Is "Dirty Dancing" Critic-Proof?

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:24pm

Reviews ran from tepid to pan, and yet they did $1 million at the box office last week in an unremarkably average week for Chicago theater.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/DIRTY_DANCING_in_Chicago_Breaks_1M_Box_Office_Mark_20010101

Apparently repeating the pattern seen in Australia, London and Toronto.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:25pm

Christ, lets hope not.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:28pm

Has any kind of opening date been set for Broadway? I haven't seen any, just announcements re: "pre-Broadway" or some such thing. As far as being critic-proof, well, anything can happen.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:30pm

It definitely is.

It'll make money regardless of the reviews it gets...if it does move to Broadway.

[Tag]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:31pm

Based on the international companies, yes, it is critic proof.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:32pm

I think it plans to open Fall '09.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:33pm

Most people I know who have seen it - even people not normally theatrically inclinded - found it to be meh at best. They are offering $44 tickets on election night, but I was told it wasn't even worth that much.

The BWW thing says "with new songs, new scenes" which is news to me. I thought it was pretty much the movie verbatim. I wonder what the new songs are.

[Broadway Baby 2]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 1:58pm

Reviews do not make or break a show anymore. I think it is part of more and more people becoming less informed about everything. In the "information age" I find this sad. I read reviews, but do not let reviewers form my opinion about shows.

[shpants]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 2:21pm

The show has been in Toronto for about a year now, I believe, and it somehow still draws crowds (although I think the crowds are starting to wane and they're getting a bit desperate.) Personally, I didn't really like it.

[Tag]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 2:24pm

There are many additional songs that were added to the stage production (for the original film, they were not able to get the rights to them at the time). Most (if not all) of these are tracks and not played live. The rest of the show is pretty much a carbon copy of the film.
They typically cast Baby to practically resemble Jennifer Grey also. Which is a bit surreal.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 3:15pm

Often in a way to "beat" the critics, the producers will do a saturation TV buy and put the ad on whenever there is a gap in the broadcast schedule: local news, daytime, late night.

Has there been a big TV blitz in Chicago and/or Toronto?

[JeaniusIsMe]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 3:38pm

Over the summer when I still lived in Chicago there was a radio blitz- but I didn't notice much on TV. But I'd bet that's what they're doing now.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 3:39pm

There have been a lot of ads on tv, plus they are all over busses and cabs.

[shpants]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 4:05pm

There are a lot of billboards and bus/cab ads in Toronto, but I haven't seen any tv ads. There used to be radio ads, but maybe they got rid of them, which is fine by me.
I wouldn't mind if it closed early and made room for something better - or at least something new.

[Tag]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 4:25pm

There are tv commercials that have run consistently over the past year in Toronto, in addition to radio, newspaper, banners, etc. Nothing over the top, the marketing for the show has been pretty standard to any other show.
News came today that they are closing off one of the balconies at the theatre in Toronto, therefore reducing the house count/number of potential tickets sold from 1500 to 1300. That is still 100 more seats per performance then in the West End. The show in Toronto is slowly losing popularity and will most likely close in early 2009.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 6:00pm

Due to name recognition, I would have to say yes.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 6:00pm

Due to name recognition, I would have to say yes.

[SgtDonut]

Posted: 10/28/08 at 6:47pm

Am I the only one who thought it was good? I mean, it definitely needs some refining before Broadway (cut scenes from Act II, change a LITTLE bit from the movie, get the lead to work on restraining his accent) but I enjoyed it.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 12:25am

NO.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 5:47am

Yes it is

When it opened here in the UK i remember reading a review where the critic himself said "I hated it, will it matter to anyone that i hated or other critics hated? of course not"

The show was not praised here in the UK and yet the show is selling better than all the other West End shows

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 6:30am

I don't believe the show is critic proof.

The difference between DIRTY DANCING playing in Chicago and Toronto vs. New York is that people don't have close to as many options when it comes to theatregoing in those cities as they do in New York, so they pretty much just take whatever they can get.

Long runners in the West End have for the past ten years or so been of notoriously bad taste, but I don't think New York is at that point just yet.

Even moreso than critics, I think Riedel, if he wanted to, could destroy this show before it even hits town.

He's the king of knowing how to bring about negative word of mouth.

Updated On: 10/29/08 at 06:30 AM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 12:52pm

"The difference between DIRTY DANCING playing in Chicago and Toronto vs. New York is that people don't have close to as many options when it comes to theatregoing in those cities as they do in New York, so they pretty much just take whatever they can get."

I agree, except Chicago has more local theater options than New York. New York has more COMMERCIAL theater for sure. And in Chicago, both Wicked and Jersey Boys have locked up two theaters for ages(not to mention The Color Purple and the millionth tours of RENT and Phantom), so theatergoers and subscribers are flocking to something new. Once it hits New York all bets are off. It will have a recognizable title for tourists for sure, but that won't necessarily cause the audiences to like it.

[kover22]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 5:31pm

This is probably really juvenile, but I want to see it because it has Tony and Aspen Vincent in it!! lol