Miracle Worker Reviews- Page 2

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 12:05pm

Scottsboro Boys will not work at Circle in the Square. If it moves it will happen next season.

[EleonoraDuse]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 12:37pm

I do hope this show pulls through. Miracle Worker was fantastic last night. Pill and Breslin were really wonderful but so too was Jennifer Morrison. Whether this was the case in early previews or not, Opening Night has revealed deeply nuanced performances from the entire ensemble telling a heartwarming story.

This show has entertainment value for all, but EVERY girl should see this show.

[EleonoraDuse]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 12:43pm

Yes reviews are the death knell...Just look at these notices....

NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW:
"SHOW" does not, alas, speak hopefully for the future of the Broadway musical."

NEWSDAY REVIEW:
"Overproduced, overblown, confusingly dark and laboriously ambitious jumble."

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS REVIEW:
"It's such a... waste of talent"

Poor Wicked. How will they ever survive it?

[phantom39]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 12:56pm

It's funny.. every time a show gets absolutely panned by the critics, someone brings up the "Wicked story"...

Well, THE MIRACLE WORKER is no Wicked. And i've got nothing against the show. In fact, I can't wait to catch it in April.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 1:42pm

Dear Jacka...I mean EleonoraDuse:

No one said bad reviews are the death knell for all productions (and aren't you ever so clever brining up "Wicked"!). The comments referred to THIS production which was starving for an audience prior to reviews. (See below.) The point is this: without strong reviews, barring an ingenious marketing campaign, this play will not likely last through April.



The Miracle Worker(Circle) $164,830 total gross, $31.58 average ticket cost


Edit:

I just noticed you joined today, a day after the play received very mediocre reviews. We wouldn't be shilling now, would we EleonoraDuse?

Updated On: 3/4/10 at 01:42 PM

[jeffmiele]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 2:16pm

i have tickets for the 13th.. do you think it'll stay open until then?

[EleonoraDuse]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 2:49pm

It's true that Wicked is the most obvious and glaring error to the "You Gotta Have Reviews" mantra but there are others. (How about the ways in which critics loved Norman Conquests last season? A case where universal glowing raves did not result in financial success.) Critics are becoming more and more out of touch with the average Broadway ticket buyer. In addition, readership of publications is down...so we find ourselves in this position of preaching to the choir, while the choir is only interested in singing to the preacher. Not a recipe for industry sustainability.

Reviews become less important with every opening and the business persons in this business put their shows at risk by relying on them.

It's true I joined specifically to be a part of this conversation. I in no way financially benefit or am associated with this production. I do benefit in the sense that I saw a wonderful play last night with a rare positive message for women and girls. How many other plays on Broadway right now show women as fiercely independent, unique and heroic as Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan and Mrs. Keller? How many other shows on Broadway right now show vibrant strong-willed women interested in something other than their boyfriend?

This show is unlike any other show on Broadway. While it has great challenges ahead (as their grosses will attest) that doesn't mean it isn't worth a shot. Nor does it mean that the producers and their audience can't continue to make a difference in its success.

In the end the lack of reviews in addition to the lack of huge stars in addition to the lack of helicopters flying onstage in addtion to a host of other things might contribute to this show's ultimate demise....but it won't just be about the reviews. And their story is yet unfinished.

[EleonoraDuse]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 3:04pm

Dear American Idio---Play Esq,

It is true..I'm bedeviled by this show. It's a worthwhile show and I find a do love tilting at windmills.


ED

Updated On: 3/4/10 at 03:04 PM

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 3:07pm

Please forgive my attempt at levity.

It seems that you believe in this play in earnest, and I can respect that. However, the problem with the "Miracle Worker," at this juncture, is that it lacks any of the three Cs: (name) Cast, (audience) Cash, or Critics. Without any of these, it's not likely the production will continue - despite its positive message.

My original critic comment came from a simple place: the producers of this production were preying for strong reviews. There is nothing more they can bank on to make money (except perhaps a new ad campaign). Audiences weren't coming before the reviews, it's not likely they'll come after.
Updated On: 3/4/10 at 03:07 PM

[EleonoraDuse]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 3:13pm

Play Esq,

Now that is a conversation I can get behind. You are right. The show has a monstrous uphill battle without those three c's...so here's the challenge here on BroadwayWorld -Miracle Worker Reviews:

What CAN the producers do to turn this boat around?

I'd really love to hear what insights the people on this board have about that.

[ggersten]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 4:57pm

Recast the show with Julia Roberts as Sullivan and Miranda Cosgrove as Helen. I would have said Dakota Fanning or Miley Cyrus, but they may have aged out.
Or they could have gone for the "demanded" casting of an actual blind or deaf child as Helen. That might sell tickets to the curious - no matter the quality of the acting of the child.

[LittleBitRacist]

Posted: 3/4/10 at 7:27pm

since when is abigail breslin such a no-name? she has an oscar nomination and i, personally, have loved her acting in films so much that she is the reason i'm interested in this production. maybe i'm in the minority about that, but miranda cosgrove? really? and miley cyrus? yes it would bring in teenage girls but i think theyre actually trying to put on a respectable show. dakota fanning however is also brilliant.
I think they would have benefitted though from a bigger name than Allison Pill, although I'm sure she does a great job.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 2:38pm

B- in Entertainment Weekly.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20348232,00.html

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 3:08pm

EleonoraDuse wrote:

The show has a monstrous uphill battle without those three c's...so here's the challenge here on BroadwayWorld -Miracle Worker Reviews:

What CAN the producers do to turn this boat around?

I'd really love to hear what insights the people on this board have about that.

The sad but true answer is: "not much".

I can't recall the last show that was so thoroughly lacking in those three "c's" and still managed to run for very long. Shows have lacked reviews but have had great word of mouth and eked out a respectable run. Shows have had stars and that alone was sufficient to generate sales notwithstanding a decent, but not great play (e.g. "Steady Rain"). Shows have had great reviews and only mid-level or no stars and been able to do pretty well ("August: Osage County"). And occasionally, producers will pump their own money into a show without stars and without an audience just because they feel it's the right thing to do (e.g. "Journey's End").

But the simple, grim fact is that if a show is this weak out of the gate, its fate is sealed. Some will say "advertise!" Well, that's very expensive to do effectively and if word-of-mouth isn't backing it up, shouting quote excerpts from the highest rooftop isn't going to help. Some will shout "offer all tickets at a cheap price!" But if there was sufficient demand for the show in the first place, it wouldn't be in quite this predicament. Whether or not you think their price scale was reasonable, it isn't price that is preventing the majority of people from buying tickets to the show, as discounts have been rampant in the marketplace for many many weeks now. Some will shout "recast!" which is simpy unrealistic -- both because the existing actors have contracts and because real ticket-selling stars aren't going to replace and certainly not in a show received so tepidly. Some will say "get every student in the city to the show on a reduced price ticket" which is a noble sentiment but a) still won't be enough to pay the bills; b) still won't be affordable for many many schools and c) will take too long to get organized on a sufficiently widespread level to stop them from hemorrhaging cash in the next month or so.

To be clear -- unlike quite a few others, even if the show is bad or mediocre, I don't revel in the notion that it may need to close quickly. But if you're asking what producers can do to turn the boat around, I think the honest answer is nothing. If they want to fight the good fight and do right by their cast and creative team (perhaps at the expense of a little bit of reserve money that might otherwise be returned to the investors), by all means go for it. But if they can even keep it afloat even until the Tony nominations come out on May 4 (not that nominations will significantly help the show, but psychologically, producers tend to think that way), that would be quite a feat of "seafaring".

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 4:07pm

"What CAN the producers do to turn this boat around?"

Apparently nothing they haven't already tried: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/miracle-worker-producer-warns-that-show-could-close/

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 6:05pm

That certainly isn't encouraging.

[Brick]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 10:07pm

That blog lists Allison Pill as a star. Um, no.