FIRST DATE Musical Headed To Longacre

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 10:38am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/FIRST-DATE-Musical-Heading-to-Broadways-Longacre-Theatre-This-July-20130307

According to Variety, Junkyard Dog Prods. will bring the new musical FIRST DATE to Broadway this summer. The show will begin performances at the Longacre Theatre on July 9 and open on August 4.

The musical, which played Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre last spring, will feature direction by Bill Berry and choreography by Josh Rhodes. Casting has not yet been annouced, but the Seattle cast included: Eric Ankrim, Kelly Karbacz, Benjamin Harris, Vicki Noon, Brandon O'Neill, Rich Gray, Greg McCormick Allen, and Sonya Meyer, in roles including old boyfriends, ex-fiancées, best friends, and pushy relatives, not to mention fellow diners who intrude on the couple's blind date.

https://variety.com/2013/legit/news/first-date-item-tk-1200004620/

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:01am

Why? What is it? Really? WHY?

[Kad]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:06am

...We'll see.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:15am

Where do these things COME from? Even the title alone is crap. Jesus.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:30am

Huh?

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:35am

This has flop written all over it! Why not start it off-broadway, doesn't sound like a hot property! Poor Longacre, it's becoming notorious for flops!

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:38am

'Where do these things COME from? Even the title alone is crap. Jesus.'

Methinks someone who has achieved some success in remounting flops should promptly remove his head from the mouth of the gift-horse.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:42am

Hahahaha, SonofRobbieJ!

[kitkats99]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 12:08pm

Actually, the show is pretty hilarious. Saw it in Seattle and its only going to get better.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 12:13pm

The think the Longacre would be better off with a revival of PRYMATE!

[tazber]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 12:14pm

I know nothing of this show but it seems to have gotten some excellent notices. Granted it seems more like it might be more suited to Off-Broadway but I'm not writing it off yet.

[exedore]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 12:14pm

Also saw it in Seattle and found it massively overrated. A lot of cliches with b-grade sitcom dialogue and a mostly forgettable score (I remember the "This is your bailout calling" riff 'cuz it showed up so much). As a small off-Broadway show, it'd probably do OK, but it's going to flop when it has to churn a Broadway sized audience.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 12:35pm

normally I'd be happy that another theater is booked, but I just don't see this lasting that long and could even be closed by Labor Day.

[AntV]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 12:46pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxzz13GNNPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ucDGAH4KfI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qf-qQ236ko

Blah.

[choitoy]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 1:24pm

I saw this in Seattle, and it really should have opened up off-Broadway. With some clever marketing, this could have been another "Tony & Tina's Wedding" type of show (well, not interactive like that show, but similar in vein, marketing towards a date night type of situation), but the show is too slight to be really big on Broadway, at Broadway prices. It's cute, and mostly harmless, and nothing more, and will probably be evicerated by NY critics.
Memphis (also by the same producing team) was way more ready for Broadway, which is saying a lot!

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 4:07pm

Hey. I LOVE my flops, SonOfRobbieJ. But this came out of left field. And I often wonder where the money comes from to produce these shows.

Besides... I would never dream of a commercial run of Moose Murders. But for two weeks it was fun.

Well, good luck to them. But I just can't see this being some big success.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 6:25pm

But I will say this, SonOfRobbieJ.... TOUCHE! :)

[Matt Rogers]

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

Good for someone taking a chance on a title with no name value, with assumably no stars, and authors with no major credits, but seriously, who do they think is going to pay $140 or so to see this? Not tourists. And from the above comments, not regular theatregoers either. Are the hoping for bachelorette parties or something? I'm trying in vain to understand the logic here. Or is the show just that brilliant that it deserves this sort of trajectory?

[ABB2357]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 7:30pm

Good God. I barely made it through the first clip. Painful is too kind a word.

[Hannahbelle]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 10:15pm

I saw it twice in Seattle and loved it. I thought the concept was great, most of the songs were witty and catchy, and the direction and acting were outstanding. I agree that it seems to small for Broadway, but I'm glad that this show is going to have a future.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:21pm

It's opening in the summer and it's opening at the Longacre? Um... yeah. That's not gonna last.

Maybe they'll try and get some "broadway" names for it. But it sounds so slight.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:26pm

The fact that they're opening it in the summer doesn't really speak much to their aspirations.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:33pm

The last thing to come from the 5th was ....

SCANDALOUS !

Yes!

Who funds these things?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:36pm

This reminds me of the situation with Glory Days. A show that's too small and slight, but not egregiously awful and without any known actors (if the cast transfers). It's a recipe for coming and going without anyone even knowing it played a single performance.

Opening in the middle of summer is a deadly decision and will do it in more than anything else though.

It reminds me of a show The York brought in from Chicago a few years ago called Tomorrow Morning that they ran for a month or two. That seems like a better and safer track for this show.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/7/13 at 11:41pm

Agreed. It actually sounds like it could make quite a fortune doing the "Menopause: The Musical" and "Midlife Crisis: the Musical" dinner-theater routes.