Equus- A Low Advance?

So does anybody else find the advance sale for EQUUS surprising? The other day in the Michael Riedel column he said it only had a 3 million dollar advance. I find that suprising considering Equus is a limited 22 week run that has a 1million+ a week potential. I would have thought that this show would sell out before it even opened ala THREE DAYS OF RAIN or THE ODD COUPLE. So anybody else thing maybe Americans are not as excited as the British? Or maybe it is just the economy. But with the buzz from London and the stars involved I thought this would be sold out before the first show. Thoughts?

Updated On: 8/16/08 at 12:34 AM

I think it could be the fact that Daniel Radcliffe fans are to young for Equus but that didnt seem to stop it from selling out in London. Maybe the British embrace the whole Harry Potter thing a bit more and Equus/Peter Shaeffer are a bit more bankable in the West End as well.

THAN!

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*waste

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*you're

They should just push the opening back to July 17, 2009. That'll solve everyone's problems.



****ing warner brothers.

Is it just me, or do you guys always roll your eyes whenever you see Winston's post on BWW?

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'Equus' wasn't a sell-out in London by any means. There was a lot of fuss about it, but it wasn't a sell-out.

It does seem like it's had less coverage in the US press though. I seem to remember a lot of angry Daily Fail readers in the UK going "OMG he's Harry Potter and he's got a penis and he's showing it off THINK OF THE CHYYYYYLDRUUUUUN!". But then, he's already done it once, so any concerned parent with an internet connection has probably already spewed their righteous indignation all over the webbernets back in 2007. (But then, UK parents are always ready to get angry at theatre that can possibly be connected to families; you should have seen their anger at 'Mary Poppins' being less saccharine than the film. XD)

Seriously, everything Winston says in his first first post about why he thinks it's not as big in the US as it was in the UK? Already covered in the UK back in 2007. I don't like the implication that the British are more excited by anything Harry Potter than the Americans. Could someone please remind me which of the two countries is building a Harry Potter theme park? (For anyone who cba with rhetoric, it's the US.) I'm also terribly disturbed by the implication that Radcliffe's main fanbase in the US is younger people; not because it's inaccurate, but because between the lines, he's suggesting that UK theatre-goers are all a bunch of... child-fanciers. In a bad way. If you catch my drift.

The only point he has that I think is valid is that the West End is a lot more play-friendly than Broadway. That is literally Winston's only good point. Savour it. (Although when you bear in mind how other plays with movie stars have sold out rapidly, it's only good up to a point...)

But anyway; apart from annoying people sharing ill-thought-out opinions with anyone who dares breathe (ooh, that bit was aimed at "concerned parents" by the way, not anyone in this thread, believe it or not), and apart from Broadway being big bright beautiful theme-park-land, it looks to be doing about the same on Broadway as it did in the West End. With the added sadness of the current economic downturn.

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Updated On: 8/16/08 at 05:19 AM

Well its not like Equus was ever written to be a profitable play. Having Daniel in the cast, definitely increases the plays appeal, but some Harry Potter fans are just too young to see his magic wand.

A $3 million advance for a play is not low. It may not be what Julia Roberts in Three Days of Rain, Denzel Washington in Julius Caesar or Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in The Odd Couple racked up, but it is otherwise a very respectable advance for a play.

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>Somehow, I do not think crowds will be around the block for The Seagull.<

They will be once the reviews come out.

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Are you the resident Joe Btfsplk of the BWW board?

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BTFSPLK?

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