Dodger Stages is no more

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:54pm

Well...at least the name, anyway.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/98438.html

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:01pm

Wow
They are really goin' downhill aren't they?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:19pm

Well, nothing that's played there so far has turned a profit.

[My Strongest Suit]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:06pm

what about Altar Boyz? that has gotten critics' praise and it is hilarious.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:08pm

And not made a dime.

According to ALTAR BOYZ's producer it perpetually hovers around break even -- earning a few thousand one week and losing a few thousand the next. It has barely paid anything at all back to its investors so far and likely will never even come close to recouping.

[My Strongest Suit]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:10pm

that's sad. i think it's a good show.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:15pm

Off Broadway, as Margo has explained before, is currently a broken formula. I'm not sure what the solution is, but it will be a shame if the Dodger Stages folds.

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:28pm

Sadly the downhill demise of Dodgers as a whole has been in the works for some time now, clear back to halfway thru the run of the 42nd ST revival. Everyone got tossed in the main office and it was down to very few people, from what an intern who worked for them told me. How on earth the Dodger Stages even got built is a complete mystery to me, because they weren't exactly rolling in dough when that got started.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:39pm

I wish someone could come up with a solution, but even veteran off-Broadway producers who have been doing shows for decades are increasingly throwing up their hands and getting out of the business. Nothing seems to work anymore in the "for-profit" realm, except for the occasional one person show. Costs are astronomical, with even single set nonmusical plays costing upwards of $600,00 to 800,000 and ticket prices reflecting that. But charging $70 for an off-Broadway show at a time when a person can get a seat to a Broadway show for less than that with a discount makes it hard to compete. And if you turn around and discount your off-Broadway play down to $50, there goes your profit margin.

Aside from increased government subsidy (never happen, especially for commercial theatre), new tax incentives (unlikely), major concessions from the unions (unlikely) or the NY Times cutting commercial producers a substantial break with advertising rates (highly unlikely), there don't seem to be any answers.

Not every show belongs in a Broadway house -- in fact 90% of plays have no business going near those enormous theatres. But with such bleak prospects for success in the off-Broadway arena, some producers end up going to Broadway anyway -- it's higher profile, which will help the play in its regional life after New York, and at least you have a shot at a Tony. But what happens to those smaller shows that just can't do the Broadway transfer and have trouble finding an off-Broadway producer in this economic climate? Are they forced out of New York altogether and into regional houses around the country? I mean, what else can they do?

Someone needs to come up with something soon or we're going to lose a lot of quality plays and playwrights from the New York scene.

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:45pm

Ugh, I hate that. It seems like off-Broadway could slowly (or quickly, even) die out if there isn't any money in it and that's awful--you can see some of the best theatre off-Broadway. What happens to New York theatre when the only money to be made is on Broadway?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 4:02pm

Thank heavens for the not-for-profit subscriber base theaters -- LCT, MTC, MCC, The Public, Playwrights, Atlantic etc.... They provide 90+% of the new and interesting theatre in this city year after year, but not every play -- not even every good play -- is meant to go the not-for-profit route. Not to mention that in the institutional theatres, you are limited to an 8 to 10 week run. What if you're a big hit? Extensions are often impossible and/or short-lived and a Broadway move costs a couple of millions at a minimum. A commercial off-Broadway move may cost nearly a million and given the size of the houses, your earning potential is small, as is your chance of ever recouping. What to do?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 6:08pm

Will this new entity still be renting it out to off broadway productions or is that it ?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 6:15pm

Maybe they need to put in a couple of star-driven vehicles into the dodgers stages for a couple months just to gain awareness for the space and whatnot.

Although to me, it seems like Dodgers has put on a lot of like "low-brow" type musicals. Like Trailer Park and Sid: the musical, it seems like they put on nostalgia shows. Besides BARE, there hasn't been a show they've done that I'm really interested in it at all.

[juice23]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 6:20pm

BARE could have been their big tenant... i wish it didnt fall through

[tourboi]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 6:41pm

I agree, BARE could have been the hit Dodger Stages needed. Sad, very sad.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 7:51pm

The reason for the takeover isn't exactly the way some have portrayed it here. Without talking out of turn, I'd just like to say that there's no reason to mourn.

And yes, Mr. Roxy, besides the off broadway projects, the stages will be available for readings, works in progress, musical performances, and other theatre related shows.

It should be very interesting to see what happens next!

[bwayfan3]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:08pm

I really like that space. I remember the first time I went there, I felt like the hippest New Yorker! It's too bad that the prohibitive costs of putting on productions and marketing them makes the success rate for off-Broadway so low.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:12pm

yes, off broadway in general is rough. I just wanted to add that the biggest change you'll notice is the sign on the outside.

[alterego]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:18pm

Of course what seems to happen with the plays that go the regional route is that they do so, are successes are picked up by Broadway producers, then are given expensive "makeovers" put into theatres too large then flop.

What plays are on secondary school (sorry, don't know what you term it over there) reading lists. Surely that ready made audience would make the smaller spaces at Dodger viable, possibly even with some tie-in sponsorship that benefits the sponsor and theatre/student.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:30pm

Has the space totally closed ? Has Altar Boyz closed with this happening along with anything else playing there ?

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:31pm

No Mr. Roxy-absoltely nothing has changed and nothing is closed. There will just be a new sign outside.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:38pm

If it's merely a name change that is one thing.Manhattan property values being what they are, it in not out of the realm of possibilty if one day we wake up & find the space is being demolished & replaced by those 2 most needed things of modern life - high rises or banks

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 8:54pm

That could happen any where and any time, Mr. Roxy. I pm'd you.

[QMAN03]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 9:16pm

Does this affect any of the shows playing? Because I have Altar Boyz for the following Monday and it'd be great if I could return them (or if you want to take them, I'm fine with that too)