Bailey exiting Blonde?- Page 3

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 5:55pm

"A curiosity question about WEST SIDE STORY:

Are they still planning to add songs to Bernstein's score? The whole idea of eliminating "Officer Krupke" and replacing it with a ditty called "We're F*cked" is appalling."

That was an April Fools joke.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:03pm

"Yet another revival" ? Hasn't it been quite some time since WSS played?

LB is wearing out it's welcome and is resorting to cheap stunts. I hope WSS takes the Palace.
Updated On: 8/6/08 at 06:03 PM

[Kalimba]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:13pm

The title of this thread is very misleading.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:30pm

Yes, winter_sky, I'm pretty sure the only revival of WSS was in the 60s or 70s.


But I'm way too lazy to look that **** up.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:36pm

It's so funny to me how people continually underestimate this show. When it opened, people said it'd be gone by the end of summer, and then in the early winter, and then before the Tony's, and then that it'd be gone because Shrek wanted the The Palace, and now West Side Story. Until Blonde starts showing some actual signs of financial decline (which it isn't yet, no matter whether or not they have recouped), I wouldn't worry too much.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:39pm

The thing is, you can't just look at the grosses. It's definitely possible that MTV or other sources are inflating them, or helping pay for the "weekly nut."

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:43pm

How much did they put into this show? So far its made $49,779,911!

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:45pm

B3TA07, WEST SIDE STORY has actually been revived three times.

The last was in 1980 at The Minskoff, starring Debbie Allen as Anita.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:49pm

this is what happens when I slack off.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:50pm

ucjr ~ Is that AFTER paying all their expenses or before?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:54pm

It would have to be (I am assuming) before their expenses...I don't know of any shows that release their profit (until the big "we've recouped!" announcement) numbers, just how much money they've brought in.

Even if the show closes at a loss on Broadway, the investors will more than make their money back...the tour is going to be HIGHLY lucrative, and when the rights are released, every community theater and high school around the country will be performing this show. Updated On: 8/6/08 at 06:54 PM

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:56pm

That is how much BWW has reported in grosses. Still even if the show cost 12 million (Which I doubt it did because Disneys biggest show didn't cost that much)...they would have recouped.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:57pm

The 12 million figure would be to get it up and running. Don't forget the weekly/monthly ongoing costs such as salaries, theatre rent, etc.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 7:23pm

first ljay, that was exactly the joke. A few posts before I bemoaned people making huge assertions, so then I made one myself.

second, nobody knows anything, except the producers. I don't care who you are, if you're not one of the producers or sleeping with one, this is just an excercise in stuuuuuupidity.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 7:31pm

Well that's still almost 30 years and before my time. It's not exactly Gypsy or Grease.

[bwaylover86]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:57pm

Hey back on the topic of the thread... no one jump down my throat, but I thought Bailey has a contract not for two weeks but with an option that she can be given two weeks notice? That's what I was told not that she would sign a six month contract later on
Oh and to the new-bee from her home town- yes that is a good row to sit in and you will be able to see her just fine

[Neverandy]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 11:10pm

Adam-Financing for a tour can be as much, or more than for the oriiginal production, so The tour isn't necessarily going to cause LB to recoup.
I would be surprised if WSS ended up at the Nederlander. It wasn't really a Musical House, and it would seem that WSS would want something more Traditional.

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 10:52am

Oy...wow this has nothing to do with the thread's title. Perhaps the person who started it should begin a "Just Another Legally Blonde Bashing Thread...Nothing To See Here."

My feelings on the subject:

-The show is doing fine and has been doing fine for some time, and the fact that it is still packing in the Palace at this point in its run is something the producers and cast can be proud of, no matter how "low" the stunts were to get the butts in the seats (and honestly, I feel that Baily will be a viable Broadway actress after her run on Legally Blonde, so something good came out of the harmless, fun reality show IMHO). Yes, in three months after the summer is over it will lower, that is how business works, but it made it through the low months last year fine, and I think that it will continue to. Those are my personal feelings, don't attack me for them.

-As one wise poster mentioned earlier in this thread, Legally Blonde has been closing since it opened here on this board. I remember arguments I've been in about the show talking about how it would be closed in three months, and how the reality show would backfire in the producers' faces, and that the winner of the show would be terrible and be forcibly removed from the show, and that it wouldn't even get a bump in the summer months, or that weeks where it hit a million were blips or accounting errors. None of these things have come to pass. Fifty million since opening would make most producers cream their pants, especially in a recession.

-Even if the show does close before recouping its entire original investment, its going to be amazingly well financially in the long run. The tour is going to be a huge hit, no one can argue that, and the show will be a hallmark of high schools and on college campuses for at least a decade to come. In addition, the fact that "Hairspray" did so well in theaters makes the show, which already has a devoted young following, makes it a hugely viable film property for the struggling MGM.

-I am hoping that West Side Story will be playing at The Nederlander...I don't think it will be able to sustain itself that long in The Palace, which would be a shame because it is a classic that should get revivals much more often.

-And yes, I hope that the show has a much longer run on Broadway. I think that if the producers find that the show is no longer financially viable in the Palace they move it to a smaller theater (aside from the opening fraternity house there would be no sets that would have to be rebuilt) where it can continue to run. Why, you ask? As much chit as it gets for the reality show and the MTV broadcast (which, by the way, did NOT backfire in the producers' faces. Look at the Grosses for the month after and you'll see it increased by double digits the first week and single digits the next three, earned MTV its highest ratings for a special EVER (15 million) and spawned the reality show that is currently reviving interest in the show today. So really, whoever said that the MTV broadcast backfired needs a reality check), it is bringing new faces and people onto Broadway who would NEVER see a show otherwise, and now may walk out of this production and say "Hmmm...I wonder what "Avenue Q" or "Spring Awakening" is?" What is good for one show is good for all of us, and I hope this continues.

Anyway, go ahead and start tearing me apart, ignoring my major claims and attacking tiny parts of the post that aren't actually my arguments to make me seem wrong. It's happened every time I've posted in a Legally Blonde thread, and I have every expectation that it will happen right now. Oh well...how DARE I be optimistic!?

[allofmylife]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 11:40am

Robert Taylor, thanks for the sage comments, HOWEVER, if you watch the video of the head of physical production for Legally Blonde which is part of the "Going Blonde" series on broadway.com (or on you-know-where-tube.com) you will see that massive work was done to put the show into the Palace. I mean massive, including the huge system for the stage elevator which was a custom build. I bet a move would cost way more than te average - which is now over one million dollars.

I personally think that after Rent, The Nederlander might be perfect for anther gritty show. I would take WSDS back to its root and do the show with teeth, not just Spanglish.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 1:25pm

I don't see West Side Story playing The Nederlander. That theatre was one that was used for plays mostley and not that many musicals. It really isn't a musical house. Keep in mind that Laurents was talking about having a thirty piece orchestra in the pit for this production of the show. Something that I don't think can fit in The Nederlander.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:13pm

second, nobody knows anything, except the producers. I don't care who you are, if you're not one of the producers or sleeping with one, this is just an excercise in stuuuuuupidity.

There are people on this board (and who've posted in this thread) who are extremely knowledgable and have actual inside information. Criticizing them is the actual exercise in stupidity.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:15pm

"There are people on this board (and who've posted in this thread) who are extremely knowledgable and have actual inside information. Criticizing them is the actual exercise in stupidity."

Well, it is easy to just waltz on here and say you heard something from a "reliable source." Whether or not someone is correct, there's nothing wrong with having doubt until there is some official word. I wouldn't call someone stupid for that reason.

Updated On: 8/7/08 at 02:15 PM

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:16pm

Robert Taylor, they are my feelings on the subject too.

I'd like to highlight the point you made about Legally Blonde's maybe not-so-theatre-prone audience taking interest in other shows, then maybe telling people about those shows too. It does nothing but benefit Broadway, and therefore us in the long run.

Plus, I think it would be a good idea (if possible) to just move theatre when sales start to slack, that way the show can stay on Broadway for a year or two more.

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:18pm

I'm sorry, but I've long since stopped believing any "insider" information anyone on this board claims to have, because several posters are full of chit and say anything to get attention or make their statments seem truthful. It happens weekly, let's face it.

Look at TooDarnHot for a recent instance of this. And I love how someone I've never seen post before say that he has insider information that LB is closing in September. No backup. Nothing. Tee hee.

And thanks for the kind words toanythingtaboo 2

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 3:54pm

These are the same people who had "insider information" that Autumn was "definitely" the winner of the reality series. One person even posted repeatedly that they couldn't wait until the series ended so that they could do a great big "I told you so." We all know how that turned out...