Any reason why Broadway plays and touring shows don't perform on Mondays?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 11:56am

Because performers are gods to us, and we don't think they should have to work on Mondays. Mondays suck. We all hate them. So we give them to our performers as golden, work-less days. Kind of a sacrifice of sorts, because we worship them.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 12:10pm

Frankly I don't understand why more Broadway shows don't perform on Monday and choose another weekday to make dark. The selection of Broadway shows to see on Mondays is very limited...

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 12:36pm

It's not universal. Some Broadway shows do have Monday performances, and some tours do perform on Mondays. Often with tours, Monday is their travel day so that is the reason for no performances.

[kasim]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 12:42pm

CapnHook --- i agree. Especially with some of us out of towners.

But i'd rather see sunday evening shows before monday shows happen at any rate.

[Mark_E]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 12:52pm

Wheras on the Westend only 4 shows perform on a Sunday and all the others perform on a Monday!

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 12:54pm

Frankly I don't understand why more Broadway shows don't perform on Monday and choose another weekday to make dark. The selection of Broadway shows to see on Mondays is very limited...

But, what would that accomplish? Then that other weekday would have a limited selection.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 1:02pm

99.9 percent of shows in the uk do mondays

Its rare that UK shows do sundays(thats our day off)

[siny]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 1:38pm

'cause everyone needs a day off ? Even actors ?

[StageFan2]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 1:42pm

"'cause everyone needs a day off ? Even actors ?"

Agreed. Most especially stage performers.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 1:58pm

"But, what would that accomplish? Then that other weekday would have a limited selection."

What would it accomplish? What a silly thought! It would allow more of a selection on Monday, equal to that on Tues-Thurs.

If whatever shows playing at 1/4 of Broadway theatres are dark Mondays, 1/4 dark Tuesdays, 1/4 dark Wednesdays, and 1/4 dark Thursdays - then you have a GREAT selection on any given weekday. PLUS, it gives Broadway performers a chance to see other shows on their dark day. Two birds with one stone.

[p.s.]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 2:05pm

Frankly I don't understand why more Broadway shows don't perform on Monday and choose another weekday to make dark. The selection of Broadway shows to see on Mondays is very limited...

But, what would that accomplish? Then that other weekday would have a limited selection.

Les Miz [in late February] cancelled Sundays (3:00pm) for the summer (6/24-9/2)[actually sending out refunds], and added Mondays (8:00pm) instead (6/18-8/27).
[Dark on both Sunday 9/2 and Labor Day 9/3]

One response to a previous thread:
Les Miz did this to their schedule every year... at least post tenth anniversary...Sundays are a HARD sell in the summer. Few people want to be in a theater at 2;00 on a beautiful sunday afternoon in june ,july and august.

p.s. Any other shows doing the same?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 2:16pm

Mondays are typically the slowest day of the week for businesses that cater to evening entertainment...it's the first day back to work, school, etc. Some Broadway shows do have performances on Mondays, which can also be the start of vacations for some people (keep in mind that on the road, most cities aren't drawing tourists to their theatre-scene).

[misschung]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 2:36pm

what does that have to do with their being off on Mondays?

[cooperross]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 2:51pm

I think it has more to do with what Fosse76 said that Mondays were traditionally a slower time for entertainment based endeavors.

There was a time when most dining establishments, at least the better ones, used to be closed on Monday and Thursday nights, as they simply did not get the patronage worth keeping them open.

[Boq101]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 3:12pm

Because Garfield hates Mondays, obviously

[jv92]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 3:14pm

Because they often don't have Sunday off.

[Justin D]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 3:31pm

It is because of this that i am flying into New York and back out on a Monday so i know i wont miss anything, lol.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 4:22pm

All sorts of changes took place in NYC in the mid-1970's. Up until then department stores were closed on Sundays and all Broadway shows were dark on Sundays too.In the mid 1970's the "blue" laws were ammended and that allowed stores to open on Sundays. Theatre followed by deciding to take advantage of weekend availability of patrons who didn't have to go to work on Sundays. Now Mondays are the chosen day off for the theatre community, in most cases. It's as simple as that.

[Boq101]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 4:59pm

Well imo I always figured that most people go to the city on the weekend (north jersey does) to go hang out and shop and stuff a lot more often during the school year than on regular weekdays. It makes sense to put shows on the weekend to me.

[siny]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 5:55pm

"Fantasticks", which is now dark on Mondays, switches to dark on Thursdays after Memorial Day. Why would they do that except to confuse out-of-town visitors ?

[worrell4077]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 8:23pm

I'm going to agree with the earlier statement of slow business on Mondays, most people are going back to work or school on Monday after the weekend off, and it gives a nice break for actors by taking Monday off.

Does Spring Awakening have a day they go dark? I know that they do a Monday show and I heard that they don't have a matinee, but do they ever have a dark day?

[NY10024]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 9:10pm

Having Mondays as the dark day also provides for the longest break between performances--from Sunday after the matinee until Tuesday evening, if you're following the traditional performance schedule. It'd be much shorter if, say, Tuesday were the dark day instead, because you'd have a performance Monday night and need to be back for a Wednesday matinee.

As someone who works in the industry, I've always been grateful for the Sunday-Tuesday break, especially when needing to make a quick trip out of town.

[jo]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 9:56pm

I think it has something to do with the rationale for theaters being open on Sundays. This probably came about because it allows families to be able to see shows together or out-of-towners to see a show in New York -- which is very good for business. But most shows open only for Sunday matinees and the cast and crew are free in the evenings. By making Monday their day off - it allows them a much longer rest period -- from after the Sunday matinee... to the warm-ups for the Tuesday evening performance.

Just guessing

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 4/23/07 at 11:01pm

Spring Awakening is dark on Tuesdays.

Jo-actors love the Monday thing for that reason.

It's all TRADITION! Broadway has almost no schedule variety. The West End on the other hand, does. Some shows matinee on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, et cetera.

They're more fun out there!

[Dover]

Posted: 4/24/07 at 12:20am

Producers decide for their shows whether they think Monday or Sunday will be more profitable, sometimes by trial and error. Some shows (such as Les Miz, traditionally) purposely change their schedules for the summer season and then switch back in the fall.

Sometimes a big star can influence the dark day if they have a strong preference for one schedule or the other. Most theatre people have a preference -- performing on Mondays means you have one less matinee, but performing on Sunday means you get four extra hours on the weekend, which is especially liked by people who have houses out of town they like to visit.

As for why shows don't pick a random day and have everyone have a different schedule, I can think of two reasons -- one, it would confuse the hell out of everyone; and two, it would make things unpleasant for people who work on Broadway and Off- who would not be likely to have the same day off as their spouse or friends. Of course producers don't really care about that, so I guess somehow it must come down to $$$.