Leslie Odom, Jr. sets Broadway return in revival of PURLIE VICTORIOUS, directed by Kenny Leon.- Page 3

[gymman]

Posted: 8/2/23 at 8:22pm

100% agree...he is not a "name" outside of theater insiders. In addition. if people know anything about this, they know the musical, not the play.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 8/2/23 at 10:06pm

I actually listened to the OBC CD of PURLIE (the musical) last week. I saw the musical when I was probably too young to fully appreciate it; but it somehow left a mark on me that I can still appreciate. There was a production of the musical taped for A&E many years ago; at least that’s where I saw it. For me, it had no soul. A lot of that could’ve been the lighting and production design…
Do yourself favor and check out the OBC Recording, streaming everywhere…

Updated On: 8/2/23 at 10:06 PM

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 4:08am

Here is a link to the televised production. 

[bigbelterbaby]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 5:09am

are you guys even reading the thread where multiple people have said it has nothing to do with the musical? As a theatre lover as all of you are you must know how many stories are both a play and a musical like Pygmalion and My Fair Lady, The Rainmaker and 110 in the Shade, Hello Dolly and The Matchmaker, Dear World and The Madwoman of Chaillot, etc. 

[Kad]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 9:58am

Which speaks to this production’s issue with marketing itself. Purlie the play is not particularly well known even amongst theater people- the musical is what people think of. When you say “they’re reviving Purlie,” people will jump to the musical. The production’s lack of marketing doesn’t help here. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 11:09am

Add me to the list of people scratching their heads as to why Leslie Odom, Jr. is doing the play and not the much-more well known musical version. 

Also add me to the list of people scratching their heads at that horrific attempt at poster design. 

People are going to confuse this for the musical and be severely disappointed.

The poster and key art for the 1972 musical version is iconic. It's a thing of beauty...



Even the City Center Encores production artwork had some flair:

 

Updated On: 8/3/23 at 11:09 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 12:45pm

90% of the mezz is not sold for the first preview. This show may not even happen at all considering most people think it's the musical and when they find out it's not......nobody cares. Yikes. 

 

 

[JoeW4]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 1:08pm

I'm not saying it was a good idea or not, but if I had to speculate about the reason behind the decision:

Even if Purlie (musical) is more well-known and well-liked than the play, it's possible that Jeffrey Richards & Co. felt that difference in broad audience (tourist) appeal was marginal compared to the drastic cost increase of doing a full scale musical over a small-ish play. It's possible that they were wrong, but the logic at least makes sense to me in theory.

And speaking of Jeffrey Richards - most of his projects as lead producer are non-musicals, so maybe he felt it was more in his wheelhouse. And in fact, it's possible that the question of "which version of Purlie Victorious should we do?" never entered his mind, and instead it might've been more like "which play should we take on next?"

 

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 7:23pm

To my mind it's still a very socially relevant play. They need to market it as such, and inform the uninformed of its relevance today. The are still Cotchipees in this world, a fact that is sad but true. And there are many courageous people who expose them and take them on. Bravo to the great Ossie Davis. 

[Dom P]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 7:29pm

As an addendum: Ossie Davis's scenes with his wife the divine Ruby Dee In Spike Lee's also socially relevant classic "Do the Right Thing" are magical. It must have been incredible seeing the two of them in the original Broadway production of Purlie Victorious. 

[Voter]

Posted: 8/8/23 at 2:58pm

In rehearsals according to Theatrical Index... who's got their tickets?

[BMcGregor]

Posted: 8/8/23 at 3:27pm

Voter said: "In rehearsals according to Theatrical Index... who's got their tickets?"

Redeemed Audience Rewards points for a preview performance. The lack of advertising for this show is still baffling to me, I've seen almost nothing about it anywhere. 

[jagman1062]

Posted: 8/8/23 at 3:43pm

Redeemed Audience Rewards points for a preview performance. The lack of advertising for this show is still baffling to me, I've seen almost nothing about it anywhere."

I saw that there were several options for getting tickets through AR. I'm curious to which option you took and where your seats are located. I thought the number of points required for this show was rather high. Thanks!.

 

[BMcGregor]

Posted: 8/8/23 at 3:50pm

jagman1062 said: "
Redeemed Audience Rewards points for a preview performance. The lack of advertising for this show is still baffling to me, I've seen almost nothing about it anywhere."

I saw that there were several options for getting tickets through AR. I'm curious to which option you took and where your seats are located. I thought the number of points required for this show was rather high. Thanks!.

"

I did the 8,500 for orchestra, which I do agree is high. Seat was Orch center row H, so at least a solid seat. But yes, that is a rather high point amount. 

 

[jagman1062]

Posted: 8/8/23 at 4:06pm

BMcGregor said: 

I did the 8,500 for orchestra, which I do agree is high. Seat was Orch center row H, so at least a solid seat. But yes, that is a rather high point amount.

Thanks. I have a lot of points, I just didn't want to spend that many on a show such as this one. I think I'll wait for discounts to become available. I found that most AR seats are good. I had a great seat for Good Night, Oscar and Some Like It Hot. Enjoy the show!

 

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/8/23 at 6:04pm

Voter said: "In rehearsals according to Theatrical Index... who's got their tickets?"

That definitely explains how I ended up crossing paths with Billy Eugene Jones in Times Square last week...

[Voter]

Posted: 8/10/23 at 4:12pm

(I am in no way affiliated with this show, first)

It looks like marketing efforts have been vastly expanded since last week, plus new producing partners. The instagram posted some graphic of each actor (the account itself has under 1K followers), plus a video "explaining" the show:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Video-What-is-PURLIE-VICTORIOUS-All-About-The-Cast-Explains-20230810

Interested starting your campaign now, while in the middle of rehearsals, instead of say, before?

[Voter]

Posted: 8/10/23 at 4:13pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/National-Black-Theatre-Joins-PURLIE-VICTORIOUS-Producing-Team-20230810

[Zingingtobway]

Posted: 8/11/23 at 3:59pm

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Very odd that Leslie has built a career as a singer...and is coming back to Broadway in a play?"

 

Not Odd at all. Leslie has been working most recently in the Film &TV  arena so it's a natural progression to return to Broadway in a Play. I am excited to see him flex his skills in a play. 

 

[Wallman2]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 12:21am

If Kenny Leon is at the top of his game, as he was last year with "TopDog/Underdog", and is matched by Leslie Odom, Jr. (this is first time back on Broadway since he won a Tony for "Hamilton" and Kara Young (who was nominated for a Tony two years in a row) this could be a surprise.  The play was a runner up for the Pulitzer Prize.   If its merit is evident, there's a lack of plays on Broadway in September and October, so it could well find an audience.   

[Voter]

Posted: 8/30/23 at 12:24pm

Now on TDF for previews

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/30/23 at 3:13pm

That "art" is dreadful on both the website and on the direct mailer that I got the other day. One features Odom looking like he's playing the Leading Player or Billy Flynn, the other is a Getty Images photo of a church. But this is the same team as OHIO STATE MURDERS and PICTURES FROM HOME, which also had miserably bad advertising.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 8/30/23 at 3:41pm

You said it first. That mailer is so beyond horrendous, I can’t believe shows are paying thousands of dollars to market their shows like this. Tacky, tacky, tacky.

 

Say what you want about Scott Rudin, but that man had taste. I wish commercial theatre didn’t look so damn embarrassing.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/30/23 at 3:52pm

TotallyEffed said: "You said it first. That mailer is so beyond horrendous, I can’t believe shows are paying thousands of dollars to market their shows like this. Tacky, tacky, tacky.

Say what you want about Scott Rudin, but that man had taste. I wish commercial theatre didn’t look so damn embarrassing."
 

The ad agencies cannot be blamed entirely. The producer is calling the shots and making the decision about which creative is used, driving the edits, approving the copy, etc. The agency's first choice is sometimes not the producer's first choice, or a lot of compromises and frankensteining has to be done.

While we're at it, the attempted "photos within abstract piano keys" of Harmony looks dreadful, too. (A video of its producer sitting next to the designer at the agency dictating the final edits was the ultimate cringe.) And for every good piece of Rudin advertising there was a MOCKINGBIRD.

And it's not just commercial theatre --- don't get me started on 2nd Stage, which is even worse!

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 8/30/23 at 4:30pm

Kenny Leon is not why Topdog/Underdog won best revival it was 110% the performers laying it out night after night