Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd- Page 3
Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd
Broadway Star Joined: 4/24/05
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#50
Posted: 5/24/05 at 8:58pm
Well, considering the La Cage numbers since Daniel's departure, maybe Harvey is mad at him for leaving the show.
Oh....that's right.....
Chorus Member Joined: 2/8/05
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#51
Posted: 5/24/05 at 9:19pm
In Harvey's defense, there were lots of digs at people -- Donna Murphy, Elaine Stritch, Lily Tomlin, David Leveaux, Michael Riedel -- and while most weren't particularly funny, I don't think they were terribly mean-spirited either. And the program gives credit to a writer, so I don't know that they were necessarily Harvey's jokes.
The Davis/Reilly joke was they were going to be starring in a musical version of the British sitcom Men Behaving Badly next season. And if it's any consolation, it landed with a thud.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/26/04
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#52
Posted: 5/24/05 at 9:26pm
Yes - I'm sure that's it.
A click for life.
mamie4 5/14/03
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/26/04
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#53
Posted: 5/24/05 at 9:29pmHarvey might not have written it - but he did say it. And he's FAR too close to the center of that whole mess. He shouldn't have done it. (I think that was probably the main reason it did land with a thud.)
A click for life.
mamie4 5/14/03
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#54
Posted: 5/24/05 at 9:45pm
Oh come on, Mamie. Breathe in and out of a paper bag or something before you hyperventillate. Maybe Harvey subscribes to the Bruce Vilanch school of comedy. When asked if something is off-limits for comedy Bruce said his standard is basically, "Did somebody die?" If not, it's fair game.
You're acting like Harvey was up there mocking the victims of the Manson family or something.
If any of you actually feel that La Cage's dwindling numbers are because of the firing of Daniel Davis, you are coo-coo bananas, and not in a good way. Perhaps a revival of La Cage, at this time, is simply not the audience's cup of tea. Hell, I COULD have told them that, if they'd asked me. Actually, I DID tell them that, but they didn't listen.
Broadway Star Joined: 4/24/05
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#55
Posted: 5/24/05 at 9:55pm
The Davis situation is completely different from poking fun at those other people. La Cage is Harvey's show - La Cage fired Daniel Davis, Michael Reidel (present at the awards) wrote pretty nasty stuff about Davis the same day the news broke - actually, didn't Reidel break the news? - comments that were picked up by news services across the country because they also carried the "Davis out, Goulet in" news. Probably did some damage to Davis' career, although I hope not. It was all so bitter towards the man. This is definitely kicking someone when they're down. I can't even fathom it. After witnessing this from Harvey now - oh yeah, I'm so sure it was Davis who was the problem. Yup.
Why, Harvey?
Broadway Star Joined: 4/24/05
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#56
Posted: 5/24/05 at 10:01pmThe numbers, Namo, the numbers. Nice try, though.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/26/04
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#57
Posted: 5/24/05 at 10:45pm
Well Nemo - since you and I haven't agreed on a single thing to date - no reason to expect anything different here.
I can't tell you if Davis' leaving the show caused it to fail or not. I only know, from facts printed each week in Playbill and Variety, that starting the first week he was gone the numbers dropped A LOT and they've stayed down.
Secondly - it was the responsibility of the producers of La Cage to handle any personality conflicts with the cast. HF is one of those producers. Everyone's entitled to an opinion and mine is that he's probably the main reason Davis got canned in the first place. So when he stands in front of an audience at an awards show (or any other place) and makes those kinds of 'jokes', I just can't help feeling that he's pushing his own agenda. So forgive me if I push back a little with my own.
(And I am getting a little overheated over this whole issue because there are a whole lot of very talented people who are going to be out of work because of this whole mess. That makes me very, very mad.)
A click for life.
mamie4 5/14/03
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#58
Posted: 5/25/05 at 3:31am
Forester suggests: "Another idea I have is for the cast album. I don't know if it's going to work, but taping the opening night, mastering it in a week or two then offer it on the show's website for download at a cheaper cost. Will it work? I don't have a clue, but it's a viable option than the way cast album is done."
Not really. The idea or recording AND releasing the Cd as soon after the opening as possible is good. (In the 50s and 60s, cast albums were taped the first Sunday after opening night. Albums like MY FAIR LADY, and SAIL AWAY were for sale in New York city stores later that same week, with national distribution following a week or so later.)
However, taping shows live in performance results in poor quality, flat sounding records. You need the artificially controlled studio setting to balance singers and instruments, to adjust tempos to create excitement for the listener. Dialogue needs to be edited and re-arranged (sometimes even rewritten) to make for a better aural presentation. Some songs do not properly end in the theatre and endings have to be created. The art of translating a stage show to recordings is a highly specialized one and only a very few producers have the necessary know-how.
Andew Lloyd Webber does NOT have that know-how. His "live" recordings of WOMAN IN WHITE, STARLIGHT EXPRESS etc all lack theatricality. (His only real talent is as a composer. He is a terrible judge of lyric writing, a terrible album producer, and a terrible show producer. Is it any wonder all of his shows since PHANTOM have been huge commecrial failures without any "artistic" success to redeem them.)
Your idea won't save any money: the cast still get a week's salary for the recording. I believe this should be adjusted so they get the week's salary for the recording sessions but no limit how long it takes to get the correct take. This business of giving everyone an extra week's salary for going slightly over the allotted time is not a good business plan.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/05
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#59
Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:46am
BRAVA, MAMIE! BRAVA!
Sorry, Namo, I guess I'm coo coo bananas, but I didn't come up with these percentages. Since Davis left, the show has tanked.
Too bad it will put a lot of very talented, capable people out of work. It didn't have to be this way!
re: Broadway Grosses May 16th to 22nd#60
Posted: 5/26/05 at 2:27pm
So happy to see numbers for DRS are mid-90's. Was worried in the beginning of the run, but it looks like a flat out hit!
Is anyone surprised at Chitty's numbers? Is this show going to make it? It must have a HUGE weekly operating cost.
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