How long will LESTAT run?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 12:49pm

Place your wagers here - I say it will close around Labor Day.
Updated On: 4/26/06 at 12:49 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 12:58pm

Agreed.

[codyjo88]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 1:04pm

wow, I'm suprised you give it that much time.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 1:11pm

Well, I figure that with a major studio/creative team behind it; they'll suck up operating the show, even at a weekly loss through the summer. I agree with Margo in the review thread, however, that I think group ticket sales will dry up big time and the advance will probably all but disappear overnight.

I'll be very curious to see what the box office take is today after the reviews.

I'll get flack for saying this, but frankly, wouldn't it be a relief to see a modern producer be like David Merrick on BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS? So much rampant ego these days, you have to respect a producer who choses to close a show that is clearly a turkey rather than to "subject" the audience to a tedious and expensive evening of subpar theatre.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 1:31pm

It's hogging a nice big theatre. Grr.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 1:37pm

I dunno...if they get some stars in it maybe it can catch on. When people ask me about the show I say, "well it's like Aida, the book and direction are bad, but the performances, sets and music are pretty cool." The music for me wasnt as bad for me as it was for the critics. It was much more tolerable than bland Phantom/Les Miz snore scores. It's really a shame what's happened here. Hopefully they can re-adapt this into an epic movie-musical. I dont think it has in anyway killed the franchise.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 1:40pm

They will not get stars in LESTAT.

LESTAT is nothing like AIDA. AIDA was atleast comprehensible, and had some good aspects - mainly it's fun, catchy, well-written (though typical) pop-score. LESTAT is nothing like that.

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 4:14pm

i say a month after the tonys

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 7:50pm

I dunno. It isn't doing horrible business. But we'll se how the reviews affect it. Maybe Drowsy can just move across the street?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 9:00pm

Methinks Sir Elton should not be preparing his Tony speech

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 9:52pm

There's no need for Sir Elton to write a speech. Roxy will do it for him (and it will be monosyllabic).

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 9:58pm

it will... "live forever!"

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 10:02pm

A Warner Bros. exec at the theater last Saturday that they plan on keeping it open until January, '07.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 10:36pm

I think January 2007 is a little ambitious. Even if Warner Bros. has the money to pump into the show, I can still see the Nederlanders stop-clausing it if they want something else in the Palace. There are a lot of other shows looking for homes.

It will depend on Tony noms, but my wager is Memorial Day.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 10:44pm

I agree with Labor Day. The show is selling enough on weekends, from what I understand, to give it a little bounce through the summer. And tourists will probably give it the benefit of the doubt at the TKTS line.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 10:47pm

Never trust what a studio exec says...especially when he's a first time theatrical producer commenting before the reviews come out!

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 11:01pm

I'm withholding judgement until after the Tony noms. If Lestat gets any nominations, they will keep it open for a while. If they get nothing, I'm guessing they will announce closing some time in May. That's my bet and I'm sticking to it.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 11:11pm

The thing is that the show has yet to break even and has lost money every single week since previews began. And with that slate of negative reviews, it wouldn't appear that things are likely going to improve. The producers could create a tv commercial and spend six figures marketing the heck out of the show in the next couple of months to try and drum up business, but I think ultimately that word-of-mouth could be their undoing.

I don't like speculating on any show's (negative) future prospects, but I do wonder how long Warner Brothers is going to be willing to keep throwing money at a show that is unlikely to ever find enough of an audience to even pay for its weekly expenses, let alone begin paying back its enormous capitalization. At some point, the realization is going to come to Warner that $12 million is as much as they're willing to lose on this venture, that it's doubtful that this show will ever recoup (thought they may try to tour it), that in their first attempt at Broadway producing they did their best and assembled a team they thought could pull it off and it just didn't happen, and -- assuming there isn't some big turn around when the summer tourists start arriving -- they no longer want to throw good money after bad and to just cut their losses and take a write-off. Whether that happens after the Tony nominations come out in mid May, after the Tonys in June, after Labor Day or some later date, we'll see. But, unless this show starts pulling in at least $100-150K more weekly very soon, it's days are numbered.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 11:23pm

Despite the name recognition of Anne Rice and Elton John, I don't think LESTAT would tour well at all; even if it were a better written show. There are too many key market cities a tour of this size would have to play to recoup that would be turned off by the subject matter.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 11:47pm

You're probably right MB. I just threw the idea out there because I'm sure Warner is trying to figure out some way to get a little return on their investment. But, I'm not sure how many Best of Broadway series around the country would be interested in booking a homoerotic vampire musical with that slate of reviews -- even with John and Rice's name attached.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 11:52pm

They should pack LESTAT up and mail it to Japan. They'd eat it up!

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 11:56pm

My money is on August. I think they will 'suck this one dry' till they are forced to close. August, mark my words. Beware the ides of August

[Phantess]

Posted: 4/26/06 at 11:57pm

July 4th...call me a pesimist

[toto2]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 12:35pm

There's one little thing everyone is forgetting here: Lestat is the first theatrical venture of Warner Bros. but not the last. Warner has said they are committed to this business - see Barry Meyer's comments in the Sunday NYT article.

$12 million is nothing in movie business terms - it's a small price to pay for Warner to get their feet wet in the theatre business. And, as Barry Meyer says, the company is not measuring this purely on financial return.

So yes, the critical reviews mean it's an uphill battle, but they are not going to be limited by the weekly nut or the overall financial health of the show itself. They are likely going to do all they can to keep the show open simply to learn about the business. In so doing, they will try a whole bunch of different marketing incentives just to keep people coming. So yes, even if they are losing money each week, so long as seats are being filled, Warner will give it a fighting chance of finding an audience. So it will run at least thru the summer, and likely to the end of the year. And perhaps, even beyond...

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/27/06 at 12:42pm

A valid point toto, but surely they have also done research into other corporate production ventures in years past and have learned from, say, the mistakes made by corporate entities like those who funded THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, who ended up throwing some 20 million dollars at the production revamping/revising/redirecting it with zero success.

Clearly, WB will tolerate losing money on LESTAT - the question is how much and for how long...