limited to broad hints in a couple of lines.

Despite the show’s various problems, Blackford remained firmly supportive of it--eager to rebut the changes and countercharges of racism and reverse racism.

“I have been asked whether, as a white British composer, it was prudent to be writing about one of the greatest Afro-Americans who ever lived,” he says. “All I can say is I only did my very best--and I spent 18 months researching at the King archive in Atlanta, and studying gospel music.”

He sharply differs from Angelou’s contention that it needed a black man to write about this particular black man. “I cannot agree and do not agree,” he said.

Blackford also tried to make the best of the bad reviews. “I have a feeling that some of the critics already had their knives sharpened. Word was out that the show was having its troubles, and different writers and directors had come and gone. I think there was a feeling that it couldn’t be successful under those circumstances.”

* TROUBLE IN WEST END: See related story on Page 7.