Broadway Theatre- Page 2

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:04pm

This will never happen, but:

Kill the last 8-10 rows of the rear mezz. Move the back wall of the mezz up to that point. It will improve acoustics, and more importantly it will reduce the number of seats. Maybe even lower the ceiling. No Broadway show needs 1700 seats in that red barn of a theatre...1400-1500 is plenty. 

If the Shuberts REALLY wanted to get crazy, do a larger modification and reconfigure it into a ~1300-seat thrust venue with seats curving around the thrust, and modify balcony seating so the thrust can be properly seen from up there too.

Dreamin' is fun...

[binau]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:26pm

I thought they did close the rear mezz with a curtain when they need to (though no idea if they reduce the rent!). Also, sorry if I missed it but is this a potential home for Funny Girl?

[JBroadway]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:32pm

@ErmengardeStopSniveling, that's actually not so different from what HAS been done in that theatre. For some shows (I want to say Cinderella? Maybe Doctor Zhivago, and probably some others) they've pulled a huge curtain across the upper level to cut off the rear-mezzanine area. It probably doesn't do much for the acoustics, but it reduces the capacity, and saves any poor soul from having to sit in those awful rear-mezz seats. 

For my money, it's the single worst nosebleed section in any Broadway theatre. You feel like you're in a different zip code from the actors onstage. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:35pm

JBroadway said: "@ErmengardeStopSniveling, that's actually not so different from what HAS been done in that theatre. For some shows (I want to say Cinderella? Maybe Doctor Zhivago, and probably some others)they've pulled a huge curtain across the upper level to cut off the rear-mezzanine area. It probably doesn't do much for the acoustics, but itreducesthe capacity, and savesany poor soulfrom having to sit in those awful rear-mezz seats.

For my money, it's the single worst nosebleed section in any Broadway theatre. You feel like you're in a different zip code from the actors onstage."

The rake is also TERRIBLE in the rear mezzanine, and you will undoubtedly have heads blocking your view no matter how tall you.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:35pm

JBroadway said: "^I agree



And FWIW, I wasn't implying earlier than Beyonce was above doing smaller venues. I was saying it's unlikely that she'd commit to an extended series of performances in New York, particularly when she's not based here. From her perspective, why play 2 weeks at the Broadway when you can sell the same number of tickets in 1 night at MSG, and be back home with Blue Ivy the next night?"

Totally agree with you! And why I don’t think we will see Gaga on Broadway anytime soon. I mean she gets $1m for one show in Vegas…

but hey Madonna’s last tour was all theaters so it’s possible. Maybe she should bring it to Broadway for a few months. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:35pm

binau said: "Also, sorry if I missed it but is this a potential home for Funny Girl?"

I would THINK Funny Girl wants a smaller theatre but...who knows?

August Wilson or Nederlander seem like an ideal size. There's also the St. James and Circle in the Square. I have a feeling the Belasco, Jacobs, and Longacre's tenants will not last through the spring, so those would have to be last-minute possibilities. Sonia Friedman has relationships with all the major theatre owners, though she's worked most often with the Shubert Org.

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:36pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "binau said: "Also, sorry if I missed it but is this a potential home for Funny Girl?"

I would THINK Funny Girl wants a smaller theatre but...who knows?

August Wilson orNederlander seem like an ideal size. There's also theSt. James and Circle in the Square. I have a feeling the Belasco,Jacobs, andLongacre's tenants will not last through the spring, so those would have to be last-minute possibilities. Sonia Friedman has relationships with all the major theatre owners, though she's worked most often with the Shubert Org."

Company will definitely make it past the spring 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:38pm

@JBroadway, the "curtain trick" is pretty common in that house when a show isn't selling well. It's an awful rear mezz (nice front mezz)...it's far from the stage, the sound gets muddy, and you're cramped in like sardines. Even a balcony somewhere like the Shubert is preferable.

It really badly needs a 21st century remodel! It's just too many seats.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 5:48pm

I'm generally of the opinion that any balcony on Broadway is going to be better than any of the "rear mezz" sections. Even in the Golden - a tiny house - being in those rear-mezz seats feels far away. For me, it has to do with being BEHIND the mezzanine rather than above it. Looking over all those heads makes you feel more separate from the stage than looking through mostly-empty space, even if the distance is actually greater from the balcony. It's totally a mental thing, but it's real nevertheless. It's similar to the feeling of having a balcony overhang cutting off the top of a stage. Yes, you can still see all the actors just fine, but the feeling of looking at them through a narrow, boxed-in window has a distancing effect. 

[goodlead]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 6:36pm

So right about the Golden.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/11/21 at 9:09pm

I wish someone who thinks structurally reducing the size of a house is a good idea could sit at the Shubert conference table and pitch that as a concept. Let's try to remember that making permanent changes is the exclusive province of the landlords. Producers can attempt lots of strategies during their tenure. 

 

[amoni]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 6:02am

Loving theaters as much as shows themselves, I've sat everywhere thru the years from front row, boxes to back row but not a big fan of theaters with no standing room. It cuts off access to many who just can't afford a seat. As a kid on Long Island, you could hop on the LIRR on a Sat morning and get standing room for $10 bucks and see the hottest show in town, but not here. In everyone's re-imagined renovation of the Broadway add standing room.too.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 6:36am

Interesting fact about the Broadway. It once was attractive. 

Updated On: 8/12/21 at 06:36 AM

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 10:04am

Wow! What…happened?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 10:35am

HogansHero said: "I wish someone who thinks structurally reducing the size of a house is a good idea could sit at the Shubert conference table and pitch that as a concept. Let's try to remember that making permanent changes is the exclusive province of the landlords. Producers can attempt lots of strategies during their tenure."

Indeed it's wishful thinking. But also, considering only two shows (PROMISES PROMISES and COLOR PURPLE) recouped there in the past 20 years, it seems like something needs to be done from this outsider's perspective...

(But to be clear, I'd prefer to see the Shuberts renovate the Lyceum first)

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 11:04am

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Wow! What…happened?"

I really don't know why it went from that to this. So barren and ugly. I hope the ornamentation still exists under all that covering. 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 11:14am

It really is rather bland. And I just hate the marquee and name. Wish all that would be renovated and changed.

I agree about seating. I hate an overhang. I’d much rather a balcony. Sat balcony for Hello Dolly and had a great time. Sat rear Mezz for Mockingbird and hated it.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 11:24am

The present marquee at the Broadway is not the original. It once had a traditional marquee, with "Broadway" lit up in script, very similar to the one on the Winter Garden. In fact, that "Broadway" sign would get used a lot to promote anything having to do with Broadway itself, so it was a bit of a landmark. The theatre's facade was also a low-slung sort of undistinguished building. But that all got changed when the office building went up around it, the facade was destroyed and the theatre got its 90s-era monstrosity marquee. 

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 11:28am

Another view, straight on, circa 1970, for Purlie! It looked like this until the 1990s.

[saxpower]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 12:22pm

A number of the theatres had ornamentation covered over as the years passed, which luckily has been restored as the owners do renovations/restorations.   Hopefully some of the original is still there.   During renovations of other theatres things have been found that the owners did not even know existed.  In the Rodgers, they knew the proscenium did not appear original, but did not know the original was still there under it- at some point some genius had apparently decided to put up a new one which didn't even match the style of the rest of the house.  Luckily, the original was intact enough to be restored, the "modern" one was removed, and the theatre looks like it was originally intended. 

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 1:10pm

The Tiffany glass tiling at the Hudson Theatre was only discovered when a worker tapped the proscenium and it made a 'clink' sound (indicating glass or metal) instead of 'thud,' like more paint. It had all been covered up with paint and plaster over the years. 

[BroadwayPatriot]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 2:25pm

Smaxie said: "The Tiffany glass tiling at the Hudson Theatre was only discovered when a worker tapped the proscenium and it made a 'clink' sound (indicating glass or metal) instead of 'thud,' like more paint. It had all been covered up with paint and plaster over the years."

The Hudson has a crazy history, it was a Porn theater "Avon on the Hudson" for close to a decade !!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 2:43pm

Yes, although strangely, Avon-on-the-Hudson ended up moving to Henry Miller's Theatre on West 43rd Street, when the Hudson Theatre was shut down. The name stayed, even though they were no longer at the Hudson.

The thing that interests me most is that the Hudson was built in 1903 and operated by producer Henry B. Harris, until his death on the Titanic in 1912. His wife Renee Harris survived the sinking and took over management of the theatre, becoming the first female theatrical manager and producer in the US. 

 

[alex814]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 3:10pm

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Wow! What…happened?"

I wonder how much of it had to do with Dude. According to the reviews, the theater was completely gutted for that show.

[OrchardAndRivington]

Posted: 8/12/21 at 4:59pm

Instead of a permanent renovation/restructure, I'd prefer something like they did at the Gershwin years ago (and which Wicked has managed to manipulate with great success)..

With all 3 Mezz walls in at the Gershwin the capacity for Wicked was 1773. When the Wicked producers removed the center section wall permanently, in August 2004, the Gershwin capacity bumped up to 1809. Then by January 2014 the total capacity for a single week topped out at 1926 (there were a few weeks at 1928). According to the grosses, in 2017 the full capacity of 1926 was used 50% of the year at 23 weeks. The other half of the weeks the total capacity was either 1807 or 1867. By 2019, it was 14 weeks at full 1926 capacity.

Producers for shows at the Broadway would be smart to look into Wicked's use of the last few rows of the Gershwin and how managing those on a week to week basis could help a moderately successful show weather the traditionally rough weeks. 

The Broadway has a larger section of seats to play with in the rear mezz/behind the curtain space at 262 less seats with the curtain closed (1755 vs. 1493). I wish the Shuberts would install semi-permanent, removable or accordion style walls in the Rear Mezz that can be used or removed based on production/week of the year. So if the production can only sustain at 1400+ seats, walls up, then during the busier holiday weeks where they can sell out at 1700+ seats, walls down.. Something a little more permanent and sustainable than the curtain.

The only show I had seen at the Broadway with the curtain closed was Sister Act (which should have gone to a 1200 seat house to begin with) and even though it made the space somewhat more intimate, its still a GIANT space, even with the curtain closed, which made the show feel so small in such a cavernous room.

But also, count me in the camp who wants the original, gloriously New York, Broadway marquee restored. The kitchy Art Deco font and cold 90's construction are such a massive step down from what it replaced.