AVE Q Tour Canceled - Vegas Instead (Boooo!)- Page 3

[ozboy]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 8:34am

Regardless of whether or not the Avenue Q people lied or were deceitful, Tony voters should have been voting for the better show, not what serves their own interest. If anything, leading road producers to believe it would tour put Avenue Q and Wicked, which was already known to be touring soon, on a level playing field - and Avenue Q won.

At the end of the day, why should Avenue Q be criticized for not playing fair in an unfair process? This whole issue just sheds further light on the fact that the voting process is biased.

[Craig]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 9:08am

Did the 15 percent of voting demo (as per reidel) NOT think WICKED would "sell" in their markets? Whatever transpired during voting (as I said earlier in this thread) looks more like an issue for the voters, not the nominees...

[ckeaton]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 9:24am

This is one of those cases where I wish that the actual vote tallys were made public. If Avenue Q only beat Wickedby 10-15% of the vote or less, which I have to imagine it did, then there is a reason to cry foul. The producers should be held accountable for their deceitful tactics.

(of course, there is another issue here: should road producers be voting... if they admittedly are voting based on commerce and not talent)

[Craig]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 9:32am

Expanding on my earlier thought..

Despite all the speculation being thrown around, one has to ask if Ave Q's "promise" swayed that much of a vote. It seems to me that WICKED is just as viable (and sellable) and I would think that if the voters "in question" who voted their hearts would know that. So "promise" or not, I would like to think the "better" show won.

This isn't meant to bash WICKED at all - Given the houses most of these tours play, I personally think WICKED would translate better on tour.

So the concern (at least for me) would be the true motivation of the 15 percent that makes up the road voters in how they vote. These post-TONY accusations, to me, point more of a finger in their direction, not the producers of Q.

It seems to me that Ave Q won, and now they are ticked that the winner of the Best Musical (along with best book, etc) is not touring - NOT about any promises. I think if WICKED had one, none of the tour operators would be crying out as much - whether or not they voted Ave Q...

[alterego]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 10:20am

Mention was made earlier of International Rights. Do you think this show would work outside of North America? Some shows are just too American to hold appeal for say an Australian, British or South African audience.

Interesting to note that some stops on the Urinetown tour have been cancelled. Urinetown, in a local production has just recently sold out a 6 week season here in Melbourne in a 900 seat theatre.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 10:22am

Hmmm......is Mr.Riedel really one to comment?
(refering to 5th & 6th photos)
https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=936https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=936>https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=936

[ckeaton]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 10:25am

I think that the show has central themes that appeal to everyone regardless of nationality.

• Finding a purpose in life
  
• Racism
  
• Being unlucky in love
  
• Being lucky in love
  
• Finding yourself
  
• Longing for "simpler" times of youth
  

I honestly think that the show could be tweaked to add humor and fit very nicely with any locale. (Such as the lyrics "*insert politician here* is only for now"...

[nyctopone]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 1:43pm

I agree with the producers decision. I lived most of my life in NYC but recently moved to South Florida. The three nearest theatres that Broadway tours go into - Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami - are horrible barns, and I wouldn't waste my money going. Unless you have seats in the front rows (which never are available to the public since they are subscribers who had them for years and years) the enjoyment of these shows, especially smaller ones is lessened. Even the last rows in most Broadway houses are better than halfway back in the orchestra section in these theatres.
Good for Ave Q to realize that these houses would have been wrong for their show. Too bad most touring venues don't design better theatres for touring productions.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 3:50pm

You know, these voters who are complaining that Avenue Q lied to them, are just making themselves sound bad. They're all basically admitting that they just voted on what would make THEM the most amount of money and now they're bitter that someone else (Q) is doing what will be better financially for themselves.

[onlylisab]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 6:02pm

I think that is unfortunate. They should most definitely tour after pulling that Tony out of their a**es.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 6:07pm

You know, I really liked Wicked the two times I saw it, but all these Shizkids are making me so pissed by unjustly bashing Q, I think my regard of Wicked is lowering by its fanatics' posts.

[ozboy]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 8:43pm

You're not the only one.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/11/04 at 9:15pm

"You know, I really liked Wicked the two times I saw it, but all these Shizkids are making me so pissed by unjustly bashing Q, I think my regard of Wicked is lowering by its fanatics' posts. "


Thats exactly what happened to me. I really liked it when I first saw it but now the more fanatical posts I see the less enthusiastic I am for something I once enjoyed.

[MyNameInLights]

Posted: 6/12/04 at 12:35am

They're calling them "Shizkids" now? That's really cute!

Look, I love Wicked very much. I love Avenue Q very much. It's not about who won the Tony for me. There is no need for bashing just because the underdog won. Wicked doesn't need the Best Musical Tony to know it's doing well. They can look at their ticket sales and how many threads block up this message board. Why do you care? Because the voting of Best Musical was unjust? Maybe so, but do your favorite musical of the two a favor and and stop moaning about which one is better. Support them by seeing the show and letting them know you love them... don't bring the useless negativity here.

Furthermore, I still have a bad feeling about this. It just won't be the same as the original.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 6/12/04 at 1:07am

Not only is Avenue Q much better than Wicked, but Avenue Q has nicer, more polite, and less-petty fans!

(let the flaming begin...ahahahahaha!)

[Bohoboy]

Posted: 6/12/04 at 1:37am

you know, not ever reading The Post is a blessing. Having watched Theatre Talk regularly for a few years now I thought that Micheal Riedel was an intelligent reporter who understood the economics of theatre. Having said that, I've never seen a word he's written. Honestly, when I read the article I was expecting another page, I actually said aloud to myself, "where's the rest of the article?" I guess that's what I get for reading the New York Times, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the editor's infatuation with divas.

I think it's unfortunate that Ave Q now has to deal with this backlash. It really deserved it's tony(s). It's a smart show that shouldn't have to suffer the adverse effects a 4,000 seat auditorium would have on it.

And no one has mentioned the required agreements the commercial producers have with not-for-profit theatre comapnies which developed the show (Vineyard and Eugene O'Neill)who are no doubt getting a boost from the Vegas sit-down. The great thing about non-profits is that the money they are recieving from this project is funneled into future projects that can bring about more heartfelt shows like Ave Q. Seriously, everyone wins. The road producers need to think long term. There's something to be said for every Tony winning show this year coming from a non-profit theatre company. That's where most of the exciting work of the modern American theatre is taking place. Funding them is crutial to the longevity and immediacy of theatre, musical or not, in the 21st Century.

2 cents.

Updated On: 6/12/04 at 01:37 AM

[DivaMommy]

Posted: 6/12/04 at 2:21am

So, I first have a question. Ave Q had previously stated they would go on tour, then announced, just days after winning the Tony that they would be playing in Vegas instead? If they did announce a tour but all the time had plans for Vegas only, that is decietful and wrong. I also think that voting only for a show that will be coming on tour is wrong, as well. However, Wicked is planning a tour, so why didn't they vote for Wicked? If it was politically/financially motivated, I would have voted for Wicked. It would certainly put more money in the theatre owner's pockets than Avenue Q. Even without a Tony award, Wicked has a broader market appeal than Ave Q. Maybe that was their thiking - "Well, we'll make a buttload off of Wicked regardless, so let's give the Tony to Ave Q to bulster our reciepts for that tour!" or, maybe they just thought Ave Q was a better show.

As a Las Vegan, I do know that "Tony award winning" won't mean as much to tourists as "Full Puppet Nudity." I think a "dirty little puppet show" like Ave Q will do quit well here, and if Steve Wynn approached my show to come to his new hotel, I'd go in a HEARTBEAT! The man knows how ot do Vegas.

I for one am excited for any Broadway show to make a home in Las Vegas. Most new tours don't even make it here - just as an example, Hairspray isn't scheduled to get here until 2006 and that's thrilling that it's even scheduled to come at all! Most of the shows that tour here were on broadway in the 90's, if ever. So, for once, we get the show! Yeah for us!

[Blonde]

Posted: 6/12/04 at 1:07pm

it'll be interesting to see how it does in vegas. though it's almost a gurantee that it won't be as good as the broadway show. though the theatre isn't that much bigger, i just think the show works a lot better with a smaller, more intimate audience.
and i agree that all of this avenue Q backlash is terrible. i love both shows and would've been happy either way. I think they were prepared to lose, not to win

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 6/12/04 at 10:34pm

Actually, I just madeup "Shizkids" on the spot, but feel free to use it. I can't afford copyrights NEway

[JeffG]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 12:00am

I believe people think that wicked sells itself, tony or not. Avenue Q is a harder sell and therefor would be helped marketing wise to have tony award winning in front of it when it played "peoria"