Posted: 7/13/15 at 4:06pm
Wicked did fine after the original cast left and has yet in 12 years casted a huge known celebrity. I hope it run for a very long time though.
Wicked CAST Joey Mcintyre and Rue Mcclanahan early in the run. While not huge names, they did seem to dabble with some name recognition in the roles for a brief period.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 4:11pm
I'm sure they have nothing to do with Wicked still running to this day
Posted: 7/13/15 at 4:27pm
Lin Manuel Miranda????
In the real world (mainstream), he is not a name. He's not even a blip on the radar. Just FYI.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 4:32pm
^Exactly. Outside of the Broadway community, he's not a draw.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 4:46pm
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:05pm
Everyone in New York knows who Lin Manuel Miranda is. But, if you didn't catch his hilarious character in How I Met Your Mother or his Modern Family episode, most people probably don't know him very well in middle America. Theater people and New Yorkers definitely do, and he is a big name to them. His name is part of why the advance sales are so huge. He IS a draw.
Updated On: 7/13/15 at 05:05 PM
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:06pm
"New Yorkers" is such an incredibly broad generalization and includes millions of people. So, no, he is not a "big name" to "New Yorkers." He is a big name, however, to "Theater people." You're correct on that point.
Everyone in New York knows who Lin Manuel Miranda is.
No, they don't. That is not true.
Updated On: 7/13/15 at 05:06 PM
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:07pm
Even saying "Everyone in NY knows who Lin Manuel Miranda is." is false.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:08pm
Ok. I will say the majority of people in New York City knows who he is or at least have heard his name before. But, everyone I know has heard of him because they all saw In The Heights, including people from all over the country. He is a draw to Hamilton. One of them at least.
Updated On: 7/13/15 at 05:08 PM
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:11pm
Ok. I will say the majority of people in New York City know who he is or at least have heard his name before.
And you would still be wrong. Change that to "majority of theatre people in New York City," and then you might have something.
But, everyone I know has heard of him...
Uh, that is neither 'everyone in New York City' nor 'majority of people in New York City.' For all I know, you're talking about ten people.
Updated On: 7/13/15 at 05:11 PM
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:15pm
Margo, even accepting that as true, the purpose of casting "stars" is not to get theatre people and New Yorkers attracted to the show-they are, in case you haven't noticed, already there.
I agree, Kad, that the king is really the only good stunt casting opportunity. I just don't know how much impact it would have. And for the foreseeable future it is irrelevant; the show itself is selling out and is reselling up in the stratosphere. I think the apt analogy is BOM-no one bought tickets to that because of its two aborning leads. And no one has bought a ticket since because of anyone in the show (not counting the grandmothers of all those kids making their broadway debuts...
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:20pm
Also, I’d argue that many of the people who know who Lin-Manuel (or at least his name) now know him because of “Hamilton,” which still makes the show itself the bigger known entity. He may certainly be a draw for some people, but I definitely don’t think the success of the show is hinging on him being in it. An added bonus, certainly, but I’m certain the show will live on long after he exits the cast.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:34pm
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:36pm
I just walked by the theatre. The line stretches past the Imperial and its neighboring parking lot, to that little market on 8th.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:38pm
As far as I can see, they've been pushing the show in all the right places. There's a definite following on social media, they had a great article in Vogue, they have a piece in this weeks Cosmo which actually profiles the performers, they're on the front of the NY Times today. I assume once things get going they'll be on tv shows. Jimmy Fallon loved the show so I wouldn't be surprised if they did something on his show. It does feel a little more than just the opening of another show, there's a shift happening.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:39pm
Just entered the lottery. So many people, but it is organized chaos. Send me luck!!!
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:48pm
Kad, which line? Cancellation line?
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:50pm
The line to enter the lotto... which is referenced in the post directly above mine.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:52pm
welllll I've never entered a lottery where there was a line but okaaaay
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:54pm
@decast re Fallon, I think now that it has been announced that Questlove is producing the cast recording it is a foregone conclusion that the show will have a warm perch at the Tonight show.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:55pm
There are way too many people to have folks enter it the "just walk up and take a slip" way.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 5:57pm
Wow! I just passed by the theater and their is a line that literally goes out onto 8th avenue!
Updated On: 7/13/15 at 05:57 PM
Posted: 7/13/15 at 6:02pm
Posted: 7/13/15 at 6:06pm
It's hard to imagine if anyone hasn't gone into this show with skepticism. I sure did. On paper, a hip-hop, mostly rapped musical about Alexander Hamilton seems like, at best, a Fringe Festival novelty. I don't particularly like rap or hip-hop, either. But damn if it wasn't one of the best things I have seen, easily.
And no, as of now there are no recordings of the songs released.
Posted: 7/13/15 at 6:13pm
