Goodbye Hot Feet

I love the way that I missed the fact that they even posted the closing notice...

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Was this the worst show of the season? the worst show to ever grace a Broadway stage? Any comparisson to any other flops of this past season?

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I honestly think it was the worst thing I've seen. Just dreadful. Absolutely dreadful.

I was there this afternoon (my second time...saw the first preview on 4/20/06). The book, costumes and sets are still awful, but the dancers were fabulous. Such a hardworking ensemble of dancers. I really enjoyed Michael Balderamma's performance and Vivian Nixon was stunning. She is so talented and I hope to see her on stage in the near future.

Maurice Hines gave a nice closing speech, thanking the cast, crew, ushers, theater owners, producers, Maurice White, Heru Ptah, his mother and brother in heaven and his father, who was in the audience. He also said that the show will be going on an international tour (we shall see).

At the stage door, the cast was more than gracious to sign and take pictures with the large crowd that was there. I also got Heru Ptah's signature (and told him i loved his book) and Maurice Hines' signature on my Hot Feet playbill and my Bring Back Birdie playbill. I also got Debbie Allen to sign my Sweet Charity CD cover. Phylicia Rashad was also in the audience.

Sad to see a show close, but hopefully these actors will be cast in a better show in the future. Good luck to them!

Updated On: 7/24/06 at 09:34 PM

Oh and the worst show I'm ever seen is still IN MY LIFE. I doubt anything will top that.

How could this show go out with any dignity playing every week with 30/40% attendance?

Hot Feet never broke 50% attendance...and it was only 50% for its first week of previews (5 previews). The show was in the 40% range for all of May and then was in the 30% range for all of June and July. I'm pretty sure tons and tons of comps were given out as well, so the theater probably always seemed more than 40% full. Both times I saw it, the orchestra seemed at least 80% full.

Updated On: 7/23/06 at 10:58 PM

True, 'Hot Feet' seldom broke the 50% capacity, but it should be remembered that they were in the Hilton, which has 1,813 seats. Last week, they sold 5,442 tickets for 37.5% capacity.

By comparison, 'The 25th ... Spelling Bee' sold 5,119 seats in the 684-seat Circle in the Square, for a 93.5% capacity.

Whatever you thought of 'Hot Feet,' the cast were professionals who danced their butts off and did it with dignity and heart.

I think that half the problem for this show was that it was in too big a theatre. The Hilton is one of the largest theatres on broadway, so it takes a pretty big show to fill it. That's why I think The Pirate Queen will do well there. I think Hot Feet's chances could have been a little better if they had been in a smaller theatre.

The other half of the problem was that this show was just bad. I saw the tryout in DC, and while the dancers, singers, and band were good, the book was sorely lacking.

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I wish they renamed the show HOT MEAT COLD FEET.
No offense. The dancers were incredible but the book was the worst I have ever seen. It made "In My Life" bearable.
But, I enjoyed the sexy male dancers. You could say a bit too much. They were steamy hot. My friend and I stayed to stare at the gorgeous dancers.
HOT MEAT, COLD FEET.

I thought Hot Feet was enjoyably goofy. The worst show of the season by far was Lestat. It was so God awful I felt like I was trapped inside the theatre. I had similar feelings at The Threepenny Opera and Festen. I don't mind shows not being great if they're fun like this one, or like In My Life.