Imperial gets new LED marquee Les Miz UPDATE

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 3:23pm

These were on Instagram. Looks like the Imperial is moving to an LED screen. I've always thought the Imperial needed an upgrade from the flats and floodlights. Interested to see how it looks, Ill snap some pictures when it goes up.
http://instagram.com/p/i4SW5nnsaK/







Updated On: 1/10/14 at 03:23 PM

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 3:23pm

Updated On: 1/9/14 at 03:23 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 3:24pm

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 3:38pm

Boo, I hate the LCD screens. Takes all the fun out of seeing the actual poster.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 3:39pm

I hate those LCD screens as well.

Boooooooooooooo!!!

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 4:11pm

I don't care for them either. I understand from a marketing standpoint they can be eye-catching and beneficial.

I feel they lose a bit of history replacing the old marquees, but they replaced the individual placard-letter marquees and we don't bemoan that. I don't want to stand in the way of innovation and hates the "eye sore" of the Eiffel Tower.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 4:12pm

Pippin manages to use the LCD Marquee to the best it can, and the Imperials marquee/facade is tiny and small compared to everything else on that street. For a theatre that size, it deserves something more flashy than the lame marquee it's had. Happy for this change!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 5:35pm

Part of me really wants to see the Les Miz artwork go up on the LED screen while the marquee still displays the "side-splitting romp" pull quote.

[ethan231h]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 5:38pm

I think that it would be an eye sore for the Imperial Theatre putting up an LCD marquee right next to the wonderful LCD pippin marquee at the Music Box. Also, walking from times square people wouldn't be ably to see the Imperial theatre lcd marquee they would only be able to see Pippin's, lastly the colors and photos of Pippin on the marquee are far more inviting then the ones that will be for Les Mis at the Imperial!

Updated On: 1/7/14 at 05:38 PM

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 7:53pm

They're awful. In some places they work, but on a side street without all the crazy lights of 42nd Street or Times Square, they're blindingly distracting at night and photograph awful.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 8:28pm

For Disney it totally makes sense to me. But not sure about this one. Eh. better than that Marquis marquee.

[winston89]

Posted: 1/7/14 at 11:42pm

I'm not going to lie, I was kinda hoping that with Les Miserables returning to the Imperial, that they would use the original (or at least a replica of it) marquee for when the show originally played there. I am not a fan of these electric marquees. Even though I am not totally in love with the one for The New Amsterdam, it doesn't really bother me that much since it blends in well with the rest of the video marquees/bright lights around it.

I love looking at the facades of different theatres, and have always viewed them as a sight for sore eyes in the eyesore that is Times Square. But, now with video marquees coming in to play, I am not sure how I feel.

[RW3]

Posted: 1/8/14 at 12:22am

Cameron Mackintosh is really putting a lot into this Les Mis revival

[winston89]

Posted: 1/8/14 at 12:27am

I doubt that Cameron has anything to do with this. It's not like he's footing the bill for the marquee. I am sure, if anything, that the Shuberts wanted to do it and decided to wait until the end of 700 Sunday's run to do so. Simple as that.

[bobs3]

Posted: 1/8/14 at 5:22am

Whether you like it or not -- the LED marquee is great marketing by the Shubert Org. While the show is running they can use it as advertising for the musical when it eventually closes they start advertising the next show at the Imperial or advertise other shows playing at Shubert houses on Broadway. I remember in the 1980s when a show would close the marquee for that show might stay up for months in front of a dark house until the next show came in.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 1/8/14 at 11:33am

Bobs, that still regularly happens. SCANDALOUS' marquee was up through most of 2013 at the Neil Simon...

[ARTc3]

Posted: 1/8/14 at 12:45pm

Personally, I love the lights and energy of Times Square. I love the Broadway theater marquees and I am comfortable with many of them going digital. In fact, the few that have already converted are wonderful as the designs projected on them are engaging.

As mentioned above, I don't think this is about the colors or content of Les Miserables as much as it is about the Shubert Organization updating their theaters. Digital displays are more flexible in that the content can be fluid and updated easily.

I like them.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/8/14 at 12:48pm

NOOOOOOO!!

[theaterfan862]

Posted: 1/8/14 at 1:05pm

I wasn't a fan of the original marquee, but the LCD screens are even worse! Times are changing so what can you do?

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 3:31pm

http://instagram.com/p/i9X_F9Hse8/
The new LED marquee is up now just waiting for it to be turned on


Updated On: 1/9/14 at 03:31 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 3:45pm

Les Mis is a "side-splitting romp!"?

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 3:47pm

Are those dressing room windows next to the marquee? Whoever sits there will probably be miserable and need blackout shades when that sucker lights up.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 10:34pm

Woah they changed the shape of the marquee to be much taller. That may be an issue. The Broadway Theatre also has a really tall marquee and some of the marquees are really bad for that theatre (Sister Act).

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 10:47pm

That looks fvcking stupid.

[RW3]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 11:11pm

Why couldn't they make the top like Mary Poppins marquee?