HEDWIG heads to Broadway- Page 2
HEDWIG heads to Broadway
#25HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:13pm
I love this show dearly, but it's kind of like the "anti-broadway" musical in that the setting is supposed be a dive (as Reidel mentions). Hedwig never made it, how would they justify a him having a show on Bway?
But if it happens, I would definitely see it.
....but the world goes 'round
#26HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:18pmI was sort of wondering if there would be textual changes to accomodate for that fact, taz. I trust JCM to make that work. But I'm COMPLETELY unbiased when it comes to him.
#27HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:22pm
Next up for JCM: Shortbus! The Musical
The Act I finale could the National Anthem. With butt-mikes.
....but the world goes 'round
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#29HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:23pmBy gum, why not???
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#30HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:24pmAm such a fan of JCM that I actually considered submitting myself for SHORTBUS. What would mother darling have said??
#31HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:27pm
You should have Robbie!
What mother doesn't know won't hurt her.
Did you ever see The Secret Garden on bway? Wasn't he in that also?
....but the world goes 'round
#32HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:28pm
"I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this show could fill a Broadway house and thrive. None."
Well, I guess we just have to disagree on this one. But one point producers should remember: there have been no musicals of this size to ever be a hit on Broadway (without major stars involved), with the possible exception of AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, a very different animal.
"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." (George Santayana)
#33HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:32pm
"I was sort of wondering if there would be textual changes to accomodate for that fact, taz."
The article answers your query.
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#34HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:35pmI hope it runs long enough for David Archuleta to play Hedwig!
#35HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:36pm
"I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this show could fill a Broadway house and thrive. None."
totally disagree. The piece started out as an intimate act with one person at a mic in a bar. It's come a long way since then, but not as far as a broadway house.
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#36HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:36pmWill the delightful Miriam Shor also be joining in? Once again: Why not??
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
#37HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:39pm
In the increasingly tabloid-tastic era we're in, it's less and less of a stretch that were someone like Hedwig to come along dishing on a famous celebrity, they could garner enough interest to fill a theater for a night. Call it a press conference/concert, and you answer several questions as to why she's playing that space. I do adore this show and have faith in the writers to be able to pull something together that makes it makes sense. And with the cult following for the film that will bring people to the show, it seems like it could have a real shot.
And newintown, what do you mean by "this size?" Cast size? Scope? Show length? And is there really a comparative show that fits the mold--successful film musical, three year run off-Broadway, cult following, etc.? I think the show has more in common with Next to Normal than Ain't Misbehavin'.
#38HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:39pm
Miriam Shor is always terrific. Just saw a Wikipedia entry on ehr that ends thus:
"After Swingtown was cancelled for another season by CBS, Shor retired from acting. She currently is playing Carrie Parsons on FX's Damages."
Retirement used to mean something different, I guess...
#39HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:41pm
Did you ever see The Secret Garden on bway? Wasn't he in that also?
Yes, he was the original Dickon and can be heard on the cast recording. He sings one of my favorite songs in the show, Wick. The Secret Garden is the first Broadway show I ever saw, and I vaguely remember liking him a lot in the role.
#40HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:51pm
Sauja, I meant cast size as well as the simple physical space the show embodies. Although the band is on stage, there are only two actors, and no dramatic physical action, only the musical staging. So, yes, it's conceivable that Mitchell will run around the stage no matter how large, like in a celebrity's solo show (like Liza).
But Mitchell, popular as he may be, does not have the following of an international star. And the following he does have, if they have the disposable income, aren't necessarily genial towards glitzy, mainstream, touristy Broadway.
You call HEDWIG a "successful film musical." As far as I know it was more art house - it never opened wide across the country. "Success" is a vague term.
And, as we all should recognize by now - "cult" following doesn't translate to commercial Broadway success, without being mainstreamed (like HAIRSPRAY).
As I pointed out earlier, it's great to love this show. I think it's also great to acknowledge it's context, strengths, and it's limitations. Some fans just want everything they like to become a mega-hit, not content to love a piece for what it is.
#41HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 12:54pmOh good grief--please stop attempting to read everyone's minds, newintown. Or knowing in advance what the creators and producers of this possible production have in mind.
#42HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 1:05pmUnneccessarily snarky response, jrb, and I don't see how it relates to anything I wrote. No "mind-reading" going on. Simply an analysis of what succeeds and what fails. I know some folks would like to assume everything is a potential hit, but examining theatre history shows otherwise. no matter "what the creators and producers of this possible production have in mind," it's still possible, if you know the past and the piece, to hypothesize the outcome. No need to get nasty if you don't like the opinion stated.
#43HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 1:07pm
If NEXT TO NORMAL can make it's money back, do we really believe HEDWIG can't??? Seriously???
I mean...I get it. And the points are (somewhat) valid. I just profoundly disagree that this couldn't sell. It may, in fact, not sell. But smart producing could easily get this show it's money back...and pretty quickly.
#44HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 1:10pmOh, honey--trust me that was not me being nasty. Just tired of you claiming to know what fans of the show are thinking (or not thinking). Of you knowing what the producers and creators are thinking.
#45HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 1:21pmI still don't get how you reached the conclusion that I know what anyone is thinking. Your posts seem very hostile and antagonistic towards opinions you don't like, rather than an articulate reasoning for an opposing point of view.
#46HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 1:34pm
Dude, if you are reading hostility and antagonism in my posts, that's you and your whatever. Again--stop trying to read other people's minds. It's not about liking or disliking your opinion. In fact, I don't think your opinion on the subject is wrong though I don't completely agree with it.
It's your harping on the matter with stuff like, "Some fans just want everything they like to become a mega-hit, not content to love a piece for what it is." thrown at people who also, believe it or not, have valid opinions contrary to yours. SonofRobbieJ, for example, isn't some silly, loopy theatre fan. He's knows a thing or 12. So, please do not presume to know what others think.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Brick
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/21/06
#48HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 2:00pm
I think it'll do well.
Selling tickets is certainly most of it, but it's also about running cost. And this one would be very, very low.
#49HEDWIG heads to Broadway
Posted: 3/31/10 at 3:00pmMy God, some of y'all are some snarky ass bitches over this! This is great news, why try to kill the show before it's started?! I mean this is Hedwig. Its a modern classic with a large cult following that will only grow from this. Add in the fact that it will get a different demographic coming to it ala Rock Of Ages, a low running cost, no "huge" star salaries and I think you might have a recipe for success. It's like some people think this is going to take The Hilton or The Minskoff. Have some faith in Mitchell. I think by now he knows what willl and what won't work for his show.
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