Profile for BJR

Doesn’t she say in her memoir she was told by Laurents that she would star in the next screen treatment of it, and then Bette did it. (Though famously, Bette was originally hoping to do MAME.)

She's a brilliant actress and did some nuanced and powerful work. But the score nor character really fit on her. Those huge brassy belting songs didn't sound like they naturally poured out of her. Bernadette is not a shouting personality and it's clear. In short, if you wrote the show for her, the score wouldn't sound that way.

And also, it's inaccurate to suggest the average ticket price was around a $40 ticket, like the attendance was high cuz it was all papered.The reason many are saying the model on Bway is in serious danger is you shouldn't have to sell tickets for $500 to hit your nut every week, get well over a million dollars in weekly gross.It's not sustainable and was unimaginable 10-20 years ago.

If RAGTIME was making significant money, they would be keeping it open. LCT (or any non profit right now) is not in the position to be closing hits they could run.

joevitus said: "Are you saying you don't believe this plays a role?"Oh it absolutely does. I'm just saying many here think it's the sole reason. The breakdown I'd love to see is Bway costs vs London, because London isn't a cheap town and seeing the discrepancy in prices would be fascinating. Is rent really that much lower? I do know they have far weaker unions...

jpbran said: "#2 at the US box office yesterday with nearly $4m. Estimated to hit around $10m for the weekend. Impressive!"Incredible. And frankly, when people talk about needing a new Bway business model…

Folks. Repeatedly blaming landlords is not only simplistic but it doesn’t account for nearly every nonprofit also having trouble, even across the country. Costs are up dramatically and revenue isn’t.

bear882 said: "Here’s the line from the Eustis interview that struck me, in response to Paulson’s question about what has changed financially.Eustis: It’s unfortunately pretty simple. Costs have gone up between 50 to 75 percent and income has, for us, stayed flat or decreased.The Public Theater might have some unique problems, but I doubt they are that unique. I don’t know all the causes of the cost increases, but it’s obvious enough that a business - commercial or nonprofit - with soaring co...

FWIW, Oskar Eustis spoke on this in his exit interview in the Times: And how are you feeling about the state of Broadway musicals?When “Cabaret” lost its money, that felt to me like a turning point. A whole lot of investors went, “If a show that ran for that long with that much star power and that much buzz could lose all that money, what am I doing investing in musicals?” Going from four out of five shows losing their money to nine

CoffeeBreak said: "PINK was a guest host for many episodes of the KELLY CLARKSON SHOW this past season when Clarkson called it quits and was filming in Los Angeles. There's rumor she might be taking over the slot with the The PINK Show - and that could be the biggest reason she's moved East.If true, she won't be doing a Broadway show 8 times a week."That would certainly pay a lot more...

Kad said: "Per the show's social media, it looks like Valentina actually went on tonight. Abrupt departures and now surprise debuts- so weird."So weird!

PipingHotPiccolo said: "MJ is WAY worse than any of these other examples-- it isnt just that money is going to his estate, its that the show CELEBRATES HIM AS A CHARACTER. There is no play on Broadway lauding and lionizing Scott Rudin or William Ivey Long as PEOPLE. Its truly astounding (and i say this as someone who recognizes MJ's musical genius)"I know we discussed this years ago but MJ literally broke its own supposed logic for not including the allegations by setting it in 1993 before th...

binau said: "I’ve heard behind the scenes from a credible source that the running costs for Ragtime are so high they are losing money every week even with these grosses so ‘hit’ may not be the right word. Broadway is dead."if Ragtime was profitable, it would not be closing. LCT needs that money and would not be closing a hit.

theatregoer said: "SkidRow82 said: "It feels like the operating costs, expected box office, and time it takes to recoup have all doubled in the last decade instead of just slowly rising over time...It's not necessarily incompatible with "slowly" rising over time though (depending on how you define slowly). Let's say you're right that costs have increased by 100% over last ten years. ~38% of that is just inflation. To get the rest, you only need an additional 3.7% cost increases per year over ...

Of course not all things need to come to Broadway but I think the point ALW and many others are saying is getting missed by some here quibbling over particulars.It is unusual that show after show can get raves, and not be able to run. It isn't just CATS. It's now the norm. Hell, EVITA almost didn't come over after SUNSET won raves and Tonys and closed at a loss. MAYBE HAPPY ENDING is dangerously close and it was beloved and won Best Musical. Of course LOST BOYS isnt making 30+ million back - ...

Kad said: "It is wild that this is happening at LaMaMa of all places."So wild!

malcs98 said: "GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "No it's the Bess Wohl written/Scott Rudin produced play... or maybe the other he has in development"Why are we still letting Scott Rudin back in?"He literally just won a Tony. Yes, he's been let back in.And if folks don't agree, they dont' have to buy a ticket. But can every thread not devolve into shock that not everyone agrees. I mean, MJ is sitting right there...

I know around the time of the book, he was working on a screenplay again (anyone else remembering Jake Gyllenhaal wanting to make it?). Shame that died. Probably because streamers turned against making musical adaptations.

Those HUNCHBACK clips were everywhere. And frankly, pretty impressive for a new company.

Kad said: "And this is the approach that has long been embraced in staging classic plays. It’s extremely rare to see Shakespeare or Sophocles staged in their literal settings, even as their texts frequently refer to them."This is exactly what I said after I saw it at PAC. It plays like a Shakespeare production, where aspects make more emotional than logical sense. (The moon part, in particular.)And not to take anything from Levingston, but it would make sense given Rausch's history at OSF.