Closure Of 'Enron' Shows Broadway's Flaws.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:19am

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/may/05/enron-broadway-close-early

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:47am

Oh Boo Hoo!
Sounds like a lot of whining because it wasn't liked across the pond.
I also think the writer's feelings that The New York Times review wields that much power these days is a bit wrong.
Could it be that, maybe, it just wasn't as good as it was believed to be in London?

Updated On: 5/5/10 at 09:47 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:51am

Sour grapes to be sure.

It's a good thing that Fela! is such a traditional and safe musical and didn't break the mold. Otherwise how would it have gotten so many nominations?

But at least the link was posted in 2 separate threads just to be sure we all saw it! Lol.

Fail.

Updated On: 5/5/10 at 09:51 AM

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 10:24am

I read the comments after the article. One posted by a New Yorker is good.

My thought is that most people don't want to pay to see something like this that has been so big in the news. I would though. One of the first shows I booked in 2006 when I was there was "Stuff Happens". When I told people what it was about, they wondered why I wanted to see it. I feel Enron might have been better off-Broadway. I haven't seen it but from what I have read about it and heard about it, it just doesn't seem like a big draw on Broadway. Maybe it was a hit overseas because it didn't happen there. Just my random thoughts.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 10:29am

"'Heavy on sizzle, light on steak'? Enron did not play to Broadway's conservative instincts."

Yeah, things like American Idiot, Fela!, In The Next Room, Rock of Ages, Next To Normal - all designed to appeal to the conservative theater-goer.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 10:35am

Just recycled America bashing.

[alterego]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 10:55am

Didn't ENRON come out of subsidised theatre in Britain? If so its initial box office take would have been mostly from subscription sales and the balance from tourists and locals. So if it did well there and transferred into the West End it would have been in the black, but even then I don't think it ran terribly long. Maybe it's just not commercial?

[DeNada]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 11:11am

alterego, the show's still running in the West End - the run's been extended and it's about to tour, so it's definitely a big success here. Must try and grab a ticket, actually.

TimesSquare, although you do point out In The Next Room all those examples are musicals, which isn't what that Guardian article is about - it's specifically about plays. With that said, Rupert Goold's trickery is an acquired taste in general, and clearly we Brits liked it more than the Americans did - if you read Whatsonstage.com's forums (basically the British equivalent of BWW) you'll see plenty of people sharing the same rather underwhelmed view of Enron.

What's with the rather xenophobic bashing on both Broadway and West End boards at the moment? Whether it's Broadway bashing the Menier revivals or us whinging about Enron it all seems a bit pointless. They're very different markets where very different shows fly, and both produce some great theatre.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 11:14am

Thank you, DeNada, for being a voice of reason.

Now can you head over to the "Sweet Charity" thread and do the same?

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 11:30am

'Enron' originally had a limited season at the Noel Coward theatre of 12 weeks, within a few weeks of it opening it had extended by an extra 14 weeks taking it until Aug 14th. A further extension is in the works. During this time a tour has been put together and it will hit major UK cities for 9 weeks from August.
It is one of the West Ends biggest grossing plays of recent years.
A large percentage of its audience, by the way, are Americans.

[CAX]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 11:34am

I actually think there is something of value in the article, when you cut out the "Butthurt" elitism. For many of us who are career theatre artists, the Big White Way often represents a major milestone, an arrival, of sorts, at THE largest showplace, but what many of us fail, or in my case refuse, to see is that Broadway, as that most holy shrine of commercial American theatre, has long since left its big gambling days behind and in the process has inverted its Art to Commercial Crap ratio.

Obviously it gets more expensive to produce something every year and people who are dropping cash into these vehicles want to see returns, but what the writer of the Guardian article is right about is BWAY's aversion to producing new plays that break the mold... or any mold... When you add the extra requirement that the play have a "STAR" attached, it's literally a recipe for _______. You fill in the blank with whatever you think it is. I hope I'm wrong, as I'm always prepared to be proven, but I strongly doubt the next adventurous great American Play or playwright will be discovered ON BWAY using its current model.

The musical vs. play is a different argument for a different post, but I do find it interesting that a lot of people I've come into contact with recently seem to only know BWAY for musicals. It must be a cultural shift.

After all, even a proven name like Neil Simon's was proven to no longer be a guarantee of success.
Updated On: 5/5/10 at 11:34 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 11:44am

The thing is, the West End isn't exactly a bastion of breaking the mold. London is fortunate to have the National Theatre, which CAN produce more avant-garde or less conservative pieces of theatre, but because it's publicly funded and doesn't need to turn a profit. But what's running on the commercial West End, and what's really successful there? Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. We Will Rock You. Phantom of the Opera. Wicked. There are productions with big names- Londoners aren't flocking to Waiting for Godot because it's Beckett. The West End and Broadway are really two sides of the same coin.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 11:51am

I'm a fellow who was twice immersed in the Punchdrunk production of the MacBethian/Hitchcokian "Sleep No More," and I definitely feel I experienced some British mold-breaking.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 12:38pm

I'd say that the success of Enron shows the West End's flaws, actually.

Here's a review from Michael Feingold re: ENRON, and he hits the nail very much on the head.
ENRON COLLAPSES

[DeNada]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 12:48pm

How does ENRON's success show the West End's flaws, Roscoe? I can't necessarily disagree with that review - I've not seen the show yet, but it flags up much of what critics of the play have already said, that Goold's direction is too tricksy and Prebble's script both too ambitious and too shallow. But I don't think that shows up anything about the West End in general.

Has anyone on the Broadway side of BWW seen JERUSALEM, the other big new play of 2009/10? What did you think of it?

[CONAries]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 12:56pm

I think, and this is my point all along, theatre fans in both America and England have the same views, HOWEVER, the general public, dont!

In summary, public seeing shows enjoy this fun, OTT glittery shows, as thats what they expect, however, in Britain, children are now being brought through school, and things like the National Theatre on bizarre, unusual pieces of theatre, whether it's an abstract piece, or a straight play with slightly bizarre meanings, and this is something that is not echoed in America (although, it does vary state from state) which means the general public in America ONLY flock to these big lavish shows, unless they have been recommended to something abit less ordinary, where Britains public, will give almost anything a go as long as it has an interesting story summary!

However, the big winners worldwide, still are, and I fear always will be, the big things like Wicked, Priscilla, We will rock you etc.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 12:58pm

Lighten up, Denada. Mostly a jest at the stupidity of the headline about Enron's Closing Showing Broadway's Flaws, and how easily it could be inverted: if such a lame show as ENRON is a hit in the West End, what does that really say about the West End?

Not to be a snob or anything. No country has the monopoly on excellence, or on crap.

Updated On: 5/5/10 at 12:58 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:12pm

It's also a different cast. I mean, from the clips I've seen it looks very cool visually, but when I'm watching the book scenes I zone out and want to snooze.

It reminds me of "Corum Boy." My friend saw it in London and was RAVING about it, but then it opened over here and closed within a few weeks.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:13pm

The Guardian blog (seriously, it's a blog, people) doesn't take into consideration that the West End and Broadway successful plays rarely translate to similar success when crossing the pond in either direction. His misinformation deals with everything from Brantley's alleged power to close shows with a negative review to Broadway's distaste at using visual spectacle in a play (save for Angels in America, the author's singular exception).

It's an ignorant article from an ignorant individual. Nothing more. You don't even have to go back as far as 1993 to find British transfers and/or spectacles/edgy/unique plays (though I assume the author is attempting to be rather specific as to the sort of play Enron is, yet generalizes why it failed on Broadway) to find such works as Art, Beauty Queen of Leenane, Closer, Copenhagen, Invention of Love, Metamorphoses, Democracy, The Pillowman, The History Boys, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Coast of Utopia, Frost/Nixon, Rock 'n' Roll, The Seafarer, The 39 Steps and God of Carnage.

And though it was nominated, Enron did not win the Olivier Award for Best Play, so it's not as if the British felt it was the most deserving work of the season. Meanwhile, I seem to remember that West End mold-breaker Calendar Girls was on last season, wasn't it? But I do believe the transfer of War Horse will probably be a hit on Broadway, though it's being a British play and a spectacle may not harm its chances as much as one might think.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:18pm

Maybe Broadway needs to become more like London theater.


You know...more straight plays based on movies starring the likes of Josh Hartnett or Luke Perry!

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:31pm

lolol one thing i cant take is Borstal Boys swipe at british plays considering some of the greatest plays came from and still continue to come from the UK.

And come on, are you really taking a swipe at a handfull of british plays being based on movies....really?, have you looked around Broadway the past 5 years?

I for one did not think Enron was great, i apreciated what it was trying to do but i think it got lost in the visual, i can't say im shocked it closed early in NY, im sad for the cast and crew but to me we have far far better plays than this.

[musical_ash_09]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:36pm

Such a shame. I was looking forward to seeing this. I had tickets for the first week of June. Is it normal for a show to close that close to opening night? I mean, did it even have a chance?
I would have thought it would have atleast finished out the month of May.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:46pm

This is a silly thread. And I'm as guilty as everyone else of taking part in it.

There are certain posters who love nothing more than to stoke the fires of xenophobia whenever they see the chance.
This thread is a perfect example.

Both Bway and the West End produce works of amazing skill and depth. And thank god we can share these plays/musicals in various transfers.

It is not a contest. It is not a "who's better" schoolyard bullying game.

Enron's failure here says nothing about any flaws Bway may or may not have.
And those who try to make it about that the ones missing out.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 1:53pm

I agree, i think the article is misguided

[Weez]

Posted: 5/5/10 at 2:12pm

I'm incredibly fed up of the semi-mild but seemingly-endless xenophobia on both sides of the Atlantic, and forever grateful to the classy few who speak out against it rather than perpetuating it. It's not pretty in EITHER direction, guys.