haha, well at least we now have an official article :)
wait, why am i smiley-facing? this sucks
My 2007/2008 Season:
Grey Gardens (7/5)
110 in the Shade (7/6)
Mary Poppins (7/7)
Xanadu (7/7)
Deuce (7/8)
Spamalot (7/8)
Jersey Boys (8/25)
The Year of Magical Thinking (8/25)
Mauritius (11/2)
Young Frankenstein (11/3)
Rock 'N' Roll (11/3)
Pygmalion (11/4)
Mauritius (11/10)
Mauritius (11/21) Mauritius (11/21)
Sunday in the Park with George (3/6)
South Pacific (3/7)
Gypsy (3/8)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (3/9)
Well, it won a couple Tonys, I have two cast recordings, there is a tour planned, so I'm fine with the closing. I don't go to New York too often. I wonder what will open in that theatre next. "A Catered Affair" is pretty much a given, right? too bad the theatre will be dark most of the season if "A Catered Affair" doesn't open until Spring. Any limited engagement possibilities?
I'm starting to think most new shows should come in as a limited run. Just post a closing date right away, then if ticket demand is so great, extend. If not, there's no embarasment of announcing a closing. And, of course, everything should just cost less. LOL, like that will happen.
I killed the boss, you don't think they're gonna fire me over a thing like that!!!!
That's really a good idea. Then the demand would increase and they'd either extend or close "as scheduled". Well, I feel glad that it had at least 300 performances. I might be going to Gypsy this July, and if I do, I am so seeing Grey Gardens.
I don't know how much it costs this show to run each week, but they haven't even grossed $500,000 this year (except for the first week listed, and I am not sure about before 2007), even with the small boost after the Tony Awards. Yes, the show has been doing SLIGHTLY better in terms of capacity the past few weeks, but that's about it. Grosses aren't necessarily improving...and this is while we're in the middle of the summer, the most popular time for tourists to come see shows. Imagine the grosses after the season ends if this is how it is performing now - it's better off it close now in the middle of the summer rather than wait till fall/winter. Perhaps a combination of the spike in Broadway ticket sales over the summer and the show's closing notice will prompt tourists to see this show, and Grey Gardens can pull in a few extra bucks.
Has it recouped it's investment yet? I haven't heard anything. The closing would make the show a financial flop, so I wouldn't refer to it as "hardly a flop."
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
I agree with Wicked. Grey Gardens is hardly a flop. People misuse the term. Meriam Webster defines "flop" as "to fail completely." One element of shortfall does not make a flop. Lestat was a flop. Pirate Queen was a flop. Carrie was a flop. You might even say Lovemusic was a flop. I think it's just bizzare to suggest that Grey Gardens, which has been running for years with extraordinary acclaim even approaches the idea of "flop"
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
But in the theatre world, a flop means that a show did not make it's money back by closing. If Grey Gardens does not make back it's money by July 29, it is a flop.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
"But in the theatre world, a flop means that a show did not make it's money back by closing."
I've been working in the theatre world for 20 years and I disagree with that. Some people have come to define it as that over the years. But traditionally it means more than that.
Here's what Ken Mandelbaum says:
I believe "flop" is a broad term that can be defined in a number of ways. For the purposes of my book Not Since Carrie: 40 Years of Broadway Musical Flops, I defined a flop as a musical that ran under 250 performances and did not return its investment. (A show like The Roar of the Greasepaint---The Smell of the Crowd managed, thanks to a pre-Broadway tour, to make back its investment in under 250 performances.)
I did not define "flop" as a show that failed to return its investment, because there would have been far too many titles to include. Indeed, celebrated shows like Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods failed to return their investment in their initial Broadway runs.
However, some sources, like Variety, tend to define "flop" just that way: as a show that failed to return its investment. And yes, by that standard, many distinguished shows were flops. I choose to draw a line between financial flops and artistic flops. Many shows that failed to return their investment were strong shows."
We don't even know yet if Grey Gardens has made back its investment. And it will have run over 300 performance, not including off-BWay, by the time it closes.
In any case, by any definition, even yours, I don't think we can call it a flop yet.
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
I agree, artscallion, there's more that goes into it. A show like Grey Gardens has had years of life, much acclaim, a plan for London and tours, and probably a good regional life. I just thought it was odd that Wicked was so surprised. Even die-hard fans of the show could see the writing on the wall.
It's just a message board. Let's not take it too seriously.
"Flop" is a term invented first by the Hollywood trade magazines (Variety, Hollywood Reporter, etc.) whenever they were discussing box office returns and profits.
It has nothing to do with artistic quality. THAT's the misuse of the word.
The "failure" is a financial one... only.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
I honestly believe that they will not sell out any performance of this show for the rest of the run, even the final performance. Tourists have never flocked to this show, and New Yorkers have seen it already.
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)