MOTOWN -- Back on Broadway?

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 5:09pm

Is the show still coming back to Broadway?   Didn't they announce it would return? 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 5:14pm

Don't bet the farm on its return.

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 5:15pm

Was supposed to come back next summer, so too early to nail it down further...

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 6:46pm

I bet Neverland will close in May after trying to stay afloat after the loss of Matthew. And then that will give mowtown enough time for a return to their original theatre.

[BroadMagTech]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 8:01pm

Sounds about right

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 8:20pm

I don't own a farm.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 8:24pm

And I don't want to buy a farm

[morosco]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 10:37pm

The official Motown the Musical website currently says that it will return to Broadway in the summer of 2016.  Pipe dream perhaps.  It does seem to be selling very well on the road though. 

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 11:19pm

They also originally said when the closing was announced last year that the show would NOT be returning to its original venue, but to a smaller one. 

[NewsiesForever]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 11:22pm

I do not see this happening and it honestly makes no sense. So they closed a show a on broadway only to spend another 10 million dollars or so to reopen a year later?

If a high selling tour is the basis for a return to broadyway. Than Newsies deserves a revival sooner rather than later. The tour has been sold out whereever they have performed, and the next leg is already sold out. 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 11:27pm

Sorry but simply to soon for a revival. Realize you love the show but no way in hell a revival is happening. Found it entertaining but not the greatest show ever to grace Broadway. 

 

Just an honest opinion but glad you really love it.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 11:28pm

It's not a revival it's just a return. Jesus.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 9/11/15 at 11:54pm

it was originally believed that the tour would pull into a Broadway house by summer 2016 and the producers would then launch a SETA tour. We'll see what happens.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 9/12/15 at 12:00am

It also gave producers and creatives a chance to make the show cheaper to run because it was very expensive in its first carnation. The new tour would be a trimmed yet still full-scale production with lower operating costs that would (ideally) perform well on the road and "return" (not be "revived" on Broadway in 2016 with a smaller theater, smaller budget and a smaller cast if I'm remembering correctly. That way, the producers had a sure fire way to keep the show running without it being so costly. Not to mention, with the buzz and momentum already behind the show, it'll make a splash when it returns to New York. 

 

PS - I was not a fan of the show. I just know this information through a friend who works on the show. 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 9/13/15 at 12:35am

^^^ Most of that information came to light when the closing announcement was made, but I wonder if it was complicated by the fact that, if it remember correctly, it was expected to start in the UK summer 2015 and return to Broadway a year later. But now that it won't be starting in London until February 2016, that put the kibbosh on everything else?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:00am

It's already touring, no? Were there changes to the cast size on the road? If not, then maybe they'll just tour it and then scale it down for next year's tour, and then bring it to Broadway. Basically, it sounds like they want to get away with the bare minimum. They don't care if the product is good, they just want it to cheap. #bway 

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:06am

RippedMan said: "They don't care if the product is good, they just want it to cheap."

 

If the show had too high a weekly nut to be able to run long-term, that seems like a smart decision. No point putting on a show that's so expensive it can't earn any money, unless you get the producers from On The Town to back it up...

[BroadMagTech]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:10am

So I guess that means they are eyeing the Nederlander

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:25am

What makes it so expensive? Just the number of actors and costume changes? I thought Barry Gordy/Motown famously owned all the music copywrites for every Motown song so therefore this production didn't have to pay crazy fees to the stable of original writers and artists. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:33am

BroadMadTech, literally nothing in this thread suggests they are eyeing the Nederlander. Stop it. Are you phillypinto?

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:34am

nasty_khakis said: "What makes it so expensive? Just the number of actors and costume changes? I thought Barry Gordy/Motown famously owned all the music copywrites for every Motown song so therefore this production didn't have to pay crazy fees to the stable of original writers and artists. 

It's those rights (not writes) that make it so expensive. It's my understanding that Mr. Gordy has never undervalued his properties and that he is richly compensated on an ongoing basis for the use of the catalog. 

As previously mentioned, the original production has already been trimmed for tour, thus significantly reducing the cost for actors and musicians. (...and potentially some crew)

 

Updated On: 9/14/15 at 10:34 AM

[Different Drum]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:37am

A company of over 40 actors and an orchestra of some 20 musicians. That's expensive.

I would also bet that the three lead producers negotiated lucrative weekly royalty deals for themselves. And that the music publishers demanded better than the standard 4% of weekly box.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:51am

RippedMan said: "It's already touring, no? Were there changes to the cast size on the road? If not, then maybe they'll just tour it and then scale it down for next year's tour, and then bring it to Broadway. Basically, it sounds like they want to get away with the bare minimum. They don't care if the product is good, they just want it to cheap. #bway 

 

"

Not true. Yes, they're trying to make the show cheaper to run but you're making them sound like corporate-monsters. The original production was VERY expensive, and they realized that it was the music that people wanted to hear and they had something good but could have done it more cost effectively for what the audience was looking for overall. So, if you take the time and spend the money on downscaling to ultimately make the show less costly to run yet still giving audiences what they want, then why not? 

 

[BroadMagTech]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:59am

No, but if Motown is going to play at a Nederlander Theater, And in a smaller house, I suppose that means The Nederlander is a possibility since it is 200 seats smaller than the Lunt Fontane. Just a theory