Posted: 6/8/15 at 10:50pm
I also feel like it may be a show that would benefit from a "final weeks" type of announcement instead of just posting notice a week or two out. With that cast, and as other things close (or become too hard to get tix for) it could improve business if it announces now that it's closing Labor Day and it would probably boost them to their nut for the summer.
Posted: 6/8/15 at 10:53pm
I've also heard that ISBY will last through summer through a producer friend.
Posted: 6/9/15 at 4:14pm
I'm wondering what On the Town is waiting for. They haven't made their running cost/nut since January. If they're looking for the classic musical/ballet audience, they're all going to see American in Paris this summer.
Also, Gigi's numbers this week are worse than The Last Ship ever was
Updated On: 6/9/15 at 04:14 PM
Posted: 6/9/15 at 4:26pm
A few points:
1. Producers are optimists.
2. That doesn't mean they will not change their mind if things head south.
3. There are 2 shakeout effects from the Tonys. One is that some shows will close. the other is that some shows will be sold out for the summer at least. The latter CAN help a show that is struggling because folks can't get into the prime shows. (E.g., someone said people interested in dance will see AAIP instead of OTT. But there is not going to be any availability.) Don't get me wrong: OTT is not going to recover because of this, but they may try. (See #1 above.)
Posted: 6/9/15 at 4:38pm
Posted: 6/9/15 at 4:43pm
It's their money. If they want to keep the doors open, who are you to call them stupid? You have no financial stake in their business decisions.
Updated On: 6/9/15 at 04:43 PM
Posted: 6/9/15 at 7:38pm
someone just said they extended until december 3
Posted: 6/9/15 at 7:50pm
"Hudgens has been fairly ubiquitous. But the ticket buyers aren't in her target demographic (and don't likely watch the TV shows where she plugs away). Who among her fans has $126 - $150 to spend, or even $80, on a GIGI seat? Not GREASE, GIGI. Who has a passing familiarity with let alone interest in GIGI? I mean, 1200 people 8 times a week wise. Who was the supposed base to support this show? I am not discussing the critical response or artistry; what was the cold, light-of-day commercial calculation here? The gap between the star's media profile and the role's is canyon-like; mom and grandma (and okay, Uncle Fred and Cousin Billy) like the film, but don't need to see it reinterpreted by a millennial tv star."
I don't think that it's whether Vanessa had an inherent BW fanbase support but rather it boils down to the show itself. AAIP is pretty much the same genre of musical with even lesser "names" and it's done better and seems to have commercial appeal.
The show didn't highlight Vanessa the right way, ie create an interesting character in Gigi, and of course Vanessa is part of that, however it didn't structure a better or more plausible book; but shows do work with the GIGI movie musical concept. Think "Thoroughly modern Millie."
Millenial TV stars I think could work out, but they can't carry a show box office by themselves. Now one younger star who carried a show was Daniel Radcliffe, but of course that was a revival.
Updated On: 6/9/15 at 07:50 PM
Posted: 6/9/15 at 8:10pm
It really is not necessary to get into all kinds of generational analysis in order to assay Gigi. The show was not good. Everyone knew it wasn't good in DC. Everyone knew it should never come in. Everyone knew it was going to get savaged when the reviews came out. Everyone except its newbie producer who thought she knew what she was doing but didn't. And now she has put a final cherry on top by running the show an extra week unnecessarily, racking up still more losses.
It is not about Ms. Hudgens and her inability to carry a show. It is not about her demographic not ponying up the cost of the show (far less than quoted-you could easily pay what you want to see the show-the average was only $75.) Sometimes you have to lay the scapegoats at the curb and just admit that the show was bad and very few people were going to pay to see her or anyone in something that lame.
Posted: 6/9/15 at 9:34pm
Hogans Heroes, I agree with you, which is why I responded to the post specifically questioning the demographic appeal of Vanessa.
It's still a toss up what is going to work and what isn't, "Finding Neverland" reviews overall weren't all that great and yet it's more than holding on for now.
Updated On: 6/9/15 at 09:34 PM
Posted: 6/9/15 at 10:57pm
Posted: 6/9/15 at 11:13pm
A Christmas Story? Elf? and then King Kong? Cirque du Soleil?
Updated On: 6/9/15 at 11:13 PM
Posted: 6/9/15 at 11:20pm
They did in fact openticket sales thru 12/3, they did. Like I said, that doesn't mean anything though.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 9:05am
Regarding the rumor of Shoulda running through the summer despite an obvious lack of any profit coming in - could it be that, like Honeymoon in Vegas, it's benefiting from significant injections of cash from a certain wealthy TV sitcom star with an interest in the show?
Posted: 6/10/15 at 9:22am
Posted: 6/10/15 at 10:39am
I would say there is extremely little chance that the Danza effect is involved in Shoulda. Over 12 frames the show has never broken even, but its losses are lower than some of the other bleeders. The show has very well heeled and experienced producers who probably want to see what happens in the shakeout from the Tonys, so they are willing to invest in a week or two of additional losses before pulling the plug. I feel pretty sure we are looking at a June close.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 10:43am
I'm very interested in seeing if the Tony number helps Shoulda, Hogan; as adept as Howard's vocals are, the number strikes me as threadbare, and even verges on racist minstrelsy. But who knows? - that kind of tackiness may appeal to the summer visitors...
Posted: 6/10/15 at 10:51am
Lisa Howard is really the thing that holds the show together- with support from Harriet Harris. She is really turning straw into-... gold-plated straw.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 11:10am
The reaction to the number from my Facebook friends who were watching seemed to be mixed. Some people loved it and were more interested in trying to catch the show and some felt more along the lines of newintown. I think Hogan is right in that they've got enough cash, and have seen smaller losses than some other shows, that they want to see if they can pick up any sort of uptick from summer tourists and maybe get a slightly longer run even if they won't actually be able to recoup.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 11:14am
newintown,
I absolutely hated it, but there are obviously some (here and elsewhere) who love it.
I think it is less offensive in the sense you mean within the context of the show. In the abstract, hearing a white woman channeling Lillias White doesn't look good.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 11:15am
Posted: 6/10/15 at 11:19am
Exactly - I found it even worse within the context of the show, in that it was an entirely unearned song that had nothing to do with anything that had happened before or within the context of the character that had been presented up to that point (but one could say that about just about every song in that ridiculous show).
It feels like a cheap, pale (and inappropriate) imitation of "Raunchy" from 110 in the Shade, "Spanish Rose" from Bye Bye Birdie, or "Flaming Agnes" from I Do I Do.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 11:21am
Posted: 6/10/15 at 11:21am
Kad, I don't know. To me it is not worse. It's really the equivalent of black drag and we don't consider it offensive when a man sings as if he is a woman, do we? That said, I think it can be suggested that when it is used just for a laugh, and not organically, it's not a good thing.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 1:04pm
I thought the show would have been better. The first half is very confusing and you just have to go with it. It gets better after we find out the twist. At one point, I thought Rebecca was marrying Bryan for money. The whole score was pretty boring except for like 2 songs. The cast does deserve better. And the whole pregnancy thing at the end? sooo weird.
