ASSASSINS CLOSING EARLY- Page 2

[marcy marc]

Posted: 6/28/04 at 5:04pm

I LOVE IT... ckeaton saying it MAY... and broadway.com being unreliable HA!!!...playbill.com broke the story!!! and its true they had hard time selling the summer...the buzz died down and its audience already saw it. If you went to 54 you would have seen they had tons of tickets for the summer. It is just a hard show to sell. And like they said if business boosts then they will extend closing night. oh yeah and playbill always had it as july 18th jsut their headline was wrong!! Updated On: 6/28/04 at 05:04 PM

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 6/28/04 at 5:07pm

Basically the Roundabout is threatening to close if tickets don't pick up. They'll probably go longer no matter what, but they're tryiung to boost sales. You all can help that! Tell your friends, this show is too good to go out early at all.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 6/28/04 at 5:43pm

huh?

[BroadwayBound06]

Posted: 6/28/04 at 9:19pm

It WILL NOT close before I see it.

Posted: 6/28/04 at 10:59pm

I've no idea what's going on but...

Mediocore score, boring book and a college level production of a joyless show. I know some think it's "brilliant," and you're entitled. For me there was nothing of interest.

If the closing notice is true and there is a lack of future ticket sales, I'm not surprised at its fate.

A show hoisted by its own petard.



Updated On: 6/28/04 at 10:59 PM

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 6/28/04 at 11:03pm

Ya know, if they had just decided to close it a week after July 18th, my schedule wouldn't be ruined. I have ushering dates for the week after it closes...so I really hope they don't close it as soon as they say they will.

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 12:11am

How does it feel to be in the tiny minority Jose?
Go waste your money on some other tourist crap.

Posted: 6/29/04 at 12:19am

I don't mind being in the minority Jamie.

Someone should point out the emperor's new clothes to those blinded by the lights.


You're welcome to see the emporer full dressed (but is he ever fully dressed without a smile).

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 1:25am

I didn't realize that you were the know it all little kid at the parade Jose.
Enlighten us with who is wearing the golden robe for real?

For someone who in other posts seems to know a lot and earn respect as a voice (even from me), this doesn't seem like an educated plea.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 1:57am

Actually, I can't complain anymore, as a friend got us 2nd row center tix for this weekend. Ah!

Honestly, they were NOT releasing good tix to the public if you tried to order online or something. I went to the box office 2 weeks beforehand and was only offered rear mezz. I come from PA with limited funds for my NY trips...I can't always take a risk on seats being available to a (seemingly!) popular show an hour beforehand. You know? And when I'm willing to actually pay good $ to see this, as I love the production and the cast so damn much, and they won't let me??? And then they complain that no one's buying tix? Wonder why!

The same thing just happened when I tried to get tix for After The Fall in mid-July. No matter what, I couldn't get anything better than rear mezz. And I bet we'll see scattered empty seats down below as we are denied the joy of seeing the hot one up close. Ugh.

[LouW95]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 5:47am

I hate to see any show close as this hurts Bway. Jobs, both on and off stage, are lost when a show closes. I do see a pattern with Sondheim shows- some groups keep reviving them and almost always, they run less than a year. I know many consider SS a genius but give it a rest. His shows start off with NY Times raves, then attract the devout theatre fans and soon post closing notices. Right or wrong, genius or not, Sondheim shows simply do not sell tickets on a long term basis as do those of Webber (Phantom, Cats) and Disney (Beauty, Lion, Aida).

[SamIAm]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 7:11am

Jose is entitled to his opinion. Art is, after all, subjective.

I, for one, think the score for Assassins is brilliant and though the show is disturbing to watch, it is extremely thought provoking and is NOT (thank GOD) the usual fare of pap that seems to be gaining favor on Broadway now (Mamma Mia, Bombay Dreams, etc.)

[SamIAm]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 7:18am

Sondheim revivals are just that REVIVALS, so I wouldn't necessarily expect them to run for a year or two as they have already been in NY and other towns.

Even in their original form, the idea you put forth that Webber, Disney shows and shows like Mamma Mia will run longer is the sad trend on Broadway but that does not mean they are BETTER show. It simply means that the theater audiences are now looking for the same kind of mindless drivel they see on TV and in the movies. Good, meaningful shows that make you think are in short supply and it's not only Sondheim shows that have short runs. Risky, experimental projects are being killed in short runs everywhere.

Sondheim is still a genius...unfortunately he is crying out in the wildnerness right now and I, for one, am sick of seeing the trend continue. It's very sad to watch good theater suffer this way. I hope it will be revived

[BroadwayPer4mer03]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 8:14am

This is ridiculous!It is definitely close on July 18.Howecome everyone choses to see shows like: Bombay Dreams and Mamma Mia and those other revivals which should flop like Wonderful Town or in some parts Fiddler( but only in some parts in the show). I mean really Bombay, Town, and Fiddler didn't win one Tony nor Little Shop but thats what everyone chooses to see!Now we know broadway shows like Wicked and Avenue Q will meet there fate in many years to come due to lack of attention and more attention to the flops!Why?!?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 9:49am

BroadwayPer4mer03 - That is because you are thinking like a theatre person and not like a tourist. After a couple of months, the hardcore theatre buffs and Sondheim fans have seen the show and all that is left are the tourists. They are not going for something heady or intellectual. They want fluff. They want happiness or melodrama. They do not want the history of American Presidential terrorism.

Just in case, Jarico and I got tickets in the front row of the rear Mezz for the "final performance" (unless they decide to extend again). If they DO extend again, I will be really pissed after all this publicity and we get understudies because it is a Sunday evening show. With Dracula and now this, scheduling our trip is becoming increasingly difficult.

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 6:45pm

But I think that we should be here to salute shows with substance.
Less and less writers and able and willing to spend time doing this anymore, and if shows like Assassins and Caroline, or Change can't get the support they need, soon all of our shows will be made out of recycled pop-crap.

I can't wait until the only things available at TKTS are the new Emminem musical "Whitey" featuring a show stopping eleven o'clock number "Slap Your Wife" and Elton John's and TIm Rice's reality based version of Disney's Mulan featuring the fabulous solo number "Somebody Untie My Feet."

Thank god for producers who still have taste, because the public standard is slowly declining.

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 6:56pm

Note to self: Eminem spelled with two m's, not three.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/29/04 at 7:11pm

Jamie Hat - It's a wonderful thought, but Broadway has never really worked that way. A Sondheim show rarely survives a long run or, God forbid, return its investment. If shows like Assassins and Caroline were more popular, it would be innovative. But with the popularity of shows like Urinetown and Avenue Q, writers still do have a glimmer of hope, but Assassins and Caroline simply don't appeal to the general movie-going masses. The tourist who shell out $75-100 a ticket are not doing it for the thrill of artistic merit. They want fun and spectacle. And those are the people that actually keep Broadway alive.

[IssaMe]

Posted: 6/30/04 at 11:35am

With the Roundabout subcription sales depleted, an advance now of under $100,000 (a major drop-off) and slow daily sales of between $40,000-50,000 per day, there just isn't enough momentum to keep the show open an additional six weeeks into September unless there is a sudden rush at the box office. Plus, it gives them extra time to build the new bathrooms they need before Pacific Overtures comes in.

Actually, the well-deserved Tony as Best Revival for "Assassins" probably would have done a better box office deed if it had gone to the floundering "Wonderful Town" instead. Now it looks like both shows may not survive into September.

Pity.

[Songof theShoebox]

Posted: 6/30/04 at 11:57am

It's really sad that Assassins is closing, it makes me worry about the future of Broadway.


(oh and IssaMe, was the thing about Pacific Overtures a joke, or are they actually considering reviving it?)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/30/04 at 12:11pm

The announcement about Pacific Overtures has been around a while. I believe it begins previews in October.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 6/30/04 at 12:15pm

It's not a joke. It's confirmed for a November start in Studio 54 with BD Wong in the lead role.

[emonkeygirl]

Posted: 6/30/04 at 12:18pm

I love this show, have seen it multiple times, wish it would keep running, but it was intended as a limited run anyway. So, obviously it was a nice suprise to the Roundabout that more people wanted to see it & extend it past its original closing date.
It's not your typical plot & it is a tough draw unless you actually know what it's about to begin with. I'm just glad I got to see it.

[Jamie Hat]

Posted: 6/30/04 at 12:31pm

Thanks for supporting my point Matt, it's the spectacles that are slowly turining garb. Avenue Q and Urinetown are far from that category and are the love children of years of struggling through smaller houses and then finally stumple on a producer with creative visions and the guts to do something original.
It's the specatacle that people pay the big bucks for, and they get what they pay for. Lights and costumes. Is it wrong to want more than that?
Shame.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/30/04 at 2:22pm

It's commendable to want more than that. To expect more than that is merely folly.