Posted: 11/1/21 at 11:01am
Exciting news!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/theater/ohio-state-murders-broadway.html
Updated On: 11/1/21 at 11:01 AM
Posted: 11/1/21 at 11:35am
Guess this is aiming for Spring 2022?
Posted: 11/1/21 at 11:35am
Considering no dates or season have even been indicated, and this producer has a long history of announcing shows that never happen...I'll believe it when it announces a theatre and dates.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 12:10pm
Cannot wait for this!!!
And I hear what you're saying Ermengarde, but Audra did tease that she would be back on Broadway in 2022. This project seems directly in line with her professional desires right now, and she sells tickets, so I expect this to materialize. I imagine they would just be waiting for the right theater to become available, perhaps taking one from a show closing early, hence no dates.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 12:21pm
Posted: 11/1/21 at 12:22pm
MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "she sells tickets"
Her one Broadway play that did not feature singing in the past decade was a huge financial flop (in which she was paired with a bigger star, Michael Shannon).
I love Audra as much as anyone here and I hope this happens.
But any announcement grounded in reality would specify a year, a season (i.e. Spring 2022), "at a Shubert house to be announced," etc. The announcement is probably a premature attempt to show theatre owners and investors that an idea is "real," and should be considered meaningless until we hear further details.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 12:56pm
This is a head scratcher.
Ohio State Murders is maybe Kennedy's most accessible work but it'll be a real tough sell as a Broadway show. And as we've seen, Audra (WITH a movie star) in a play doesn't sell tickets.
Even when it's great art (as this will likely be), I just don't understand this parade of difficult shows on Broadway that clock in at less than 90 minutes. While don't think paying more should means you get more minutes... at a certain point I can't justify the commute into the theater, the extraordinary price tag, the uncomfortable seats, and the commute home. And I LIKE this sort of thing.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 1:03pm
Everyone loves Audra, she is the most talented person on Broadway. Straight plays are less taxing I get it, but nobody cares when she isn't displaying her most incredible quality on stage.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 1:27pm
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "she sells tickets"
Her one Broadway play that did not feature singing in the past decade was a huge financial flop (in which she was paired with a bigger star, Michael Shannon).
I love Audra as much as anyone here and I hope this happens.
But any announcement grounded in reality would specify a year, a season (i.e. Spring 2022), "at a Shubert house to be announced," etc. The announcement is probably a premature attempt to show theatre owners and investors that an idea is "real," and should be considered meaningless until we hear further details."
Look, Michael Shannon is one of my favorite actors, but let's not act like he's anywhere near as big a star in movies or TV as Audra is on stage comparatively.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 1:35pm
Posted: 11/1/21 at 1:37pm
let's not act like he's anywhere near as big a star in movies or TV as Audra is on stage comparatively."
But that’s not how it works, sadly. As far as ticket sales are concerned, you can’t compare film fame and stage fame proportionately. Because TV/Film has such a much larger audience than theatre. A B-list or even C-list film star will usually sell more tickets than an A-list Broadway star. And in any case, the point is that Frankie & Johnny bombed at the box office, and it had BOTH of them together!
Excited to see this, if it comes to fruition. I agree, I’m not sure why they felt a commercial route was right for this, but doesn’t matter to me as long as I get to see it. Still, this seems like it would’ve been a perfect fit for Roundabout or MTC. A good case for why we need more non-profit theatres on Broadway – so we can have risky shows like this receive Broadway-level visibility, without the same degree of financial pressure.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 1:46pm
The tough thing about Broadway's best stars (Audra, Patti, Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, Cherry Jones, etc) is that they MUST be paired with a bigger name if the show has any chance of financial success –– and even then it isn't a guarantee. Almost no straight play or playwright has sustainable name value nowadays without the added bonus of stars or rapturous reviews.
We also need to address the elephant in the room:
The 2021-2022 season is going to see a lot of financial failures of plays. Possibly every single play by a Black author and/or without a star will fail financially this season. I WISH that wouldn't be the case, and I hope to God producers don't stop trying to diversify their slates. But the core NYC theatergoing audience (white, 50+, upper-middle-class) is not going for this stuff, and –– as we knew before COVID –– there is not a sustainable Black audience for plays unless there's a megastar selling the tickets. And no amount of "X number of people from underrepresented demographics saw the show for $50 and it introduced Broadway to this playwright and started this conversation" will mean anything to most money-counting investors.
These are the facts.
So what's going to happen next season? Producers will follow the money, and the core Broadway audience will continue to stay home and wait until something catches their eye. I don't know if that means Broadway is broken, but it's a commercial endeavor. Art needs to embrace commerce and vice-versa.
It's bleak s––t, but it's stuff that everyone in the business has been grappling with since long before COVID.
Updated On: 11/1/21 at 01:46 PM
Posted: 11/1/21 at 1:48pm
SouthernCakes said: "This actually sounds very interesting, and I’d love to see it. I could see this selling better than her last venture as it’s a new work and that could interest people."
Given that Ohio State Murders was originally staged in 1992, I wouldn't necessarily call it a new work. It'll likely be seen as new to a number of ticket buyers, but I imagine that the Tony Awards would likely classify it as a revival.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 1:59pm
"Look, Michael Shannon is one of my favorite actors, but let's not act like he's anywhere near as big a star in movies or TV as Audra is on stage comparatively."
The total grosses of every show Audra has appeared in on Broadway adds up to about $200 million. Man of Steel grossed around $650 million. Comparing their theater and film careers on commercial viability never really makes much sense.
"it’s a new work"
It's not even a little bit new. It's a contemporary classic. It was done in "virtual productions" by a handful of regional theaters during the pandemic and has played in New York at TFNA and Signature.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 2:11pm
Posted: 11/1/21 at 3:14pm
KJisgroovy said: ""Look, Michael Shannon is one of my favorite actors, but let's not act like he's anywhere near as big a star in movies or TV as Audra is on stage comparatively."
The total grosses of every show Audra has appeared in on Broadway adds up to about $200 million. Man of Steel grossed around $650 million. Comparing their theater and film careers on commercial viability never really makes much sense.
"it’s a new work"
It's not even a little bit new. It's a contemporary classic. It was done in "virtual productions" by a handful of regional theaters during the pandemic and has played in New York at TFNA and Signature."
Man of Steel was not marketed as a Michael Shannon movie. It was barely marketed as a movie where Michael Shannon played the villain.
A better 1:1 comparison would be to compare her grosses to those of, say, Midnight Special, 99 Homes, The Current War, or Pottersville.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 3:20pm
Why are you all getting your knickers in a twist about Michael Shannon's star power?
The fact is he's much more famous than Audra McDonald, while still not a moneymaking box office draw.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 3:33pm
as it’s a new work and that could interest people.
You, once again, don't know what you're talking about.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 3:42pm
I'd think this could be categorized as a new work. At least in terms of awards.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 3:44pm
It's not even a little bit new. It's a contemporary classic. It was done in "virtual productions" by a handful of regional theaters during the pandemic and has played in New York at TFNA and Signature.
Correct.
Posted: 11/1/21 at 3:57pm
Jeffrey Karasarides said: "SouthernCakes said: "This actually sounds very interesting, and I’d love to see it. I could see this selling better than her last venture as it’s a new work and that could interest people."
Given that Ohio State Murders was originally staged in 1992, I wouldn't necessarily call it a new work. It'll likely be seen as new to a number of ticket buyers, but I imagine that the Tony Awards would likely classify it as a revival."
Good to know Jeff! Thanks!
