ENRON to close 5/9 — Page 2

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#26

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 7:38pm

I think the topic just hit too close to home for American audiences.

I don't think it was that at all. I think it was just a poorly conceived piece of theatre. The show was much too ambitious -- too many bells and whistles, with a complete disregard for the talented human beings up on that stage attempting to tell a story.

"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)

#27

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 7:45pm

Good- pure unadulterated pretentious British crap.....how dare they use the 9/11 clip equating it with Enron collapse....buh bye

#28

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 7:52pm

I agree it was not a 'hit too close to home/too soon' deal. I loved the book, I loved the documentary (that incidentally enough I first watched playing on CNBC a year ago), but the play was a mixed bag of responses from people on here and by critics. Also, Enron seems like ages ago and the discussions of corporate greed today are about ponzi schemes, Madoff, AIG, and Goldman Sachs. Enron is yesterday's news for a lot of people.

#29

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 7:56pm

Sorry to see it go. Although not flawless and certainly not a great play, I found it to be interesting and engrossing theatre. Certainly beats a lot of the crap that seems to be hanging in there. Oh, well, that's show biz, I guess.

BroadwayEd

#30

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:01pm

Is "British" a pejorative word on this board nowadays?

I didn't enjoy this in the West End a few months ago despite a very strong central performance from Sam West and some fun bits of gimmickry, and most of the (British) audience around me seemed similarly unimpressed - "Is that it?" was the kind of thing I was hearing afterwards. I think this is a case of a show succeeding (in London) on hype alone. I also suspect it worked better in the small (300/400-seat) theatres it started off in.

#31

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:08pm

I found the evening to be pretentious and pedantic. In other words, crap all around. Good riddance.

#32

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:21pm

The real problem is that there is nobody on that stage that you can care about. As for the staging, yes quite good, but we've seen all those bells and whistles used to better advantage in better productions.

Oh .... I guess this means the Barbara Cook Sings Hits From ENRON CD won't happen now....

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#33

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:30pm

For those of you who have seen it or plan to see it in the next (very) few days, just remember that in 20 years, people will be asking you, "wow, did you really see that?"

Just as I am often asked about seeing Smile, Into the Light, Raggedy Ann ...

"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."

blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22

#34

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:30pm

Some will no doubt be surprised by my saying this but I'd sad the show is closing this soon. My friends/fellow actors are going to be unemployed.

As documented on the other threads I had serious problems with the damn thing, but I really enjoyed the conversations sparked by the piece and as a theatre artist I think anything that prompts actual discussions and actual ARGUMENTS has done part of its job.

Sure, some of it was bloated and self-important but there were some risks being taken. My wish now? That theatre producers would take the $4M they sank in something like this and divide it into 10 smaller theatrical events. Give space and light to new voices and innovative staging of plays that STIMULATE their audiences.

#35

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:38pm

pure unadulterated pretentious British crap.....how dare they use the 9/11 clip equating it with Enron collapse....buh bye

They dared because they could. But unadulterated crap is not unique to Britain or any other country. I felt Spring Awakening was pure unadulterated American crap, but I never felt the need to associate my opinion of the show with the nationality of the creators because it's completely irrelevant. How dared they use modern music in a classic German play?

Oh yeah...because they could.

buh bye

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#36

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:39pm

While I was in NY last week I went to the box office on a Tuesday to ask if they would be offering a rush. They said a decision was being made that day and to check back tomorrow. So I went to the box office again the next day. (Keep in mind this was immediately after Opening Night, so the reviews just came out.) Box office said that the producers decided not to offer a rush. So I didn't see it, even though I REALLY wanted to.

You know, instead of setting prices so high right off the bat, why not let preview performances be half price? After Opening Night, after the reviews, and after the producers meet to discuss whether or not they think they have a hit and how long of a life they might have on Broadway, they could then determine price points, if they want to do lotto/rush, etc.

OH -- and I **LOVED** CORAM BOY. The show still haunts me to this day. 10 years from now I will be saying "Yes, I saw that show and it closed WAY to early! Let's do a production of it!"

"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

#37

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:47pm

OH I'm seeing this Saturday's matinee! Wow I hope it really does wait until Sunday to close. I'm so excited now...and upset for it.

#38

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:49pm

Too bad. I really wanted to see it.

#39

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:50pm

CapNhook,

You make a GREAT point. I'm not a producer so I can't answer it, but I'd love to know why the audience is expected to pay full price for something that isn't DONE yet. The night I saw E, as I said on the other thread, one of the LEADS went up on his lines. Called line for about 2 minutes, had the line fed from offstage... and the Sound was spotty and all over the place. I'm sure part of the bitterness I had coming out of it was attributed to the fact that I'd paid $250.00 and between my whole party, we'd spent over $600.00 to see what, in that moment, looked like a high school production.

I'd think there might be real money in advertising the previews to Universities, conservatories, and other large groups at slashed prices. You could get the "Focus Group" effect and Ca$h entering the coffers. Curious. Maybe someone with experience in that arena can speak to it?

#40

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 8:58pm

DAMMIT! I just got a ticket two days ago for the end of May. The varied opinions on this show was one of the very reasons I was so curious to see it.
Wish they could've held on for a couple more weeks.

The Overture is part of the show, people. Please shut your pie hole.

#41

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 9:39pm

This is a major flop for Butz and Mazzie. I wonder if they will even include it on their resumes/bios?
I sure am glad Kunken received his recognition today. But that must suck, receiving a Tony nomination and a closing notice on the same day.

#42

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 11:28pm

Just putting it out there that the Broadhurst would be an excellent home for both The Scottsboro Boys and The Orphans' Home Cycle.

#43

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 11:29pm

Wow, I think this is really a shame. I saw it Sunday night and while it didn't blow me away, it took chances, was thought-provoking, and I was glad to have experienced it. Very early on, I asked about rush and student tix and was surprised they weren't doing any of that...and at the performance I saw, they'd comped the entire front and second row center to folks from an off-B'way theater company who were pretty amazed to get free seats that good! So it probably wouldn't have hurt them to do rush/lotto/student stuff, although to be fair, they were on TDF for plenty of performances.

I agree with the posters here who advocate lower prices for previews though. And I, for one, don't find it surprising at all that the Brits would be fascinated by a show about an American phenomenon as dark and problematic as the Enron debacle, while it would leave NYC tourists cold!

#44

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 11:33pm

If Butz and Mazzie are smart, this show will never go on the bio.

#45

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/4/10 at 11:47pm

As good as The Orphan Home Cycle may be, it is a multi part drama with no stars. In todays theater environment, does anyone think it will have a chance in hell of succeeding. Drama, without a name, is an almost impossible thing to sell.Take Denzel out of Fences & it is never revived.I saw the original with James Earl Jones & it was a whole different theater climate than. Drama was appreciated & not frowned over in favor of musicals. With tickets prices reaching the stratosphere, even for drama, what chance will Orphans have?

Poster Emeritus

#46

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/5/10 at 12:08am

It's a shame, this was one of my favorite things of the season -- and I think it's telling that those who aren't fans of it can't seem to help themselves from saying c*nty, vitriolic things like "Good riddance" and using words like "trash." Personally, I wish we had more shows that evoked such strong reactions (for example, I loathed CORAM BOY with every fiber of my being, but I think we need more shows that display such ambition).

And Wanna Be A Foster, while those may have been the reasons YOU didn't like it, I don't think one can say that people didn't buy tickets because they assumed/knew the directorial flourishes would be emphasized over the talented cast. I didn't want to speak it aloud, but I had a feeling if anything was going to do this in, it was the combination of it (a) being about a subject matter Americans would prefer to stick their head in the sand in regards to, and (b) it's an expensive production.

#47

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/5/10 at 4:24am

Hun, chill. I was only expressing my opinion. I think what ultimately did the show in was the fact that it was not nominated for Best Play (combined with a negative review from the Times).

Deep breath now.

#48

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/5/10 at 7:07am

Yea, hun, chill.

Foster, I don't think a Tony nomination for Best Play would have saved Enron (IMO). If anything, people want to forget how all those employees were fleeced, but Smart Penguin said it better.

#49

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/5/10 at 8:20am

"Deep breath"? "Chill"?

Did I give a ranting, foaming-at-the-mouth response and just didn't realize it? Get over yourselves.

(and re-read your post -- in the context of the thread, you did offer up our own personal opinions on the content of the show as rationale for it failing to connect to audiences)

#50

ENRON to close 5/9

Posted: 5/5/10 at 9:01am

I'm seeing this tonight, but literally just bought tickets Saturday... Yikes - on a personal note, reminds me of how I got tickets this year for Brighton Beach Memoirs and Looped just a few days before they each announced closings, which I may not have done otherwise.

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