bwayrose7 said: "Spongebob was always a "weird" idea and was never presented as anything but. Creative, yes, but too weird for too many people. Tourists with kids picked brands that they already knew inside and out, and not enough adults wanted to take a neon-colored nostalgia trip. Pretty Woman may be deeply, fundamentally mediocre, but by the time you know that, you've already paid for it - or you weren't looking for creativity in the first place, just a rehash of a movie you loved."
^ This, plus Spongebob struggled to find an audience that was willing to pay face value for tickets. It didn’t really appeal to young kids (ergo families with young kids). When I went, the kids around me seemed bored out of their minds. Also. It doesn’t appeal on a mass level to ticket-buying adult females or couples. Even though I’m a gay man who had a gay old time at Spongebob, I’m also not sure this automatically appeals to a large gay audience. The audience for the tv show consisted of people who were kids when it first debuted and people who liked to get stoned to it as young adults (there may be some overlap here). I’m not sure how many of these tv viewers are in the same pool as Broadway patrons. It’s kind of how a book can be a mega-bestseller and the movie adaptation can fizzle at the box office even if well done. The Kite Runner comes to mind.
Maybe because I just watched the episode of CNN’s The History of Comedy devoted to animation, but it also just occurred to me that because of how crudely Spongebob the tv cartoon was drawn, many people automatically dismissed the Broadway show as something that was going to be amateurish.
Look, I loved the show more than I expected. In fact, I know it’s sacrilege, but I loved it more than My Fair Lady and Once on This Island during my June trip. I’m not saying this is a classic like those shows, but all the parts (music, book, direction, sets, acting) seemed cohesive. BUT...I was an early naysayer about Spongebob from the time I heard about it and it was only because I was willing to stay open-minded and do my research (reading reviews, following BWW threads, look at videos released by the production) that I decided to purchase a ticket. Most Broadway patrons, especially tourists, are not going to do that much work to overcome initial prejucudes against a show.
Conversely, Pretty Woman is a beloved movie property that will appeal to a wider demographic (women, couples, gay men, etc.) and people who may have found the notion of Spongebob too silly. It most probably has a higher postive name recognition reaction among tourists. And it probably is perceived as higher quality than Spongebob (mainly because of the animation - it’s not Disney - of Spongebob) although one could argue rather convincingly that the writing of Spongebob is superior. Having said all that, I have no interest at this time in Pretty Woman. But that doesn’t matter. I think it’s gonna be a “hit” at least on the level of Anastasia (which has it recouped?). Only time will tell if it can sell long enough to recoup.
Updated On: 8/13/18 at 06:16 PM
