HEDWIG takes the Belasco starting 3/29, w/ Spencer Liff as choreographer

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 2:48pm

http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/09-2013/broadway-premiere-of-hedwig-and-the-angry-inch-sta_65980.html

Updated On: 9/9/13 at 02:48 PM

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 2:54pm

I think Neil Patrick Harris is fantastic, I look forward to this.

8 Musicals.

Updated On: 9/9/13 at 02:54 PM

[Jonwo]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 2:56pm

Interesting they've picked the Belasco but I guess there's slim pickings for theatres available in the Spring.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 3:05pm

That house is way too big-very disappointing choice. That and the best seats to enjoy the show will all be premium. Ugh.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 3:23pm

I saw Passing Strange from the back row in the orchestra and Women on the Verge from the mezzanine and it all felt very intimate to me.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 3:30pm

i think the belasco is the perfect venue for this show...

looking forward to seeing it!

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 3:45pm

I saw WOTV from the back and I felt removed and that was a big show. Hedwig is so nuanced.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 4:34pm

They picked the Belasco? They must want it to fail...

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 4:55pm

BettyBoy,

You say "way too big" but where would you have them go?

The Belasco is only slightly more than 1,000 seats, and approx 1/3 are in the balcony. That makes it roughly the size of the Booth in the orchestra and mezzanine (and the Booth orchestra is actually larger, I believe).

If a theatre of around 1,000 is too large, that leaves the Helen Hayes, the Booth, the Golden, the Lyceum and the Kerr.

The Helen Hayes is booked at the moment and the show would have little to no shot at recoupment as a limited engagement in a theatre that small. The Kerr, the Lyceum and the Golden have shows for the Fall and while it's likely one or more may be free in the Spring, a) they wouldn't be able to rely on that now if they wanted to announce the show well in advance and b) the theatre owners may already have a show committed to those theatres that simply hasn't been announced yet.

That leaves the Booth, which I'm guessing either wasn't offered to them (since it's much sought-after because of its intimacy), or the economics of the show didn't work in such a small theatre.

To be clear, I share your concerns about "Hedwig" being in pretty much any Broadway-sized space. But of the options available, and being governed in all likelihood by Neil Patrick Harris's schedule, I think the producers were smart to grab the best of what was available and lock it in now.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 5:18pm

Why Liff?
He's cute and all, but, oh wait.

[mlsheehan]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 5:54pm

I'm excited that Spencer Liff gets a shot. I think his routines on So You Think You Can Dance are consistently solid. However, I could be wrong as I’ve only seen the movie, but there doesn’t seem much space for choreography in the show. Am I wrong?

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 5:55pm

Tickets aren't on sale for over a month, so it's not impossible that they would switch theaters should another one (i.e. Longacre) become available. That happened a few years ago with next to normal and SPEED-THE-PLOW with both switching theaters after their initial announcements.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 6:19pm

Curtain--have you watched Spencer's stuff on So You Think You Can Dance? He's turned into quite a good photographer.

Criticizing a dancer for being cute is like criticizing a puppy for being cute. They can't help it. They just are.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 6:36pm

I think there are houses that feel smaller and houses that feel larger. To me, The Booth, Helen Hayes and The Golden feel small. Maybe its the configuration or the construction, but Belasco feels bigger.

Actually, Im not sure any Broadway house will do justice to Hedwig for me. Someone in the last row of the mezzanine isn't going to walk out with the same experience as some in the front orchestra.

I think the conceptualization is all wrong. Hedwig is down on his luck, playing dives and the rapport with the audience echos that. It's imperative. This is what you get when you throw a "star" in the role. Unless they are re-imagining the piece, I'm having a hard time with this. People in the mezz are just going to feel removed.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 7:01pm

Actually, Im not sure any Broadway house will do justice to Hedwig for me. Someone in the last row of the mezzanine isn't going to walk out with the same experience as some in the front orchestra.

Agree.

But I'm excited anyway. Already planning my Hedwig/Cabaret double header.

[RW3]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 7:49pm

The website says that it is a limited engagement. Interesting.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 7:53pm

Yes Joey, I like his stuff on SYTYCD But HEDWIG is hardly a dance show.

[Jane2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 8:01pm

I think the conceptualization is all wrong. Hedwig is down on his luck, playing dives and the rapport with the audience echos that. It's imperative. This is what you get when you throw a "star" in the "role. Unless they are re-imagining the piece, I'm having a hard time with this. People in the mezz are just going to feel removed. "

Exactly- I can just see the people in the back row of the orchestra wondering what Hedwig said to the person in the front row when he checked himself in the hand mirror and asked "How does my hair look?"

Oy, most of the show is made of little side remarks. And if they change it in any way, I'm afraid to see what it becomes.

Although I have such a close relationship with this show, I have to admit to lots of trepidations about it going Bway.

Updated On: 9/9/13 at 08:01 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 8:05pm

"But HEDWIG is hardly a dance show."

Angry Inch, Exquisite Corpse, Sugar Daddy

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 8:28pm

Seems many on here know HEDWIG from its opened-up film adaptation completely unaware that on stage HEDWIG is performed as a monologue during a club date. There are no sets. The entire play is "told" to us by Hedwig while he's on stage with his band. That's it. The play was magical at the itty-bitty Jane Street Theatre which was basically the basement of the Jane Street Hotel so the intimacy was what really made the experience. The film adaptation brought to life the things Hedwig spoke about and was a completely different incarnation. I guess they are going to expand this new production to include choreography as the original had none. My interest has sadly diminished in this Broadway incarnation as I saw the original Off-Broadway over 10 times and still hold it dear to my heart.

[Jane2]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 8:42pm

Close Bordy Fosse, but the Jane St. was originally the BALLROOM of the RIVERVIEW Hotel. And at 300 capacity, it wasn't really an itty bitty off broadway house.
It did have quasi choreography in the numbers I mentioned above.

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 11:18pm

I'm inclined to give them a chance rather than dismissing it based on assumptions gleaned from the size of the theatre and the hiring of a choreographer.

It's one of the original producers producing it, the authors are likely still very much involved, it's a star who is a real theatre person and who seems to really want to do this right -- for all of those reasons, I'm going to try to be optimistic about this one unless/until given a real, concrete reason not to be.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 9/10/13 at 1:12am

I'm totally a newbie to the show, so forgive me, but are there other characters or is it basically NPH and the band? Do we know for sure that they are expanding the piece? It doesn't say he's doing choreography, but more "musical staging." Maybe they just brought him on as selling point?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/10/13 at 7:28am

I think this is shaping up to be an excellent evening in the theater.

[Jane2]

Posted: 9/10/13 at 8:29am

"I'm inclined to give them a chance rather than dismissing it based on assumptions gleaned from the size of the theatre and the hiring of a choreographer. "

How many of you have seen it in a larger venue? I have. twice. That's what I'm basing much of my opinion on.

BTW, have you seen it on stage, av. bway nut?