CONFIRMED: Audra McDonald-led GYPSY to begin previews Nov 2024- Page 42

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/19/24 at 4:25pm

Fordham2015 said: "Is the 1/2 person in Lady Day the bandleader or the dog?"

I meant the bandleader, tbh I forgot about the dog.

So that brings it to a 2-character musical ;)

[binau]

Posted: 9/19/24 at 4:54pm

I’m going to do what I do every time a show like this comes along (eg Follies, War Paint, Company etc). Get excited at how good early ticket sales look, claim things are looking just fine, refresh the seating chart daily and defend the show in the grosses week proudly until we hit the approx. 11-12 week mark before there appears to be just too many seats available before show time than there used to, and a week later we see the average ticket price decline and erode a slow death while less and less seats are filled each week, the shine and hype wipe off a little and then become an underdog until perhaps some Tony hype can make it tide over a little longer until it closes and something else of a dream appears, such as a Patti LuPone Hello, Dolly. And then I’m going to do what I always do and and get excited at how good early ticket sales look, claim things are looking just fine, refresh the seating chart daily and defend the show in the grosses week proudly until we hit the approx. 11-12 week mark before there appears to be just too many seats available before sho….

Updated On: 9/19/24 at 04:54 PM

[binau]

Posted: 9/19/24 at 4:54pm

…

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/19/24 at 5:15pm

New interview with Andy Einhorn (MD/conductor), who is working with Josh Clayton (who restores the scores for Encores) and Jason Buell to restore the original 1959 orchestrations. No mention of Daryl Waters, who today was announced as providing additional orchestrations & arrangements.

I wonder what the difference will be between this restoration and a previous restoration done in 2011 in conjunction with the Styne estate?

Updated On: 9/19/24 at 05:15 PM

[joevitus]

Posted: 9/19/24 at 5:51pm

MadsonMelo said: "SouthAmericanCichlids said: "I'm just curious as to why there necessarily has to be a big name outside of Broadway to keep the show afloat. I mean, Merrily sold incredibly well and I think just as many people know Groff as know Audra. Company sold with the biggest name being Lupone. Nowadays, on Broadway do you have to have a massive star to be successful, is good interpretation and good material not enough anymore for a show. (I'm not saying you all don't value these things, but rather this is a gripe with the current economy of Broadway)"

Merrily... Daniel Radcliffe.

Company was not a hit. Sondheim died, which kinda gave them a bump, and the producers carried the show through the Tonys, and even after they won the most, still closed like 5 weeks after.

A revival to be a HIT needs a STAR. Like Jackman, Radcliffe, Groban. It's simple."

I had thought Company was a hit. I'm kinda bummed learning otherwise.

[Bwaygurl2]

Posted: 9/19/24 at 6:03pm

joevitus said: "MadsonMelo said: "SouthAmericanCichlids said: "I'm just curious as to why there necessarily has to be a big name outside of Broadway to keep the show afloat. I mean, Merrily sold incredibly well and I think just as many people know Groff as know Audra. Company sold with the biggest name being Lupone. Nowadays, on Broadway do you have to have a massive star to be successful, is good interpretation and good material not enough anymore for a show. (I'm not saying you all don't value these things, but rather this is a gripe with the current economy of Broadway)"

Merrily... Daniel Radcliffe.

Company was not a hit. Sondheim died, which kinda gave them a bump, and the producers carried the show through the Tonys, and even after they won the most, still closed like 5 weeks after.

A revival to be a HIT needs a STAR. Like Jackman, Radcliffe, Groban. It's simple."

I had thought Company was a hit. I'm kinda bummed learning otherwise."

Cheer up. The tour recently announced recoupment. 

[jagman106]

Posted: 9/19/24 at 7:06pm

Kad said: "Gypsy has never been a smash hit show. Of the 5 productions thus far, none of them have cracked 2 years. LuPone and Lansbury didn’t even last a year, Peters made it just over a year, Daly was a year and a half, and the original production was a couple months shy of 2."

If I recall correctly fifty years later, the Lansbury revival opened as a limited run. I remember seeing it in the fall of 1974 on a high school field trip. The show only ran a few months and closed as intended just after the holidays in January 1975. If the show extended with Lansbury, the show may have reached a year as Lansbury was still likely riding the wave from her Mame days, but we'lll never know.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/19/24 at 7:20pm

If Joy Woods is indeed playing Louise, it was kind of an odd flex to say on social media that’s she’s not. Or maybe she was in final callbacks and she didn’t know yet. I can see why Audra probably did it as a “That’s right producers, you better meet my terms” move, but…yeah it seems pretty obvious at this point that Joy Woods and Jordan Tyson are Louise and June - the production might as well announce it already.

[Soaring29]

Posted: 9/21/24 at 1:54pm

Kad said: "Gypsy has never been a smash hit show. Of the 5 productions thus far, none of them have cracked 2 years. LuPone and Lansbury didn’t even last a year, Peters made it just over a year, Daly was a year and a half, and the original production was a couple months shy of 2."

The Great Recession happened before Patti could make it to a year, we have to remember that.

 

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 7:47am

Soaring29 said: "Kad said: "Gypsy has never been a smash hit show. Of the 5 productions thus far, none of them have cracked 2 years. LuPone and Lansbury didn’t even last a year, Peters made it just over a year, Daly was a year and a half, and the original production was a couple months shy of 2."

The Great Recession happened before Patti could make it to a year, we have to remember that.

"

Also it’s not like many revivals last 2 years, even if they’re very successful. 

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 10:01am

Also, the Lansbury production was a planned limited run, as it was the final stop of the North American tour.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 12:08pm

ljay889 said: "Also, the Lansbury production was a planned limited run, as it was the final stop of the North American tour."

Also of note, this 1974 Broadway revival with Lansbury was actually the original London production of GYPSY. Elaine Stritch was originally cast as Rose and tickets even went on sale. Tickets weren’t selling so the producers decided to replace Stritch with Lansbury and the 1973 London production was a hit. There were a few cast changes when Lansbury came over to the U.S. with this production in 1974.  

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 12:47pm

BrodyFosse or ljay, you might know this, as I don't have MAINLY ON DIRECTING accessible at the moment:

What was the origin of Laurents directing the 1973 London production of GYPSY? Did the production originate with him always wanting to direct the show and then he brought on Stritch/Lansbury?

Same with the 1989 Tyne Daly revival –– how did Laurents and Tyne get involved? Was it Barry & Fran's idea to revive it, Arthur came with it, and they settled on Tyne?

[SouthAmericanCichlids]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 1:00pm

Quick question, I feel like someone mentioned it, but I can't find it anymore. What was the original investment and what is the running cost for this Gypsy? Just so I can gage it once grosses are released.

 

On an adjacent topic, is running cost any lower during previews or are all personnel and the Theatre paid the same?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 1:30pm

SouthAmericanCichlids said: "Quick question, I feel like someone mentioned it, but I can't find it anymore. What was the original investment and what is the running cost for this Gypsy? Just so I can gage it once grosses are released.

On an adjacent topic, is running cost any lower during previews or are all personnel and the Theatre paid the same?"

It hasn’t been announced.

I have heard the capitalization is in the $18 to $20 million range but someone correct me if I have my numbers mixed up.

For a show with a 26-person orchestra and a not-small cast, my assumption is the running cost is somewhere in the $875K to $1M range.

Running costs aren’y hard numbers though. They can change week to week. What is in the offering documents is an estimate. If you have actors leaving and replacements on payroll for rehearsal weeks and put-ins, that’s going to add to the cost for example. Sometimes you budget for 6 wardrobe people and realize you actually need 8. There is typically no salary discount for previews. If they were budgeting with the hope of employing a star as Herbie or Louise, now the salary line might be lower than what was anticipated a few months ago.

Updated On: 9/22/24 at 01:30 PM

[binau]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 3:40pm

It could be right because those numbers do not seem unheard of anymore, but that would be a difficult business to make a profit unless this can maintain momentum for close to a year I would think.....Patti LuPone Gypsy was $9 million I believe, but of course that was done on the cheap and it was 2008. Sam Mendes/Bernadette production was $8 million in 2003.

$8 million in 2003 is $13.7 million in 2024 after inflation I believe. Given at least anecdotally Broadway costs seem to be rising faster than inflation 18-20 million range feels plausible....

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 6:43pm

Confirmed that the capitalization is $19.5 Million, per the Securities & Exchange Commission filing. GYPSY could probably be done more cheaply, but perhaps they're pulling all the stops out.

As a rule, don't look at inflation for Broadway numbers. Union wages, costs of goods & services, and ticket prices tend to move at a higher rate than the US rate of inflation.

I'm already on the record of thinking this is a poor business venture, yet an admirable artistic effort and the type of risk that more producers should be taking. It's a long stretch of time from Opening Night to the Tonys. Let's see what Audra's made of at the box office!

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 9/22/24 at 10:10pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "BrodyFosse or ljay, you might know this, as I don't have MAINLY ON DIRECTING accessible at the moment:

What was the origin of Laurents directing the 1973 London production of GYPSY? Did the production originate with him always wanting to direct the show and then he brought on Stritch/Lansbury?

Same with the 1989 Tyne Daly revival –– how did Laurents and Tyne get involved? Was it Barry & Fran's idea to revive it, Arthur came with it, and they settled on Tyne?"

Tyne Daly speaks about her casting in GYPSY in this YouTube clip.  Barry Brown (producer) and Arthur Laurents (director) did the Lansbury GYPSY. They wanted to do it again, but it was contingent on finding a suitable name for Rose. Daly says Brown first approached Liza Minnelli and Bette Midler, who weren't interested in doing the role on stage. They then saw Tyne Daly - a huge television star at the time - sing a dramatic song on Dolly Parton's short lived variety show and thought she'd be perfect.  Tyne speaks about working extensively with Julie Styne and Arthur Laurents on creating her performance, and still, the revival did an extensive national tour before coming to NYC, primarily to make money, and secondly to ensure Tyne was up to giving a Broadway calibre performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntGYwiggLN8

Updated On: 9/22/24 at 10:10 PM

[binau]

Posted: 9/23/24 at 2:28am

I can’t remember where I read this but if I recall correctly Angela Lansbury was not keen to be directed by Arthur Laurents again after ‘Whistle’ and needed some convincing to make happen. 
 

 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 9/23/24 at 10:11am

Very interesting that Bette turned it down (only to do the TV film a few years later), but damn, I wish Liza would have done it. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/23/24 at 10:21am

I can’t say it’s all that surprising that Midler turned it down at the time. She was focusing far more on screen work and recording at the time and seemed to have zero interest in committing to a lengthy run onstage. It took 40 some years for her to commit to a show (I’ll Eat You Last) after her debut in Fiddler as a replacement back in the late 60s, and nearly a full 50 years to get her to commit to headlining a musical, and she undoubtedly turned down a lot of offers in that 50 year period.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/23/24 at 10:25am

Here's an unrelated question:

What's the best recording of the GYPSY overture?

The OBC comes the closest for me in tempo/energy/playing, but there are some licks and orchestrational nuances that aren't audible in this mix but are there in other recordings . Jack Everly's recording with the National Symphony might be the next best thing.

[SouthAmericanCichlids]

Posted: 9/23/24 at 10:30am

I listen to the original because I think it has the best arrangement and biggest band, but I wish it had thé clarity of subsequent recordings.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/23/24 at 10:46am

SouthAmericanCichlids said: "the best arrangement and biggest band"

1) The arrangement is identical for every major recording of GYPSY, and the orchestration is close to identical.

2) It actually might not have the biggest band –– but the clarity of the brass might make it sound that way! A Symphony Orchestra recording or the film recording would typically have 12-30 violins instead of the 6-9 that are common in a theatre orchestra. Every Broadway production of GYPSY has had an orchestra in the 23-26 player range, to my knowledge.

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/23/24 at 11:14am

The Staunton revival had reduced/“new” orchestrations, and they were completely underwhelming.