First Date is on the chopping block

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 1:00am

Saw the matinee today, was about 1/2 full. At the stage door every cast member including Zach was imploring us to tell our friends.... the hammer seems like it maybe about to drop....

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 1:20am

Dàre I say New World Stages beckons

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 2:00am

i don't know why this didnt start there, would have done great at New World.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 10:32am

Because they had a star. It's not a terrible show, it's just a little too much fluff. It's actually really well designed and directed, I thought.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 10:57am

Theyve been telling people to bring their friends back since I saw the show in early August. Krysta even mentioned it in her vlog...I think its harmless and they realize they have a fan base and want it to grow/increase the shows popularity. So, them telling people to bring their friends back is not a recent thing, I just want that to be clear.

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 11:04am

It will be interesting to see the grosses this afternoon

[dreaming]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 11:10am

The thing is there are a lot of shows coming down the pike that need a home and the Lyceum isn't a bad house. (I could envision a couple of shows wanting this venue.)

I am hoping to see this very soon-heard nothing but good things.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 11:22am

Longacre, friend. Longacre.

I doubt it's doing all that poorly, considering I'm sure it doesn't cost all that much to run. I'm sure even Zach is taking a fairly scale paycheck to keep the show afloat, so I don't see it going anywhere soon. I feel like Soul Doctor will close before First Date will.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 11:23am

I say the same thing to people leaving the show I'm working for after every performance, even though most of them are sold out. Word of mouth is th best free advertising there is.

[dreaming]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 11:31am

I know, I know. I got confused by the avatar above my post-I know it's the Longacre. There will be a lot of competition coming in during the late winter/early spring, so we'll see how it fares.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 11:41am

I think it belongs to an Off-Broadway stage...but I really enjoyed the show.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 12:06pm

I didn't hate this show as much as Iluvtheatretrash but the only thing that kept me interested in staying until the end were Zach and Krysta (who was INCREDIBLY hot and worth seeing the show for; Zach was wonderful and very funny). All in all it really belongs off-Broadway - there's an audience for it, lots of Zach and Krysta fans were having a great time last night, but it's only 90 minutes and the house was barely half full, after heavy papering. I think Zach and Krysta are the reason anyone is buying a ticket.

Updated On: 10/1/13 at 12:06 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 4:12pm

This harkens back to times when stars would take time at curtain calls to implore audience members to get their friends to see shows that were tanking. I vividly recall Diana Ladd doing this at the end of a TEXAS TRILOGY performance.

[jpbran]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 4:48pm

A question mark at the end of the thread title might have helped... not "officially" on any chopping block yet.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 6:06pm

I second that Krysta Rodriguez is incredibly hot.

That said I think this show will keep on plugging along at least until Mr. Levi leaves. It has to have an incredibly low running cost (total cast of 11, one set, no elaborate costumes) as opposed to say... Soul doctor, which has a larger cast and everything else, but made 200k less in grosses last week.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 7:25pm

I imagine the producers just want to run it long enough so that they are entitled to their full subsidiary rights participation and then they'll laugh all the way to the bank next year when every unimaginative artistic director around the country programs this crap as part of their next season.

[quizking101]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 7:32pm

When I saw the show at the beginning of September, Blake Hammond mentioned the show currently being on sale/running through March 14th, 2014.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 8:17pm

Being on sale through next March means absolutely nothing. They're being optimistic.

It does actually cost more to run than you would think, as ALL the actors are on principal contracts. They get paid more.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 10:14pm

I don't think cast members asking people to plug the show counts as "on the chopping block," but a half empty house doesn't bode well. Honestly I'm surprised it lasted this long.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 10:43pm

When I saw Drood, at the end of December last year, Stephanie J Block was saying to everyone to tell their friends about the show, and its a non profit theatre running it, and they had already extended. It all free advertising, if you ask me.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 9/30/13 at 11:05pm

At one of the first previews of Matilda, the friendly usher in the orchestra section was so happy that we loved the show and said, "Come back and bring everyone you know! Tell everyone to come and see the show!" And the show was already nearly sold out for three months.

Updated On: 10/1/13 at 11:05 PM

[hanabana]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 12:52am

I agree, at every show that I have ever been to, the cast members always tell the audience/fans to spread good words about the show to everyone they know. So I think it's perfectly normal that they would ask everyone to tell their friends about the show. I went about 3 weeks ago, the house looked pretty full that day actually, and they also said to spread the word at the stage door. I enjoyed this show much more than I expected, it's fun and has some pretty good songs in there. The entire cast was great. It's a shame to hear that the house was only half full, hopefully that is not the norm.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 3:21am

This is more of a show you take a date or an S.O. to rather than a family with kids so I wouldn't base any firm conclusions on future of the show based on what the house looked like on a Sunday afternoon, which is not what one would consider a prime "date night". Nor would I base it on the cast telling people to spread the word. What do you expect them to say to gushing fans outside the stage door "whatever you do, don't tell anyone you went to the show and enjoyed it, okay"? However, if you look at the revenue, average ticket price, % tickets sold, % of potential etc. the trend of the last month is not looking favorable at a point where you would hope it would be picking up steam on good word of mouth, not losing it. And yes, I know it's "The Fall" but this is not really a tourist type of show that Ma and Pa Kettle from West Overshoe Kansas are going to drag their 3 kids to see instead of Matilda anyway, so that shouldn't have that huge of an impact. Regardless, good luck to them. Much has been said of the two leads making sure to sign for everyone at the stage door and working as hard as they can to have the show be successful so you just want to pull for them.

[DeeKDee]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 6:45am

While it's not a huge "family" show, I think the commenter above is underestimating how many people from out of town were going to the show over the Summer. Not everyone travels with kids. So, it doesn't surprise me their business would slow down as the Fall hit.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 12:05pm

I have a feeling both the Longacre & Circle in the Square will be available come January.