Because Everything Deserves It's Own Thread: Why Did Ragtime Cancel Loading Out?- Page 2

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 11:47am

"and didn't give a flying f#@k if it closed before it opened."

Now who's a supercilious shmuck?

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 12:05pm

First of all, you might want to look up the words "supercilious" and "schmuck", Glinda. Second of all, you miss-spelled schmuck. Third, I would love to see Ragtime run for the next four or five years. It's a great show, just not my cup of tea. My point is, musicsnob seems to think that I have any personal vested interest or any form of "wishful thinking" that it will remain open. My saying that I "didn't give a flying f#@k if it closed before it opened" was just empathizing that fact, albeit a bit harshly. I was making it clear musicsnob has no idea what he's talking about. I would love to see a good show like this do well and keep many people employed for many years. I don't need to like it to want it to do well.

Sorry if I confused you. Please let me know if this cleared up what I think was a misunderstanding.

He called me sweetheart, which was condescending and unwarranted, I called him a supercilious schmuck, which, IMO, was not.

Updated On: 1/10/10 at 12:05 PM

[allofmylife]

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

Uh, maybe the storage facility was unavailable?

[winston89]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 1:48pm

Let me start out by saying that as far as I know, the show is closing today and it is not extending or anything like that.

But, I have been under the impression that both a load in and a load out are things that take a lot of planning etc. I doubt that if it is true that they pushed back the load out, that it was due to the fact that the storage space was unavailable.

[VeraCharles2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 2:02pm

From what I understand, and this is not to get anyone's hopes up, the producers have been having meetings on-and-off for the past few days. If I understand correctly they are considering extending the run.

No I doubt it's likely, but the load-out hasn't been delayed just for fun. Nothing may come of the meetings, or something may come of the meetings. It's anyone's guess right now.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 2:30pm

defygravity24, I also took a color playbill that I found. When I looked inside, I saw that the articles were different possibly from last month so that is probably why they didnt hand them out. They're old and leftovers from last month.

[Oldschool]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 2:50pm

Given that Christiane Noll's Twitter feed indicated that she was clearing out her dressing room does nothing to further this rumor mongering. If the load out was postponed its entirely possible that the head carpenter had something scheduled and they decided to push it off for a few days. Who the hell knows. I know several members of the cast, all of whom have commented on the show closing this evening. Give up the ghost, folks.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 4:26pm

Winston, I'm pretty sure allmylife was joking.

"If the load out was postponed its entirely possible that the head carpenter had something scheduled and they decided to push it off for a few days. Who the hell knows".

There is no "if", Oldschool, the load-out was pushed back. That could change, but it would be tough to do now, given they've already cancelled the trucks and it's sunday now. And again, seriously, all due respect, you have no clue how the business works. No way ever in hell is a load-out is being delayed because a head carpenter (or any one person) has something else to do. You just get someone else in his/her place. Producers have delayed in the past when a load-out day falls on a holiday, which would force them to pay double-time, otherwise, it's because they're trying to work something out. What that could be, I don't know. Maybe they're trying for a short hiatus and keeping the equipment so they can start right back up with a new cast. Maybe they have a chance to move someplace else that isn't available for the next two days. All speculation, and I don't have my crystal ball today - but the hold-up isn't happening on a whim, or because the head carpenter is busy. It costs an awful lot of money to delay like this and producers don't fritter money like that for no reason.

My understanding is that three cast members are definitely gone - perhaps Ms Noll is one of them, and maybe that's why she's clearing her dressing rooms - and that's if your take twitters as fact. I have never said that the show wasn't closing - just that delaying a load-out (especially for two days) is a VERY unusual thing, and in 30 years, I have never heard of it happening (well, there was Merrick's Oh, Kay!, but that didn't end well, and was a different situation anyway).

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 4:33pm

The word is Maybe, ghostlight2. I love how you wrote so much, and didn't clear up anything. There is no way in hell, Ragtime is going on hiatus and then reopening because they had two good weeks, that's with saying they did good this past week.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 4:56pm

You missed the point entirely, wdwfreak. My key words were "all speculation". All I've really said was that these delays do not happen without very good reason, and have offered some possible reasons why. I have never claimed to know what that reason is, nor have I suggested that I was clearing anything up. I have only refuted, with a fair amount of certainty, what others have suggested were reasons for the delay, which, I repeat, are very rare. And NO, I don't know why, except I've never heard of it happening except for the reasons I've stated.

Almost any show that announces that it's closing has a good week or two, because it's everyone's last chance to see it. Hell, Dracula sold out its last two weeks.

Updated On: 1/10/10 at 04:56 PM

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 6:06pm

Was anyone at the final performance? Was anything mentioned about the possibility of transferring or continuing the show?

[RoslynReynolds]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 6:15pm

I miss Ragtime!!

[Oldschool]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 6:16pm

They posted a note on their Facebook page that their final performance was this afternoon and thanking everyone for their support.

Ghostlight: Bite me.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 6:30pm

Very mature of you, Oldschool, but I think I'll pass on your offer.

I gave you facts, in a non-offensive manner. The fact remains that the load-out was pushed back, it had nothing to do with any one person's conflict with anything else, and I can't imagine why you'd choose to be so unnecessarily (and childishly) offensive.

[madlibrarian]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 6:39pm

As a latecomer to this thread, may I say how dismayed I am that it turned into an insult-orama? Well, I just did.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 6:49pm

Point well-taken, and thus endeth the lesson.

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 8:46pm

Cut the bullsh!t. You were wrong and you're a stubborn baby. Admit defeat, and make love to me.

xoxoxo

[Huss417]

Posted: 1/10/10 at 9:06pm

I actually asked this question to the woman who was running the lottery. She said she works for the producers and she heard this rumor last night but had no idea why anyone would have thought they would be extending.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 1:31pm

"Name me one of those reasons, musicsnob - just one - that doesn't involve Monday being a holiday that would cost the producers double-time, other than the fact that they are trying to work something out. The logistics of delaying a load-out two days, especially when so many shows are loading out on monday, are nightmarish."

I can name one: Cat on A Hot Tin Roof didn't load out of the Broadhurst for quite some time after closing. I can't remember if it was days a week (I want to say it was about a week or two), but they certainly didn't load-out the next day.

Not all shows load out right away. It doesn't matter why. They just don't. And the point is moot. Ragtime closed. The set is still there.

"The fact that they're waiting til Wednesday to load it out (which they likely will) does mean something. That delay will cost the producers a great deal of money."

It obviously doesn't mean too much, since Ragtime CLOSED yesterday. As I said above, shows don't always load-out the next day. There can be any number of reasons for the delay. I know Cat on a Hot Tin Roof isn't the only recent show to not load-out right away, but I can't remember off-hand which ones stayed put for a few days.

[tami3]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 1:47pm

Ragtime was suppose to load out monday, trucking was all set. THe producers canceled that and postponed it for a couple of days. We think they are deceiding what to do with the set. Once the load out starts the set gets demolished. When closing was announced for the 10th the trucks were ordered for Monday. Then on Sat they announced to the crew the load out was posponed for one or two days. Now it was confirmed today that it will start on Wed.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 3:08pm

Fosse 76, you named a show that loaded-out late, not a reason that the show loaded out late, which was what I had asked musicsnob. I never said Ragtime wasn't going to CLOSE. I only said that delaying a load-out (much less canceling and rescheduling one) was unusual - and it is. Especially when the load-out begins on a wednesday, which you well know is a difficult day to get crew, it being a two-show day, a doubly unusual choice when so many shows are already loading out. I also said that it wasn't delayed because a head carp was busy. Other than that, I never stated any facts, and agreed several times that it was probably going to load-out on weds (which it is) so there was nothing for me to be wrong about.

I agree that the why doesn't matter that much, but I am curious. The delay did not happen for no reason at all. Unless some agreement is struck, the producers still pay rent on the space and equipment, and they're usually loathe to do that.

Are they saving the set? (also not common, as tami3 said, they're usually destroyed). Fortunately I have sources other than this board, because when Fosse76 is in alliance with musicsnob, especially after musicsnob's last smarmy post, BWW has become a little too Bizarro world for me.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 4:30pm

"Especially when the load-out begins on a wednesday, which you well know is a difficult day to get crew, it being a two-show day, a doubly unusual choice when so many shows are already loading out."

And there, I think you may have found your reason for the delay. Ragtime unexpectedly extended its closing, so it is very probable that no one was available Monday and Tuesday to load-out the show.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 5:30pm

Who are you and what have you done with Fosse76? :)

I know that a full crew was already hired to load-out on Monday, that the trucks were ordered...and then all of that was cancelled on Saturday. That already-hired and committed to Monday crew was then told the load-out was at the very least delayed until Wednesday, and to take other work if they could find it - but until then, they were available and signed up to load out on Monday - until Saturday, when the load-out was temporarily called off, for whatever reason - and that, quite simply, is odd. And if a crew hadn't been available on Mon/Tues, they definitely wouldn't be available on Wednesday, because too many of the stagehands would be working matinees, so that would mean even less people would be available on Weds.

No matter, as I said, I'll find out this minor curiosity on my own. The odds are, the producers cancelled because they tried to work something out and it didn't happen.

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 1/11/10 at 5:53pm

Who cares? Please, I encourage you to go find out on your own.

[RoslynReynolds]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 1:31pm

Why do the people call it Ragtime?