Mamma Mia Closing??
Mamma Mia Closing??
#1Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 1:37pmSo I was at Nice Work last night and the security guard there was telling us that Matilda is going into the Winter Garden Theater next year implying that Mamma Mia is going to close...i don't know if this is true, but Mamma Mia has been a pretty steady earner though out its run so I am surprised it would close now.
#2Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 1:44pm
There was a rumor last year about a string of changes with CHICAGO going into the Booth and MAMMA MIA! taking the Ambassador, so that MATILDA could take the Winter Garden.
Nothing confirmed though.
#2Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 1:44pmThere was a thread on this a while back, but the rumor was that Mamma Mia would be moving to a different theatre, not closing.
Jonwo
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/06
#3Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 1:50pm
I think moving theatres is more likely than a close, it must be meeting running costs or it would closed ages ago.
If Matilda does go to the Winter Garden then the theatre will have to wait a while for an American show to go there.
massofmen
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/10/04
#4Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 1:52pmI dunno. not a big believer in british musical imports since Miss saigon closed.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#5Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 1:59pmI haven't been all that impressed with many of them either....and I'd point to about the same time frame.
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yankeefan7
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/12
#6Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 2:07pmThat would be amazing since Winter Garden has had only two shows there since the 1982.
TheaterBoy7777
Broadway Star Joined: 1/28/06
#7Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 2:31pmWar Horse producers had heard of the rumor as well. http://m.nypost.com/p/entertainment/theater/horse_declares_war_fB4vC7S3iZmmaStUBKO3NK perhaps they will feel differently next year
#8Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 3:08pm
The rumor going around...
WAR HORSE moves to the Winter Garden.
MAMMA MIA moves to the Ambassador.
CHICAGO moves to the Booth (when ODC closes).
ANNIE goes into the Palace (when PRISCILLA closes).
MATILDA goes into the Al Hirschfeld (when HOW TO SUCCEED closes).
FAT CAMP goes into the Circle in the Square (when GODSPELL closes).
Why, when... who knows.
"When the audience comes in, it changes the temperature of what you've written." -Stephen Sondheim
Updated On: 5/2/12 at 03:08 PM
#9Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 6:01pmIs War Horse big enough to fill the Winter Garden? It would make more sense for War Horse to go into the Hirschfled and Matilda to go into the Winter Garden. Chicago would be perfect for the Booth. With no set and the band of stage it would surely do better with a smaller theater. Mamma Mia in its old age should downsize a bit but it is still pulling in decent numbers. Some weeks better than others.
#10Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 6:05pmThere's a 74 seat difference between the Winter Garden and Hirschfeld, that's fairly negligible.
massofmen
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/10/04
#11Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 6:09pmso odd. why do i think the winter garden is so big? OH thats right because the last time I was in there i saw CATS. and I was a wee lady. :)
#12Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 6:15pm74 seats? Really? Garden feels so much bigger than Hirschfeld.
Nick Murphy
Understudy Joined: 3/17/10
#13Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 6:30pmIt's a mistake for Matilda to play the Winter Garden. It should be in a smaller more intimate house like the Music Box or the Broadhurst. Bad decision if this is true. Matilda is a wonderful show and deserves a more appropriate home.
#14Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 6:36pmWhy would a show WANT to move. Doesn't that cost alot?
THEATRICAL100
Featured Actor Joined: 9/12/10
#15Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 6:57pmI agree...besides, there is never any buzz about MAMMA MIA! at all.
Marla: I have to go sing about a life I never led.
#16Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 7:16pm
Mamma Mia doesn't need buzz with solid tourist sales. You don't hear much about Jersey Boys or Chicago these days either but both are doing fine. The Winter Garden is a big space and I don't think War Horse (never heard that rumor before this post by the way) or Matilda could possibly fill it.
I also have no idea why Chicago would move. It does well enough to easily be making money every week and a move is a huge expense and a bit risky. Whenever people start talking about all these rumors of moving, I get a bit suspicious because every month someone comes up with a grand plan to move six shows that almost never happens.
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.
#17Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 7:19pm
^
There doesn't need to be.
Just like Lion King and Chicago.
Phantom has run for 25 years, and there's no buzz for that either.
These are international tourist shows now. That's the core audience that will keep them open for many more years to come.
Mamma Mia is in no danger of closing for a long long time.
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."
Jonwo
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/06
#18Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 7:22pmIt's strange that Mamma Mia! has remained at the Winter Garden for so long, the London production is moving to its third home in September, I imagine the show will eventually move theatres but closing doesn't seem likely unless sales really fall.
#19Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 7:29pm
The reason all of this is probably happening now is that since WAR HORSE is only partially produced by Lincoln Center and apparently hey have been plannig the 60th anniversary reival ofTHE KING AND I ever since SOUTH PACIFIC opened, they honestly didnt expect WAR HORSE to be a hit especially with its likly huge running costs, LCT probably told their coproducers we need their theater back by next year so do as you will.
If there is one thing I have noticed though British Producers are worse then Ken Davenport and Disney combined and wont let a show die with dignety...Cat, Les Miz, even Phantom should Of kicked the bucket years ago, though it picked up some steam in recent years, but instead they run them into the ground which will likly we the case of WAR HORSE.
And it is this mantra that is probably causing all this theater hoping which is a rare occurence on broadway especially these days with the exception of the whole RAIN, CATCH ME, Rock of Ages swaparoo, which only happened because Nederlander was a producer
Updated On: 5/2/12 at 07:29 PM
Jonwo
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/06
#20Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 7:32pmWar Horse is a moneymaker for the National so it's unsurprising that they want the Broadway production to continue in some form.
#21Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 7:58pmWarhorse want to move neat Times Square as according to Riedel, Lincoln Center patrons have now seen the show and getting tourists into the Vivian Beaumont is hard, so want to be on Times Square where the footfall is high.
Jonwo
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/06
#22Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 8:15pmSouth Pacific and The Light in the Piazza did extended runs at the Beaumount so people will find it if it they want to see a hit show but given that LCT are only co-producers of War Horse, there is no real financial benefit for keeping War Horse at the Beaumount longer, it's already done a year which for a play is pretty good.
#23Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/2/12 at 8:39pm
Wouldn't War Horse have to do a fairly substantial amount of restaging and redesigning if they moved to a house without a thrust stage? From my understanding, a big part of the reason it's in the New London in the West End is because that theater has a thrust stage and that's what the production was designed for (since the Olivier at the National is also a thrust).
Updated On: 5/2/12 at 08:39 PM
SondheimFan5
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
#24Mamma Mia Closing??
Posted: 5/3/12 at 2:04amThe tour versions of War Horse are designed for procenium stages and they work just fine. It wouldn't be quite as impressive, but it would still work well. Look at South Pacific.
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