Posted: 7/8/24 at 7:19pm
Broadway Flash said: "And lots of theatre stans hate the great gatsby. I also think it’s nonsense to say it’s an easy sell. How many popular titles like Groundhog Day or Mrs Doubtfire have we seen flop on Broadway? Cabaret is a glamorous show and the producers feel like it can’t run on its title alone. They need stars. I think Jeremy and Eva are a huge draw for people."
We can agree to disagree about the star power thing. I think it’s about the intersection of the “name brand” and the glamour that comes with it. Groundhog Day and Doubtfire don’t scream “glamour” and “big Broadway” the way Gatsby does by name recognition alone. Simultaneously, Cabaret is first and foremost known to be a Broadway musical before anything else. It’s very famous one, don’t get me wrong — but the middle aged suburban family who is intrigued by that of name brand movie adaptations like the Doubtfires and Gatsby’s and BTTFs of the world are probably not going out of their way for more uniquely *Broadway* properties like Cabaret even if it is glamorous and may appease them — which is exactly why stunt casting and draws beyond that of the title alone do so much heavy lifting for the Cabarets’ and Merrily’s and Company’s and Into the Woods’ of Broadway.
If it wasn’t an easy sell by name recognition alone, the rush to Broadway from Papermill and feud with the other Gatsby wouldn’t exist the way it does. Chunsoo Shin probably wouldn’t have taken the gamble on going into such a barn of a theatre, nor would the Shuberts have offered it. I’m not saying I think it’ll recoup or go 2-3 years even, but … c’mon.
Updated On: 7/8/24 at 07:19 PM
.jpg?format=auto&width=300)
.png?format=auto&width=365)
