Glory Days Closing: Just Ridiculous

[Chason2]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 12:59am

Can you please tell me how it happens?
HOW does a Broadway show OPEN and CLOSE on the same day?
How can you even tell what will happen over the next few weeks?
I just think it's ridiculous. Despite critical reviews - you must hope that audiences will spread the word of mouth. MOVIES don't close on Saturday, after opening on Friday, just because they get bad reviews. A lot of money, time and effort has been spent on this play! The actors, writers and director are the ones that are cheated the most! They never even got a chance! I just don't understand it. I mean, I know this is not the first time this has ever happened, but I still think it's absurd. You either feel like you've got something worth doing or you don't. It kind of smells like someone's tax write-off to me. Give it a f**king CHANCE!
I'm betting it aint a bad show (sight unseen, mind you). Too bad nobody showed up (not that they gave anyone much of an opportunity to).
Updated On: 5/10/08 at 12:59 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:01am

Please, child.

Ridiculous.

[BDavis0092]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:01am

It wasn't just the bad reviews, it didn't sell pre-sale very well. And if you aren't selling tickets already and you get bad reviews, you're not going anywhere.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:02am

(sight unseen, mind you)

Well, there's your problem right there.

In all seriousness, though, what happened to Glory Days was much more a reflection of the poor producing decisions than the quality of the show. It will probably be remembered as a victim of a producing mistake more than it will be one as of the worst shows ever.

Updated On: 5/10/08 at 01:02 AM

[bythesword84]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:19am

It was a bad show, but it was bad because it was nowhere near ready. It needed a ton of work (and yes, I did see it to be able to say that) and like Emcee said, it was a producing issue. It was rushed and not worked on and that is a massive problem.

[xerotheory7803]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:19am

You brought up how movies don't close on a Saturday because they didn't do well on a Friday. Well movies don't rely on advance sales like theater does. You don't get many people strolling on up to the theater the day of to get tickets aside from a select few and those who do rush/lottery. Movies are ALOT cheaper to keep open than a show.

[sondhead]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:21am

Movies don't have to pay their actors / stage hands / orchestra members every night it shows either. I think they decided to cut their losses here.

[Chason2]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:24am

Does it really cost so much to let the show run for a little bit? Isn't there already enough money invested that it would be better to at least TRY??? Who EXACTLY decides to just give up?
Isn't it a terrible burden? Lots of weeping?

[lola_actor22]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:26am

it didn't help much either with the critics tearing it apart

[Bobby Maler]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:29am

The actors, writers and director weren't cheated. They benefitted the most from it. They got a Broadway credit and more attention focused on their careers than they ever have before. They also got an advance for the option of the property and a salary for at least 4 weeks. They aren't the ones that lost money on the show. A Broadway show raises enough money to cover expenses leading up to opening night. After that, they must rely on ticket sales to stay afloat in addition to a small reserve to withstand bumps and market pressures. This show got terrible reviews, mouth of mouth of the kind that would not convert ticket buyers, and had no advance. I agree with YankeeFan, it was horrible producing, but in the end, it wasn't ridiculous for them to close. It was pure economics. They were practically out of money.

[GetUp&LiveIt]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:43am

I've stated before on this board that I admired this show at the Signature Theatre in DC. I saw it in DC twice. Both times the audience was on their feet at the end and the show left many people in the audience in tears, including me. All that said I did not get a chance to see the show while in previews on Broadway. Perhaps it was never right for Broadway or perhaps it got lost in the much larger venue of Circle. Signature's space is much smaller with somewhere between 200 and 300 seats. Maybe somewhere between DC and NY the show lost it's heart. I was just watching the Broadway.com opening night video and started to tear up. I am so sad for these boys. These boys, writers and actors alike, are some of the most courageous artists on Broadway this season and I once again have to applaud what they dared to do. It's clear from the video and many other videos that Broadway was never the goal. They simply set out to write what they knew. In a season filled with crap like Cry Baby, Mermaid and Frankenstein, all of which got worse reviews than Glory Days, it is sad to know that original shows like this simply can't last in the commercial Broadway monster. Word on the street in the DC theatre community is that the producers made some very bad business decisions and that they knew the show was going to have to close even before the reviews came out.
Broadway.com Video

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:46am

Updated On: 5/10/08 at 01:46 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:46am

In a season filled with crap like Cry Baby, Mermaid and Frankenstein, all of which got worse reviews than Glory Days, it is sad to know that original shows like this simply can't last in the commercial Broadway monster.

That's not really the issue here. Glory Days had a lot worse things working against it (i.e. the bad producing decisions we've been discussing) than the forces of commercialism. That alone wouldn't have closed it. And further, several of the shows running now have proven that that's not necessarily true anymore.

Updated On: 5/10/08 at 01:46 AM

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:47am

Chason.

because of weak advanced sales and a LACK of audience attendence for Previews, they didn't recover enough to even continue.

they could NOT afford to keep the show opened past Opening Night. they were aware of this almost a week before Opening.

it's not like a company or group of Producers investing in this musical (unlike a Hollywood movie) - GLORY DAYS consisted of dozens and dozens of various investors ranging from family friends of Blaemire/Gardiner to school colleagues.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:47am

Blah Blah Blah

[bythesword84]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:55am

Lack of an audience during previews is right. I went to a Saturday matinee and the whole audience was under 150 people.

[GetUp&LiveIt]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:58am

Certainly the fact that there was no advertisement during previews didn't help. Did anyone else find it odd that it was not listed in the ABCs?

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 1:58am

right.

I don't understand why some people can't get the fact that they just weren't selling enough tickets!

The producers may have been dumb for bringing it to Broadway but they were smart when they decided, a week in advance, to close on Opening Night so the "investment insurance" could kick in.

Broadway is NOT Hollywood, my dear.

[Chason2]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 2:02am

TooDarnHot: Thanks.
It just seems so damn weird to me (but what do I know)? You work and work - you work yourself to the bone, and then it turns out that all you've REALLY done is create a not-so-great re-make of GREASE! Turns out to be a hit, anyway! LOL
Just kidding.
But you know what? It must be awfully hard to get an original show on Broadway. Can I ASK? Why didn't Glory Days have to PROVE it's ambition on tour or Off-Broadway?
I don't know - something about this is just not right.
For curiosity's sake - what was the last Broadway show to open and close the same evening?
I'm truly not familiar with all the Broadway facts. Did the musical of CARRIE only play one night?
Thank you all for your info. I appreciate it.

[GetUp&LiveIt]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 2:05am

"The producers may have been dumb for bringing it to Broadway but they were smart when they decided, a week in advance, to close on Opening Night so the "investment insurance" could kick in."

Doesn't sound like anything these producers did was smart. So instead of letting the show run a week, they closed it the day after opening? That can't look good for them as future producers and on top of it all they have taken a show with bad reviews, but again not the worst reviews of the season, and placed it among a handful of Broadway show with the status of closing after one performance. Reckless to the creative team, actors and themselves. I don't think you can call anything they have done smart.
Updated On: 5/10/08 at 02:05 AM

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 2:14am

Chason, the last ORIGINAL musical to do it was in 1983. there was another musical in 1985 but that was a remake or based on a movie/book/developed material.

They didn't have to prove anything because they had the support of the Signature and the Washington Post (wasn't that the paper that gave it a RAVE review??), a group of Producers (with most of the $2.5 mill), and many different investors (the writers were told to gather $500,00 in two days)...

that's enough to get a small musical to Broadway these days. They had the $$ to bring it, NOT keep it. Broadway is a business.

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 2:17am

Updated On: 5/6/09 at 02:17 AM

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 2:21am

yes. the insurance is minimal but it's better than nothing.

that's why they were smart, GetUp.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 2:28am

Its in the grosses...look how poorly the show was doing before the reviews.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=GLORY%20DAYS

When the reviews came out they obviously weren't going to improve sales. Running longer would only have incurred more losses. The producers did the right thing pulling the plug.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 5/10/08 at 2:30am

They havent posted anything on the door of theater and some of the posters still remain up.
Obsessedjb and I walked by and I felt really bad.
The big display is up in the window and everything.
The reason I think it failed was due to the target audience being teens and college kids who cant afford full price tickets.