Season of Closings- Page 2

[jagfkb]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 8:22pm

Here's a list of how many theatres will/ will not be empty so far:
13 - Empty
All My Sons - Filled
American Buffalo - Empty
Dividing the Estate - Empty
Equus - Filled
Gypsy- Empty
Hairspray - Empty
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas - Filled
A Man for All Seasons - Filled
Monty Python’s Spamalot - Filled
Pal Joey - Filled
The Seagull - Empty
Speed-the-Plow - Empty
Spring Awakening - Empty
Young Frankenstein - Empty

9 Empty/ 6 Filled- Not good at all...
Then again, Spiderman is being rumored for the Hilton, Dirty Dancing for the Neil Simon, and FELA for either the St. James, or the Neil, so it's about even, IF these shows DO happen...

[Maurice]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 8:38pm

Oops! How did I forget GYPSY in my list? Slava's Snowshow will close on 1/4/2009. I didn't include it since it hasn't begun performances yet. That will leave the Helen Hayes empty in January.

[rich.hanson59]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 8:41pm

The 39 Steps will transfer to the Helen Hayes on January 20, 2009.

[Maurice]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 8:49pm

That's right... I completely forgot THE 39 STEPS was moving there. And, Will Ferrell's show will be going into the Cort. But, his show closes 3/15/2009. Anything going into the Cort after that or will that leave it empty?

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 8:55pm

I think it's frightening that THREE musicals will be closing on January 4th, my birthday no less, and that in that month we will lose FIVE shows!!!
I can't really count Dividing the Estate and White Christmas since they are limited.

[EnWashingtonHeights]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 8:59pm

Well as we loose 5 shows we get 5 more.

[CarolynaGirl]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:03pm

Gypsy is closing March 4th.

No, the poster before you was correct.
Gypsy closes March 1st.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:04pm

The Story of My Life was just announced for a February 19 opening at the Booth.

And the O'Neill has a tenant that I think is being announced tomorrow.
Story of My Life in the NY Times

[lstbutifulgrl2]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:13pm

i am so excited for TSOML to open!

[Madcap Maisie]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:15pm

so sad...

[rich.hanson59]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:15pm

Not only will 5 musicals close in January, but three of them were Tony Award winners for Best Musical. (Hairspray, Spamalot, and Spring Awakening)

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:18pm

while theres no doubt that Bush did NOTHING to help the situation, and is feckless fool of a leader, this economic mess is not his fault. it was bound to happen in the absence of any real economic regulation- and unfortunately that mess is largely due to Clinton's time, not Bush's. It was Clinton and Greenspan who presided over the seeds of this, not Bush.

and as someone who works right in the middle of this, let me tell you, it is NOT getting better anytime soon. I'm kinda shocked that producers are still putting up these shows and cant fathom who will be paying to see them as most of wall street and big law (not to mention the middle america, middle class) wont be able to afford $120 seats.

[bwaybabe2]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:49pm

Agree, Ole Chum. I don't think for a minute that Bush was totally at fault for this economic mess. Clinton enjoyed the wise set up by Reagan for the future. Then Bush came, and 911 happened. I, for one, I'm glad that he decided to concentrate on OUR safety primarily. Sure, he could have attended the economy a bit, but then, what are the so called "experts" working on this in the goverment for? (whom the President no doubt relied on to mind these matters).
Life is not always fair, and I think Bush has been adopted as the scapegoat for everything that ails us, in this nation.

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:52pm

i mean, i dunno if id go that far- i dont he "concentrated on our safety"- he just blindly blundered along, doing whatever this or that advisor told him to do, without any actual agenda. its a crime.

i just find it dangerous when people blame him for the current state of the economy because a) its just not fair but b) it implies that Obama will Save Us All! and he cant, wont, and shouldnt be expected to... its going to be a long few years...

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 9:53pm

Even if Bush is not directly responsible for the economic mess, he hired those "experts." If they didn't do their jobs competently, it reflects badly on him.

[TBD2]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 10:47pm

Sorry Ole Chum, the election is over. We can quit pretending that the current administration had its hands tied for 8 YEARS by a FORMER president who presided over a relatively prosperous period.

The president doesn't make all the decisions, but he is damn well responsible for them -- sorry but that's how it goes. Well at least we still have Brownie "doing a great job" (probably in Alaska overseeing some bridge construction project) and CEOs wall papering their villas with our 750 BILLION dollars!

I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or call The Onion! Republicans blaming deregulation on the Democrats, rich!

We now return you to our regularly scheduled entertainment commentary...

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 11:02pm

To answer the question of when Broadway previously had so many empty theatres...look at the 1980's. Before LES MIZ and PHANTOM opened many many theatres were vacant, and shows were closing after short runs. A lot of flops from the 80s: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, OH BROTHER, A DOLL'S LIFE, MERLIN, BABY, DOONSBURY, THE RINK, GRIND, BIG DEAL, RAGS, LEGS DIAMOND ...

Expensive failures leaving theatres empty for months. The league began having the marquees from closed shows replaced with generic "SEE A BROAWY SHOW" marquees.

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 11/23/08 at 11:23pm

your boring old Bushbashing gets no argument from me- i agree completely that everything our dear President touched turned to sh*t. this is not a defense of Bush economic policy. there wasnt any really, except to help his friends.

but pretty much anyone with any educated perspective on this current crisis (and I dont necessarily consider myself an expert) would tell you that this crisis is based on the bursting of a housing market, that was inflated to a ridiculous degree by Clinton and Greenspan. That the sheer lack of regulation was something some Democrats started complaining about three years ago, but it was way too late at that point. The huge finance firms are big political donors to both parties and enjoyed complete ignorance from BOTH sides of the Congressional aisle.

I obviously don't know who you are or what you do for a living, but take it from someone who works in the New York corporate world: were devastated by whats going on, but intelligent enough to not just blame Bush and think Obama is gonna fix it all.

[Broadway Baby 2]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 12:04am

This is a transition period for Broadway. I know that the ecanomic crisis is to blame for a part of this, but dont worry. I am sure that some hits are on the way. Maybe things will become as they once were. Many more shows will open and close per season. This will create more opportunities for lesser known performers to have jobs.

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 1:19am

Just curious because I haven't been checking grosses lately but do you think the wave of closes is at an end for now or do you think there is more to come soon?

[snl89]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 1:58am

Sorry, this might come off pretty obnoxious, but I just have to get it out:

People were going on and on, after the announcement of SA's closing, that those of us who were blaming the economy (and, therefore, Bush- even though I'm aware Bush was not by any means the SOLE person responsible for the state of the economy) were being ridiculous. On here and many other boards I was hearing left and right, "stop freaking out! This is the natural cycle of Broadway".

Well NOW are people starting to realize that this is not the freaking natural cycle of Broadway??? EIGHT main shows, that I've counted (not including plays that may be closing, and things like that). And that's NOT including RENT, because in fairness RENT's closing was announced quite a while ago, well before the huge economic downturn. Oh and that's also not including Gypsy, because I figure it was always going to close whenever Patti decided to leave the show. I'm just looking at the main Broadway musicals which had open runs and are being forced to close.

Again, I'm not saying that it is ALL Bush's fault, because I'm aware there's more to the economy than just what Bush did. I'm simply saying that I think it's ridiculous at this point to assume that this is just a natural thing, and that the economy is not really playing that large a role in the onslaught of show closings.

The fact is that Broadway IS suffering from the economic downturn. How much of the economic downturn is a direct result of Bush, that's up for debate. But just.. no more "natural Broadway cycle" stuff. It's NOT the natural cycle of things. It's the economy.

:)


(For the record, I'm not even really specifically referencing this board in particular. I just noticed, in GENERAL, that after people started freaking out, there were all these people from various places going "it's sad, mourn the shows you like that are closing, but don't blame it all on the economy because this is natural". And it was just pissing me off because it's simply NOT TRUE. haha)

Updated On: 11/24/08 at 01:58 AM

[boyfromoz2]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 3:20am

Here's a list of Broadway theatres and their current/upcoming shows:

Ambassador - Chicago
American Airlines - A Man for All Seasons closes Dec 14/Hedda Gabler opens Jan 25
Atkinson - Grease
Barrymore - Speed-the-Plow closes Feb 22/NO INCOMING SHOW
Beaumont - South Pacific
Belasco - American Buffalo closed yesterday/NO INCOMING SHOW
Booth - Dividing The Estate closes Jan 4/The Story of My Life opens February 3
Broadhurst - Equus closes Feb 8/Mary Stuart opens April 19
Broadway - Shrek
Circle in the Square - currently empty/NO INCOMING SHOW
Cort - The 39 Steps leaves Jan 11/Will Ferrell's show opens Feb 5
Eugene O'Neill - Spring Awakening closes January 18/NO INCOMING SHOW
Friedman - currently empty/The American Plan opens Jan 22
Gershwin - Wicked
Golden - Avenue Q
Helen Hayes - currently empty/Slava's Snowshow opens Dec 7/The 39 Steps transfers Jan 20
Hirschfeld - currently empty/Hair opens Mar 5
Hilton - Young Frankenstein closes Jan 4/NO INCOMING SHOW YET
Imperial - Billy Elliot
Jacobs - 13 closes Jan 4/NO INCOMING SHOW
Kerr - The Seagull closes Dec 21/NO INCOMING SHOW
Longacre - Boeing Boeing
Lunt-Fontanne - Little Mermaid
Lyceum - currently empty/Vanaties opens Feb 26
Majestic - Phantom of the Opera
Marquis - White Christmas closes Jan 1/9 to 5 opens Apr 30
Minskoff - Lion King
Music Box - August: Osage County
Nederlander - currently empty/Guys and Dolls opens Mar 1
New Amsterdam - Mary Poppins
Palace - currently empty/Liza opens Dec 3/West Side Story opens Mar 19
Rodgers - In The Heights
Schoenfeld - All My Sons closes Jan 11/Impressionism opens Mar 12
Shubert - Spamalot closes Jan 11/Blithe Spirit opens Feb 26
Simon - Hairspray closes January 4/NO INCOMING SHOW
St. James - Gypsy closes Mar 1/NO INCOMING SHOW
Studio 54 - Pal Joey closes Feb 15/Waiting For Godot opens Apr 30
Wilson - Jersey Boys
Winter Garden - Mamma Mia

So far the theatres with no shows coming in are the Ethel Barrymore, the Belasco, the Circle in the Square, the Eugene O'Neill, the Hilton, the Bernard Jacobs, the Walter Kerr, the Neil Simon and the St. James.

Thats 9 theatres empty!!! How sad
Updated On: 11/26/08 at 03:20 AM

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 6:48am

Impressionism is going into the Schoenfeld. Opening March 12.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 7:32am

Several of those empty theatres are spoken for. Just sit tight. Yes, many of them will be dark in January, but by spring, most of them will have tenants.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 12:57pm

There will be a total of 8 empty theaters this winter/spring.

Palace - West Side Story
Helen Hayes - Slava's Snowshow, then The 39 Steps.
Marquis - Soul of Shaolin, then 9 to 5
Friedman(formerly Biltmore) - The American Plan, then Accent of Youth
Nederlander - Guys & Dolls
Lyceum - Vanities
Al Hirschfeld - Hair
Schoenfeld - Impressionism
Shubert - Blithe Spirit
Booth - The Story of My Life
Eugene O'Neil - Fela!??
Neil Simon - Dirty Dancing?? [Fall '09]
Walter Kerr - Nerds?? [Fall '09]
Hilton - Spiderman?? [Fall '09]
Circle in the Square - [title of show] return?? [April '09]
Belasco - reasons to be pretty??
Barrymore - ??
St. James - ??
Jacobs - ??

Updated On: 11/24/08 at 12:57 PM