FENCES?
FENCES?
re: FENCES?#2
Posted: 12/28/09 at 6:22pmExpect to see it announced for the Cort after the limited engagement of "A View From The Bridge" ends in early April as scheduled.
re: FENCES?#2
Posted: 12/29/09 at 2:42amAccording to Ron Bohmer, the cast of RAGTIME was informed that FENCES is the next tenant at the Neil Simon.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.
re: FENCES?#3
Posted: 12/29/09 at 2:53am
Smaxie said this in the Ragtime closing thread
"Fences is not going to the Neil Simon and is not the reason why Ragtime is closing.
For that matter, whatever show follows Ragtime at the Neil Simon cannot be blamed either for Ragtime's closing."
People (and cast members it seems) are under the impression that FENCES kicked them out of the Simon, but apparently that's not true.
re: FENCES?#4
Posted: 12/29/09 at 3:04am
Considering that Kevin McCollum refused to name the show to the NYT, I think it's unlikely he named the show when speaking to the company either.
Due to some newspaper reports from a few weeks back (Riedel specifically), I'm sure the cast surmises it's "Fences" but I stand by my contention that it's going to the Cort and, assuming they can finance it, "Orphans" is headed to the Simon.
re: FENCES?#5
Posted: 12/29/09 at 10:49am
"Considering that Kevin McCollum refused to name the show to the NYT, I think it's unlikely he named the show when speaking to the company either."
While that may be true, here's what I know: the producers of Fences looked at the Neil Simon right before Christmas. Ragtime was evicted from the theater...it isn't voluntarily closing. Just because the producers may not have told the cast doesn't mean someone else didn't. The staff of the theater generally know what their next show is by the closing week (if not earlier) of the current show.
"Expect to see it announced for the Cort after the limited engagement of "A View From The Bridge" ends in early April as scheduled."
The producers did look at several houses, and they definitely want to open the show in April...but would there be enough time before the Tony cutoff to load out one show, load in the other, and have its opening night before the cut off date if it goes to the Cort?
re: FENCES?#6
Posted: 12/29/09 at 10:51amA View from the Bridge ends on April 4th and the Tony cut-off date is April 30th iirc. It's tight, but totally do-able if Fences is not a giant overblown production.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
re: FENCES?#7
Posted: 12/29/09 at 10:57am
Those looking for conspiracy theories or another show to scapegoat for Ragtime's closing should look elsewhere. Fences is not going to the Neil Simon. Whatever show coming into the Neil Simon, be it Orphans' Home Cycle or something else, is not responsible either. Those shows did not 'evict' Ragtime, even though it's better I'm sure to blame an outside force. Had Ragtime done better business, it wouldn't be closing.
As for the second point, technically speaking, there would be time to load in, tech and open another play at the Cort before the Tony cut-off after View from the Bridge ends April 4.
re: FENCES?#8
Posted: 12/29/09 at 10:58amIt would be tight, I agree, but depending on the physical production, it's do-able. AVFB will probably be out in 3 days, so "FENCES" could start working in the theatre on April 8. The show doesn't need a complicated set, so let's say 7-10 days of load-in and tech at most. That would allow them to start previews on Mon 4/19 at the latest and open the following week, just before the Tony cutoff. Not a huge amount of time, but achievable.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
re: FENCES?#10
Posted: 12/29/09 at 11:07amThe Brian Dennehy Hughie/Krapp's Last Tape from Chicago is expected at the Golden.
re: FENCES?#11
Posted: 12/29/09 at 11:31amAlso with Denzel Washington in the cast I would imagine that the Golden would be way too small for FENCES.
re: FENCES?#12
Posted: 12/29/09 at 12:12pmFences needs a large theater mainly for the fact that it can sell it out. For that reason alone, I hope it can take the Cort so they can fill every seat in that ridiculously hard to sell house.
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/05
re: FENCES?#13
Posted: 12/29/09 at 8:18pmI heard through the grapevine that "....BRIDGE" may extend one month depending if it sells out. Scarlett is making about $70,000 a week doing this show and isn't complaining about the extension (although I heard she screwed up severely in the first preview).
re: FENCES?#14
Posted: 12/30/09 at 1:24am
70K a week, does that sound right? seems a little too much for me to think she is worth that much ?
what are normal "name" actors weekly on Broadway ? I know when Cate Blanchett did Streetcar a few months back in Sydney she was only on normal rates whatever they are Im not sure but 70K just seems a little crazy.
Thank you all for your input and keeping me entertained on this board for many months.
:)
marc
re: FENCES?#15
Posted: 12/30/09 at 7:47am
I was going to mention the same thing. $70K? As a base salary? I don't think so. I'll believe it when I see a contract.
Now...if her contract includes a percentage of gross that might get her to $70K, then sure, I believe that (say, $20K per week + 10% of gross over $400K or something like that), but considering they've played all of two previews to date and not even completed a full playing week, I'm not sure where $70K comes from and remain unconvinced.
re: FENCES?#16
Posted: 12/30/09 at 12:19pm
"Those looking for conspiracy theories or another show to scapegoat for Ragtime's closing should look elsewhere."
I don't think anyone is doing that. I think most people here had false hope that the show would make it through the spring, but the realists among us knew it wouldn't make it past December. Theaters don't boot shows unless they have another show ready to come in...and sometimes those don't even materialize (Spamalot was evicted, and the follow-up show went to the Hirschfeld).
"Fences is not going to the Neil Simon.
That remains to be seen. They were looking over the theater recently, but I have no knowledge as to whether or not they eliminated it from consideration after their walk-through.
"Whatever show coming into the Neil Simon, be it Orphans' Home Cycle or something else, is not responsible either. Those shows did not 'evict' Ragtime, even though it's better I'm sure to blame an outside force. Had Ragtime done better business, it wouldn't be closing."
Absolutely true...though it may have hastened the closing, but I doubt it. Though Ragtime's running costs were, to my surprise, under $500K/week, they would have closed by the end of January at the latest iof they had soldiered on. The show is just not marketable to tourists.
"As for the second point, technically speaking, there would be time to load in, tech and open another play at the Cort before the Tony cut-off after View from the Bridge ends April 4."
That leaves an awefully short preview period.
re: FENCES?#17
Posted: 12/30/09 at 12:21pm
That leaves an awefully short preview period.
True, but it has happened before.
Everything in life is only for now. ~ Avenue Q
There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last. ~ Rent
Understudy Joined: 6/18/03
re: American Idiot#18
Posted: 12/30/09 at 12:30pm
What about AMERICAN IDIOT? Are we still expecting them to arrive in the spring? There have only been about 5 or 6 new musicals so far this season...
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
re: American Idiot#19
Posted: 12/30/09 at 1:01pm
Fosse, you wrote that Ragtime was not a "voluntary closing," intimating, as some of the cast members have posted on their social media pages, that Ragtime was forced out. And that is completely specious. Now, there are always shows circling theatres where the current tenant is perceived to be in trouble. While several shows are now vying for the Neil Simon Theatre, Ragtime would not be closing if the producers of the show felt that they could have withstood the winter and cover their losses. I believe this mindset that Ragtime was forced to closed or evicted may stem from something the producers of Ragtime must have told the cast, to perhaps soften the blow of the closing. It sounds better to say that the theatre owners have another show lined up than to say simply, "we're out of steam, money and options."
As far as your reluctance to believe Fences is not going to the Neil Simon, here's the New York Times ArtsBeat blog from yesterday, saying that Fences is not going to the Neil Simon.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/theater-guessing-game/
I'm not privy to their financial details, but I don't believe Ragtime had a running cost under $500,000. An investor in Hairspray told me in 2002 that the weekly running cost for that show at the same theatre, with its smaller cast and orchestra, was $600,000. Now, that was a new show versus a revival, but costs and salaries have not diminished in the last seven years...
Regarding the Cort, if View from the Bridge closes April 4, you can load that show out, load in another play and tech it in a week, begin previews by the second week of April, play two weeks of previews and open the last week in April. It wouldn't work with a musical, but a straight play with a unit set could do it.
re: American Idiot#20
Posted: 12/30/09 at 1:39pm
"What about AMERICAN IDIOT? Are we still expecting them to arrive in the spring? There have only been about 5 or 6 new musicals so far this season..."
I am pretty sure that will almost definitely arrive this Spring.
Understudy Joined: 6/18/03
re: American Idiot#21
Posted: 12/30/09 at 2:12pm
Even considering the lack of theatres now? Is the Neil Simon a possible house for them?
If the Dennehy shows get the Golden and Fences gets to Cort...what's left?
re: American Idiot#22
Posted: 12/30/09 at 3:19pmWell, the Neil Simon hasn't announced a spring tenant yet.
re: American Idiot#23
Posted: 12/30/09 at 3:43pm
^ And sadly, I don't think anyone anticipates Finian's to stay open much longer...their closure would open the St. James.
Wasn't AI looking at that theater?
Updated On: 12/30/09 at 03:43 PM
re: American Idiot#24
Posted: 12/30/09 at 3:45pmYes, AI wants the St. James. I think, if Finian's does indeed close in a few weeks, that a mid-March or early April opening could be very feasible.
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