Profile for bear882

I am surprised the producers even asked Stephanie J. Block, as she would be too expensive and the Death Becomes Her will be a lot more grueling than the Into the Woods tour.It’s quite rare for big names to go on national tours. I can only think of a few I have seen over the years.If I was producing this tour, I would want good comic performers who can handle the physical strain of the role. I wouldn’t spend the budget on big names, because most potential theatergoers won’t be affected by that...

This is reminding me of why my wife and I never came to New York City for more than 22 years. We had children! A New York City trip with at least one young child sounded like a mistake, so we never went.But our kids were introduced to theater at a young age, seeing the annual local production of the Mencken-Ahrens musical version of A Christmas Carol - and plenty of local productions along with a couple of trips later to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. That said, I sort of regret it now, eve...

There are several factors that need to considered, as well as a few bright spots amid the gloom.- Costs of Broadway musicals have skyrocketed for a variety of reasons in recent years. It seems like a combination of factors - not all of which can be attributed to greedy landlords or unions. But it is worse in New York City.- Capitalization costs. This is related to the first, of course, but it means that expensive, ambitious shows need to make big money for years. That’s hard to do even for sh...

I have no idea whether the Small Mouth Sounds rumor is true, but I have seen the play, so at least I have an idea what it is about. It seems like a Broadway revival of that play would need some big-name actors who can pull off much of the wordless comedy.

Some folks are also conflating the OP and EDSOSLO858 as if they are the same person.

I realize quizking101 has rubbed a few people the wrong way with their advocacy for this revival, but the post is quite explicitly not based on inside information but on two factors that can be easily checked, one of which - the much higher prices for the Saturday evening, Aug. 8 show - I confirmed immediately.The OP literally says it’s a hunch and hopes said hunch is wrong. What do we all know?Prices for the Aug. 8 evening performance are unusually high, way higher than the Saturday nights b...

The higher prices on Saturday night, Aug. 8 do look suspicious unless there’s some other event happening that evening.

Wicked has a couple of problems, one specific to the show and the other that affects every single musical. It’s not unreasonable that many people are just Wicked-ed out in the wake of the films, the second of which was always going to be a problem. At least the second act of the stage musical moves along quickly. It’s not surprising that the Wicked frenzy, which peaked at the box office just after the release of the first movie, has gone into a recession.The second problem is that Wicked is a...

I am sure several shows are in trouble, but I would just write this week off entirely. World Cup, brutally hot weather, no Saturday performances due to the Fourth of July.As I wrote last week, I would never have scheduled a New York City trip for this week. And I am sure many people in the area decided to stay home or do other things.The real test for these shows starts today.

I don’t want to make too much of this, because out-of-town tryouts always extend. But The Lunchbox, which opened without much of a fuss at the Berkeley Rep in May, has turned into a very hot ticket. I saw it a few days after Opening Night and tickets - which I did buy in advance with a discount code - were very easy to get. I paid $51 per ticket for front row mezzanine. The audience was typical of the Berkeley Rep, polite but not hugely enthusiastic. Reviews were positive but not excessively ...

A few quick thoughts…- Schmigadoon got a boost and is holding it, but as someone who saw the TV show, I have long suspected it would have limited appeal to people who don’t catch the Golden Age references. - As an out-of-towner, I would never plan a trip to see shows when the World Cup is happening in New Jersey with the Fourth of July on a Saturday. Plus, it is supposed to be horribly hot this week, which I assume will hurt box office numbers.- Maybe Happy Ending had a worse week than Operat...

As I haven’t had a chance to discuss the out-of-town tryout of The Lunchbox, the Rachel Chavkin-directed musical that I saw at the Berkeley Rep (aside from chatting with my spouse and doing a writeup here), I have satisfied my curiosity about out-of-town tryouts by Great Comet alumni by following this thread.I am struck by the fact that no one, not even ardent admirers of Black Swan, has anything terribly positive to say about the book, in particular, or even Dave Malloy’s score - although cr...

From a purely selfish point of view, I am curious about ticket prices, since I already know I will be in New York City in early April. It’s a large theater but anticipation for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical since Hamilton will be quite high. Demand may die down, or grow more intense, depending on word of mouth.Prices for decent seats to Evita and Paddington, which I already have purchased, have been reasonable - and they are known quantities (even if I am unfamiliar with the latter show)...

I don’t quite understand how these off-Broadway shows work financially. Heathers The Musical is far from a great show but I had a good time, in part because Sara Al-Bazali, the Veronica standby I saw at a packed Thursday matinee, was so talented that I overlooked the flaws.Back in March, the show seemed to sell out every performance but I guess it has weakened since the departure of some key cast members and because - as we have seen with certain Broadway musicals - shows just hit a wall at a...

While I am skeptical of The Lost Boys’ long-term box office outlook, credit where it’s due for the steady increase in both weekly revenue and average ticket price.The Outsiders had several advantages: a more favorable international tourism situation that affects musicals (especially flashy ones) more than other shows, and a Best Musical win. I also think that The Outsiders has stronger IP than The Lost Boys.But it’s the biggest hit new musical of the season and should do well this summer.

schubox said: "Interesting it says it's going to be one act"I looked right past that, but I imagine they don’t want to interrupt the momentum of the story with a relaxing intermission. One act doesn’t necessarily mean 90 minutes, though.

I agree that a lot of the performances were fantastic and that Bowen Yang made a good host who didn’t try too hard.I also dug down a short rabbit hole to learn more about the teen edition of Hadestown - which involves more key changes than substantive edits. I never knew that still-running Broadway musicals had teen editions that can only be licensed to teenage performers. It’s not surprising that the teen edition would be popular with high school theater kids and teachers. It’s a relatively ...

For whatever reason, Caissie Levy has never branched out into film or TV. Her credits are limited to a couple of film shorts, a yet-to-premiere anthology series on a streaming service I don’t know, and the Next to Normal proshot.

The Lunchbox extended for another week, to July 12. These sorts of extensions are fairly typical for out-of-town tryouts at the Berkeley Rep, although they have been one week at a time, but the show’s original run has sold very well. The Wednesday performance is sold out, for example, and there are few tickets available this week - originally scheduled as its last.But the extension has opened up plenty of seats, so anyone interested has options. As I mentioned in my detailed comments above, t...

I understand that Levy wasn’t just on a successful movie or starring in a TV show or even been on ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ but she is coming off a run of a lauded (and much-seen, thanks to the proshot) lead performance in Next to Normal followed by a Tony-winning star turn in Ragtime. At the peak of her career, there simply isn’t any reason for her to take a minor role in Paddington or even replace Bean in The Lost Boys.I agree that she’s only a Broadway star, not an actress that average peo...