COMPANY To Close On July 31, 2022- Page 3

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 8:23pm

How likely is it that this was Pattis last time doing a musical, if not theatre altogether?

[ashley0139]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 8:26pm

Call_me_jorge said: "How likely is it that this was Pattis last time doing a musical, if not theatre altogether?"

Considering she has said many times that this will be her last Broadway musical, I'd say very likely.

[BWayBabe]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 8:27pm

This may be shocking to the general public but anyone with common sense in regard to finances/ anyone who has seen Broadway prior to 2020 can see that Broadway is struggling right now.

Mostly, because of COVID and COVID policies agreed upon. 

Updated On: 6/21/22 at 08:27 PM

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 8:27pm

if this truly is LuPone's final musical, how lucky are we all to have witnessed the performance she's giving right now. I was stunned at her book scene work post TLWL. It felt like watching history in the making. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 8:27pm

Couple things to clear up:

-the set will have to be modified for tour, as a lift coming through the deck won’t be possible. 

-the bandstand is a static platform, it does not fly in or out. 
 

-the news about masks has absolutely nothing to do with this closing 

-anyone claiming that crime in midtown is at an all-time high obviously hasn’t heard of the 1970s or 80s

Updated On: 6/21/22 at 08:27 PM

[BJR]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 8:38pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "if this truly is LuPone's final musical, how lucky are we all to have witnessed the performance she's giving right now. I was stunned at her book scene work post TLWL. It felt like watching history in the making."

Completely agree. I was so thrilled she won because it's easy to take her brilliance for granted, but that doesn't mean we should. She turned this down 3 times, saying she was done with musicals. I'd believe her. Plays, perhaps, and maybe even likely. But this may be her last musical. And I, for one, am going to go back a few more times.

[Laurapattifan]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 8:58pm

Any chance the Sondheim Estate could fund a recording?

[windowwaving]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 9:01pm

I for one am shocked. I knew the numbers looked shaky but I thought it had enough behind it to power through at least until the holidays. 

Was hoping to maybe see it one more time, but I don't think I'll be able to get to NY in time. I saw COMPANY the day Stephen Sondheim died and I was so blown away. To me, this was a perfect show and I knew nothing about COMPANY before this. Never thought I would ever see Patti LuPone in my lifetime.

[smallworld]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 9:11pm

I am devastated. I had tickets for the end of August and was really looking forward to it. I'm glad to hear it's touring, though.

[BobNC]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 9:20pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "if this truly is LuPone's final musical, how lucky are we all to have witnessed the performance she's giving right now. I was stunned at her book scene work post TLWL. It felt like watching history in the making."

TLWL? 

[B212323]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 9:24pm

How is Company closing BEFORE Paradise Square the box office grosses are vastly different and both have huge casts??

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 9:37pm

Their advance must be pretty bad, worse than this week indicates. In recent threads I was speculating that Company MIGHT hold on through the fall if it got a $75-$100k/week boost from the Tonys. Some doubted that it would be able to get that boost at all, but it did, at least for this week. But maybe they can tell that the spike of sales was too isolated.


AND/OR…

the running cost is higher than I estimated. Because I had speculated that they were making their nut, or just under it. Now I’m more inclined to suspect that they were running at more of a loss while waiting for the Tonys. 

As for some of the other points mentioned in this thread: 

—As I’ve said in other threads, there’s no point speculating about Paradise Square’s closing date at this point. And by extension, there’s no point comparing it to other shows. The reason Paradise Square is closing after Company is very simple: there are people who are willing to sink an enormous amount of money into Paradise Square to keep it running for reasons that aren’t even remotely rooted in business sense. That’s not true of most Broadway productions, including Company. 

—This is likely LuPone’s last musical, but I can definitely see her doing more plays, especially for limited runs. 

—This makes me concerned for the future of Sondheim on Broadway. 

[yyys]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 9:44pm

Doesn't look like the show is selling......probably easier to take a smaller loss now than a bigger one later...

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:07pm

Pretty devastating news. I thought with the (apparently not) low nut this would be the kind of thing that would hum along for a while with fun replacements for Bobbi, Joanne, maybe others. I wonder if the cast knew this was coming and for how long.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:12pm

BobNC said: "BCfitasafiddle said: "if this truly is LuPone's final musical, how lucky are we all to have witnessed the performance she's giving right now. I was stunned at her book scene work post TLWL. It felt like watching history in the making."

TLWL?"

The Ladies Who Lunch

[David10086]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:16pm

GlindatheGood22 said: "Wow. What?! What are the changes this'll be like Night Music, which announced closing and then rescinded it and brought in Stritch and Bernadette?"

Bernadette Peters as Joanne could be rather interesting! 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:22pm

Wow. Closing after eight and half months at a loss. I'm so glad I saw it with everyone in and got to witness the genius cast, sets, lighting, and the list goes on. I'm completely surprised by this.

They announce a closing before Paradise Square. Is this real life? 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:30pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "if this truly is LuPone's final musical, how lucky are we all to have witnessed the performance she's giving right now. I was stunned at her book scene work post TLWL. It felt like watching history in the making."

I completely agree. I saw it three times in a week span and Patti never played that scene the same way twice. Always fresh, always different, always in the moment. I can’t wait to go back before the end of July. 

[SydneyBristow]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:40pm

Company's Tony performance is the ONLY one not uploaded to the CBS YouTube page... been wondering why.  Even if this closing was known/planned (by the powers that be... as most of us are shocked), wouldn't they want to drum up publicity for the last few weeks?  Or just have this preserved in Tony/musical history?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:40pm

It's really hard to star-cast replacements. CHICAGO is the anomaly, not the norm. Major names just do not want to follow in the footsteps of someone who has won a Tony or had major acclaim –– or if they do, sometimes there's diminishing returns at the box office. We know they were trying to star-cast replacements (mainly for LuPone)...but as you get down the list after some "no"s, the names mean less and less and they probably felt it wasn't worth replacing her, the numbers continuing to drop, and then the show closing like 6 weeks later at a greater loss to the investors.

It is not good for the financial viability of future Sondheim productions without megastars. We'll see how WOODS does, and I'll be curious to see if any other rumored shows come in (Sweeney, Merrily etc). This was a hugely accessible production, and it had an amazing night at the Tonys.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:54pm

DramaTeach said: "I wonder if today’s announcement about masks had anything to do with this. Patti has been very vocal about her desire for audience mask-wearing. The show just won many of this year’s biggest Tonys and should see a boost in sales, so this seems like a decision that was made with other things in mind."

This is a really silly statement. Obviously the closing notice had nothing to do with Patti LuPone's opinion about masks... sigh...

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 11:02pm

Damn. Was not expecting this. I was more expecting an end of year closing. 

I'll have to buy a ticket for a return trip.

I wonder if the weekly nut was very high. I'd imagine that Patti doesn't work for free, it's a fairly large cast, and the set is expensive to operate?

[Bigserver1]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 11:09pm

Well this is incredibly sad news. I saw it in February and loved it, was planning on seeing it again but other things took precedent. Really disappointed that I didn’t prioritize it higher, but I figured it would be around for a while. 
 

I’ll be in NYC in august but not before…wondering if there’s any way to squeeze a trip in the next six weeks but I doubt it. Ugh. This is one of the best things running on broadway right now and it really sucks that it’s closing so quickly. 

[bear88]

Posted: 6/22/22 at 2:42am

I can't say I am surprised by the closing announcement. My daughter was in NYC during the week before the Tonys and this was her easiest ticket (she got really good center orchestra seats for $79, with empty seats in front of her). It was also her favorite musical on a trip in which she liked the shows she saw. We were talking about it last night. I was happy for her but thought the ease with which she picked up an inexpensive seat didn't bode well for the show, on top of box numbers that weren't especially good at this point.

I never thought the Tony wins would make much of a difference. I can't blame the producers for cutting their financial losses on an acclaimed production that probably would have limped along through the dog days of August and into the fall.

But finances be damned, it's really too bad there probably won't be a pro shot or a Broadway cast album. As someone who won't see this particular production, it feels very sad to have the last Broadway revival in which Sondheim was directly involved just vanish into the ether.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/22/22 at 5:56am

This is a real bummer. This production of COMPANY is one of the greatest evenings I have ever spent in a Broadway theatre. Marianne Elliot's direction and the performances from the cast are things I will never forget for as long as I live. The whole production is just a masterclass is how to revive a beloved show. I am so sad I won't be able to see this again before it closes, but you can bet I will be seeing the tour for sure.