If You Won the Powerball and Could Mount a Production on Broadway...- Page 2

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 9:22am

Well, joanf, it's kind of more of a risk to put your money in the show if you have a lot to lose. As the pot is currently $1.3 billion, I think the hypothetical winner could risk their own money on a few shows and still be able to invest the rest and live off the interest.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 9:24am

How about a staging of that early career stunner The Knife that originally starred Mandy?

[MISH2]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 10:13am

"Rebecca" with Colin Firth as Maxim deWinter, Rooney Mara as his new bride, and Meryl Streep as Mrs. Danvers.  

[skies]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 10:45am

Stage five new original musicals in five years , and  at least one of those be a first time composer/playwright.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 10:48am

I've decided that if I win, I'm purchasing Surflight Theatre on Long Beach Island, currently in auction limbo after going bankrupt. If that theatre gets knocked down and turned into ugly condos I'm gonna cry.

[brdway411]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 10:53am

M*A*S*H THE MUSICAL. 

[macnyc]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 11:07am

^^^^^I love that!

 

I would pay a huge sum of money to Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron to write and compose a musical based on Alison Bechdel's follow-up to Fun Home, her book about Helen, called Are You My Mother?

Updated On: 1/10/16 at 11:07 AM

[bandit964]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 11:46am

I'd try to build a new theatre in the theatre district.  A small, 700 seat house ala the Friedman.  Maybe a small 500 seat intheround/blackbox in the basement.  State of the art technical facilities.  Donate a certain amount for ticket prices to remain low for the next 25 years like the Signature initiative.  

[bandit964]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 11:47am

And buy the Times Square Theatre and turn it back into legit use.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 12:09pm

Good luck with getting sets through the front door.

[bandit964]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 12:18pm

You wanna tear it down?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 12:50pm

Times Square has lost so many big beautiful theaters over the years it is beyond tragic.

 

Maybe use it as a museum of the American theater. I doubt it would be feasible to use it as a theater again.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 12:51pm

I'd definitely do a bunch of selfish revivals: Love Life, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Carrie circa 1988, Allegro, Merrily We Roll Along (as workshopped from the original text), and probably a bunch of early Robert Wilson works like A Letter for Queen Victoria and The Life And Times of Joseph Stalin (and film them, naturally!).

 

I'd also fund and produce a fair number of smaller revivals of personal favorites (and sponsor the creation of new works) with the intent of providing roles for people of all types and giving opportunities to fresh artists and designers. It'd be really cool to have the ability to get new voices heard, especially ones that usually aren't, with as little interference as possible. Just give them the money for supplies and the space for creating and see what happens, see what stories are told and what ideas are brought to life. 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 12:53pm

An all star slam bang revival of Rockabye Hamlet.

[DrMike]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 2:04pm

Since Dramamama beat me to the rights for The Princess Bride (the musical), I think I would work on mounting Drop Dead Gorgeous: the musical.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 2:39pm

"I would fund EVERYTHING needed for a cast recording of The Apple Tree revival with Kristin Chenoweth, Brian d'Arcy James and Marc Kudisch.  #notbitter"

 

YES. Maybe I would fund Zoe Sarnak's Civil War musical. My inclination is to go towards original and new... but there are also shows I just want to see on stage like Ragtime. I think revivals, and yes, even jukebox musicals and book/movie adaptations have their place. 

 

Also, with a jackpot that big, sure, just flush money down the drain and mount Rebecca. You'd fill seats for at least a month from morbid curiosity alone.

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 2:40pm

I would like to see the Simon Gallaher "Gilbert and Sullivan" trilogy running in rep with a similar American cast of theatre performers, comedians and rotating stable of celebrity guest stars. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 2:44pm

Oh, and to take some of my answers from the "bad show" thread... Lolita My Love, Kelly, La Strada, Georgy, and Dessa Rose.

 

And not a bad show... Caroline or Change. Maybe I'd just donate money to Encores but mandate the choice of more neglected shows than the ones they've been putting on lately.

[Tom5]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 3:33pm

Putting your own money into a Broadway Production is a bad idea. (Take my word for it, it really, really bad) But if someone else won the Powerball and gave me the money for Broadway the last thing I would want would be to produce a production with half the seats empty every night. Very dispiriting to everyone involved. So I would start by casting (and paying big time; whatever it took) the biggest stars to insure a full house every night. Say, Tom Hanks and Julie Roberts for starters. Then I would get the best commercial director around and ask all three what would they like to do together - old or new - and rely on their judgement. I'm sure there would be some good suggestions. Either that or just donate to ENCORES, as the previous poster suggests.

[Showface]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 3:48pm

Well, if I one the Powerball, I likely would just go on a spree of Broadway shows, and finish it all off by attending the Tony's at a good seat, and buying my way into the after party.

 

However, hypothetically, if there were no risks involved in putting your own money into productions, then I would...

 

Invest Some Money In

Bombshell

The Wiz

 

Do a Revival Of

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or Annie Get Your Gun starring Megan Hilty

Follies with Barlett Sher as the director

Dreamgirls 

 

And, as for new shows, I would want to produce shows that are inclusive to different groups of people and continue to propel diversity in Broadway theatre. On top of this, I would want to find a way to make sure that the tickets to all of these shows are affordable, so that more than the well-to-do or rich can enjoy multiple show, AND I would have all of these shows filmed and released to the public.

 

Updated On: 1/10/16 at 03:48 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 3:51pm

@tom5 "Putting your own money into a Broadway Production is a bad idea." Why? It's not like you are trying to make money; you are trying to spend money. And why would you rely on the judgment of others? The whole point is to spend your money on something you are passionate about. If you are not passionate about anything, do something else with your newfound wealth.

[Tom5]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 3:54pm

I wouldn't want to cause harm to good people because of my vanity.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 4:00pm

You'd be giving a bunch of people jobs for a few months, assuming you let the show die gracefully and not pump money into it and make it play to empty houses for your own enjoyment, like some kind of Citizen Kane megalomaniac.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 4:21pm

Speaking of vanity, if we can expand the parameters of this hypothetical, I would get tickets for Hamilton so I can be one of those jerks (choosing a nicer word) who sees Hamilton three times and complains about it during the intermissions of other shows. 

[PianoMann]

Posted: 1/10/16 at 4:25pm

Two productions immediately came to mind:

 

First, I would help fund the musical adaptation of Aimee Mann's concept album The Forgotten Arm that has been in limbo for the past few years.  The last I heard of it, David Henry Hwang was writing the book, but that was many years ago.

 

Second, I would love to produce a Bart Sher revival of Sondheim's A Little Night Music.  Based on what I've seen of Sher's work, I think that would be an ideal pairing of show and director.

Updated On: 1/10/16 at 04:25 PM