quizking101 said: "I'm gonna assume that she belted her way through "A Raisin In The Sun" then? What an asinine thing to say...
FRANKIE AND JOHNNY, as I saw it, was a victim of very poor timing and zero opportunities to build up buzz. It was a foolhardy decision to open it in previews just after Tony nominations and have it open for just a brief summer run. All the buzz was going toward the big shows like Hadestown, Beetlejuice, Ain't Too Proud, and on the play front, Mockingbird, Network, and The Ferryman.
It got lost in the shuffle and all but forgotten until it popped out a nomination for Audra in 2021.
I thought the production was personally very raw and stunning"
You mean the production of Raisin in the Sun that also had P-Diddy and Phylicia Rashad? I don't think McDonald was the one selling tickets there.
FWIW, I also loved that production of Frankie and Johnny, and my personal opinion is that McDonald is just as good an actor as she is a singer, if not better. Producers know that, and Tony voters know that - but do general audiences know that? Probably not. Incidentally, do general ticket-buyers even know who Audra McDonald is? (I actually don't know)
The timing probably didn't do Frankie and Johnny any favors, but Boys in the Band opened in roughly that same time frame the year before, and it worked out really well for them. Were there marketing issues too? Probably, but at the end of the day, they tried to sell the show based on the star casting they had, and it absolutely bombed at the box office.
I really don't see this doing well at the box office either. But for me personally, I'm glad I get to see it!