It is difficult to imagine a more ambitious stage project than turning the epic novel Gone With The Wind into a musical. Today, after the show’s West End premiere, director Sir Trevor Nunn and Margaret Martin, who wrote the book, music and lyrics for the production, may be wondering if the idea was too ambitious.

Critics have given the musical, starring former Pop Idol contestant Darius Danesh and Broadway actress Jill Paice, a collective thumbs down.

Awarding the 190-minute show two stars, The Times critic Benedict Nightingale declared it “too faithful to Margaret Mitchell’s novel” and “too long”.

Under the merciless heading ‘Gone With the Wind just blows’, Reuters reviewer Ray Bennett said Nunn had delivered “a long-winded show with rushed scenes, dull music and lyrics so banal that Rhett Butler is unlikely to be the only one who doesn't give a dam.”

The Guardian critic Michael Billington wrote that the musical felt like “a hectic, strip-cartoon account of a dated pop classic.”

The Telegraph’s Charles Spencer was even less impressed. Explaining he often felt like screaming during the performance, Spencer wrote: “When I emerged from the theatre after three hours and 40 minutes, it felt as if I had spent several years watching Gone with the Wind and that I had probably missed not just the Beijing Olympics but the London games planned for 2012 as well.”

The Independent reviewer Paul Taylor was more forgiving. Awarding the musical three stars, he wrote: “The show is neither as bad as one feared nor as good as one has a right to expect.”

He went onto call the score “forgettable” but “well sung”.

But the news wasn’t all bad. While Paice received mixed reviews, Danesh enjoyed wide-spread praise for his turn as Rhett Butler, being described variously as “diabolically dashing” and “a fine singer”.

The audience was appreciative too, giving the 27-year-old a standing ovation.

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