DRS ?

The show was buried beneath the hit shows such as Wicked and Spamalot. Also Spamalot opened that year. It just didn't attract audiences as much.

Also, John Lithgow was a star vehicle, I think he was partly the reason the show lost even more interest among theatergoers after he left.

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I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

I wouldn't say it did "so poorly" on Broadway, it almost recouped, and for weeks in the early part of the run was one of the top 5 revnue producers.

It had a couple of key things going against it though. Brantley pretty much panned it in the Times. If Spamalot was not out that year, even though some may feel Piazza might have deserved it more, with Tony politics what they are, I'm pretty sure DRS would have won the Tony, which would have helped. Also opening right around the same time as Spamalot didn't help. Attendance went down after Lithgow left, and moreso after Norbert left.

Also, some prospective attendees just grouped it in their heads among all those musicals based on movies, even though IMO, DRS is far superior to most of those. That also affects the tour I think. And if people didn't like the movie...

It really deserves better.

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"If there was a Mount Rushmore for Broadway scores, "West Side Story" would be front and center. It snaps, it crackles it pops! It surges with a roar, its energy and sheer life undiminished by the years" - NYPost reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli

Updated On: 3/18/07 at 11:48 AM

No it didn't, unless info disclosed to the public was falsified. I checked the grosses every week after Lithgow left and it stopped being among the highest Bway revenue producers. Percentages went down, something you could certainly tell from being in the audience.

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I seem to remember the first few weeks after the Times went nuts over Pryce's performance that the numbers shot up into the 90's in terms of percentage of seats sold. But the bump didn't last long, and you're right that attendance kept dwindling each week throughout the spring and then plummeted after Pryce and NLB left. I do know that after I read that review I considered getting a ticket to see Pryce, but had difficulty getting a seat so I didn't bother.

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