AVE Q - A flop ( $ ) in Las Vegas- Page 2

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 4:45pm

Stephanie's last performance is the matinee performance on Dec. 24th.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 4:59pm

Avenue Q is prevented from touring while the Vegas production continues. Once it closes in Vegas, there is nothing to prevent Q from touring (well, presenters refusing to book it notwithstanding). That's one of the main reasons they opted not to tour. While financially a tour is risky, it appears now that they weren't any better off in Vegas.

[DAME]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 7:29pm

I would be happy if it remains just a NYC must see thing.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 7:38pm

thats too bad for q in vegas, but...yeah
so are phantom, hairspray, and spamalot still going to vegas? im not too up to date on that...

[Nothinlikeadame]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 7:55pm

DAME, you obviously don't have any facts with regards to your flop comments. The show is selling better each week, and Michael Riedel is a gossip whore who prints without checking facts most of the time. Just because you got 20% discounts in the mail, doesn't mean anything. Phantom of the Opera has been sending those out for years, and they are 90-100% capacity every week. If the show was a flop, the producers would have already closed it by now. It's ignorance like what you possess that sends false information to the public. Maybe Michael Riedel needs an assistant. Go work for him.

[PerforMeg]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 9:37pm

I wonder if Avenue Q isn't going on tour because the cities they could go to would be SOOOO limited. A sit down seems more logical because it is hard to find a city that can handle the show.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 9:46pm

Pizza. They should be giving away PIZZA. How many more times to I have to say it, they NEED to be giving away PIZZA.

Corine, you can barely turn around nowadays without seeing ads for dirt cheap flights and hotels to Vegas.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 9:48pm

Namo, they're already giving out popcorn
Is Pizza really essential?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 11:34pm

Do they have a lottery in Vegas too? If not that might be a good way to promote the show, in addition to ads that might tell people what the show is. I think the problem with word-of-mouth in Vegas is that most people who see shows there are tourists, who are they talking to that would spread the word?? They might tell their friends back home, but that doesn't mean anything if those friends never go to Vegas. That said, how is it actuually doing, financially? Half a house doesn't say anything if the cheapest ticket is $100. Plus, I've learned that people who see three empty rows often say "it's half empty. Does anyone here know how the houses have really been?

[DAME]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 3:55pm

Rumor ( and I say rumor) is that it will fold in April.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 4:03pm

Ok- DAME (now I am freaking out)...where did you hear this RUMOR? Please tell me you aren't talking about the NYC Q...although I have a feeling you are. I think I am gonna DIE! PLEASE tell me where you heard this RUMOR. And yes, I know it's only a rumor but I should prepare myself.

*REPEATS TO SELF* "Everything in life is only for now"

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 4:29pm

I think DAME is refering still just to Vegas
NYC's Q isn't closing anytime soon

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 4:32pm

*sigh of relief* (hopefully)

Thanks broadwaystar2b...

DAME- can you confirm anything though? Thanks

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 4:36pm

Oh for chrissakes, read the thread title. Dame is talking about the VEGAS company. The Broadway production has done nothing but stellar business since it opened. It'll run for several more years.

[bdwybug55]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 4:58pm

Great show but I am not sure why someone thought that it would be a good idea to place it in Vegas in a huge theatre. That show needs an intimate space. Also...good or bad...when people are in Vegas they want to see some glitz and glam. I see Mamma Mia, Spamelot and Phantom as better Vegas shows. Margo...I love how you always come right out and say what is on your mind and what we are all thinking.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 4:59pm

Is there anyway to check the grosses for Las Vegas shows?

[HopefulKate]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 8:27pm

Yesterdays Las Vegas Review Journal said Avenue Q was the #2 best show in Vegas... hardly a flop. But nice try :)

[NYSinger1]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 8:39pm

I just want to comment on Q in vegas.

Entertainment in Las Vegas works very different then entertainment in new york. Sources of revenue for a show are a bit different then other places. Casinos generally will subsidise the income of a show in order to attract gamblers to the casino. When Steve Wynn put Q in his casino he knew that it might not sell out every night. However, the type of person willing to see Q generally is a more intelligent, more cultured, higher-expendable-income person. Therefore, not only are people who are seeing Q just seeing the show, they are gambling, and dining in Steve's resort.

Case in point, I go to Las Vegas often, but would probably not go to the Wynn if Q wasn't playing there. Because I will go see Q, I will make dinner reservations at the Wynn, and probably gamble for a while either before or after the show. So, Steve Wynn is potentially making a lot more than the ticket price to Q off of me. (Of course, I hope to make money off of him....heheh)

That is also why you won't find grosses for the Vegas Shows.

Q will run for a while, no matter what. Everyone associated with the show will make money.

As for We Will Rock You. It has been playing for over a year now. It has had a very healthy run. (For an adequate show.)

[QMAN03]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 8:49pm

What do you mean, "#2 best show in vegas?" Is that money wise or quality wise?

[bettyschaefer]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 8:59pm

Dame: I know your post said you had some discount codes back in November, but do you (or anyone else for that matter) know of any discounts for now? I am going Jan. 12-15 and want to see Q. PM me if anyone has info.

[singingsweetee82]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 10:44pm

Avenue Q in Vegas has a lot going against it, but it is way too early to count it out. Even if it did start out playing to nearly empty houses, you have to remember that the first Cirque show did too. And now, Cirque is a Vegas staple. And although Avenue Q certainly has obstacles in Las Vegas, they are probably less than those that they would encounter touring. On tour, the show would not stay in one place long enough for word of mouth to really spread. In Vegas, it at least has the chance. Plus, some of the venues on the road would be really huge, and Avenue Q needs a more intimate setting.

[BreakingTheCircle07]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 12:02am

I've heard mixed things about Vegas' Q too. I'm seeing it on the 9th (anyone else?) and I hope to see things are going well.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/3/06 at 12:39am

I was just talking about this with a friend of mine who works for Wynn. 1. Avenue Q is a word-of-mouth show. 2. Since most people who would see the show don't live near Vegas, the word-of-mouth isn't being said in Vegas. John Doe will tell Jane back home what a great show it is. Jane Doe doesn't see it until next year when she goes to Vegas. 3. According to my friend, the vast majority of shows don't become instant hits and it takes a year for a show to become the must-see sensation. This would follow No. 2, that it will take longer for this show to spread word-of-mouth for Vegas because people aren't instantly going to Vegas. People don't generally go to Vegas to see shows (well, Broadway shows anyway). I think it will start selling out sometim this summer. The Broadway production had the off-Broadway run to fuel it. So, I think it's way too soon to say anything about the viability of the show.

[BreakingTheCircle07]

Posted: 1/13/06 at 3:53pm

Ok. I'm back from Vegas and Avenue Q was GREAT!!! I saw the Rick Lyon's cast and everyone was just great. Byrne was soooo sweet as Kate and super bitchy as Lucy. reat actress. Rick was on the top of his game. Took several GREAT comedic pauses that brought the house down. Tonya Dixon was playing Gary Coleman and she ROCKED. They fixed several of Gary's lines and made some of his jokes better, and she worked extremely well with what she was given. I sat in the front row and put a note in her hat. She read it as the song went on and smiled and gave me a highfive. So nice. Princeton (Mr. Booth...I forget his first name) was good. Voice was enjoyable, but his acting was alittle behind the rest of the cast, but it was nice to know it is his first Equity show. Kudos to him! Christmas Eve was great. The accent was slightly hard to to understand at parts, but her singing voice blew us away. Brain was ok. Just ok. And Mrs. T, et al. was very spirited. Her Bad News Bear was soooooo funny. In all, everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves, but I agree they are no advertising the show well enough in Vegas itself. Sure, there are several signs, but as far as newspaper ads go, there was little Q coverage. If you're out West , you should go see the Q!

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 1/13/06 at 4:44pm

Since a previous post mentioned Jeff Whitty...

ESLGR8 and I met Jeff Whitty on Wednesday during a preview performance of his new play, "The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler". He was very friendly and very nice. He's very down to earth and is also sexy as hell.

The play is outrageously funny in its skewering of playwriting and storytelling conventions. It imagines an alternative universe where characters from different plays, books movies and TV shows end up.


Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler