More shows should do like Les Mis. — Page 2

I might be able to buy that argument if we were talking about West Side Story (which hasn't been on Broadway in 26 years) or South Pacific (which has never been revived in the 50 years since it closed). But two and a half years? So shows should NEVER close and we should just keep theatres locked up for decades to run shows like Les Miz and Cats and Miss Saigon forever as if they were like the Country Bears Jamboree at Disney World and you can go back and see it over and over again, year after year until the end of time?

There are only 39 Broadway Theatres. New shows need a place to play. It's ludicrous to keep bringing back the same old shows constantly and cut off opportunities for new shows to emerge and shine. We need to make sure that the new Les Mizes and Phantoms get their chance as well or else Broadway will just become a museum district.

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Updated On: 2/17/06 at 11:58 PM

Unmasked, there are plenty of shows that I never got to see either, because I'm not that old, but wouldn't you rather see a new show that might possibly become the Les Miz or Phantom of this generation than seeing a revival that will never be as good as the original? (I know that there are a few revivals that were better, but that's very rare) I know I would.

Secondly, there is a difference between reimagining a show that hasn't been on Broadway for thirty years and bringing back a show that not only ran for over 6,000 performences, but closed only three years ago.

Bringing back Les Miz is preventing new and original shows from opening. Broadway needs new, original, hit shows. What is the point of this? So Cameron Macintosh can make more money.

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Margo has again proved to be the voice of reason. Les Miz has been seen by most theater goers, it is done extensively in regional theaters, it has toured not only the nation but the world. I have friends that have written brilliant material that producers have acknowledged as brilliant but too "experimental" for Broadway. It is ridiculous to see a show like Les Miz taking over a theatre on Broadway. It's not about who hasn't seen it, because honestly if you haven't seen a certain show that probably 90% of theater-goers have seen, then too bad for you, buddy.
Where are the days of the David Merricks, Hal Princes, and George Abbots? Where are the days that a young guy called Stephen could get a show with no apparent plot on a Broadway house? Some of you are either too young or too ignorant to understand but shows like Company, Follies, Cabaret, Pal Joey, Oklahoma!, or Pacific Overtures could have never happened in today's Broadway. And with people supporting a show like Les Miz having a revival after only three years after it's closing, then Broadway as a way to showcase art is going to be gone.
This is the reason why regardless what people say I'm not leaving regional theater.

actually, I have.

And I have heard several people doing that.

One year, some people went to see taboo because millie wasn't up.

Maybe not always, but it does help.

I think someone need to cheer up a little bit. It is easy to grow wrinkles if you are always serious and tight.

Instead of bringing back LES MIS (which ran too long in the first place) they should bring back RAGTIME.

But above all, Margo's right.

I love Les Miz don't get me wrong, it's actually one of my favorites, BUT... I think the idea of bringing it back after only 3 years is ludicrous. If Cameron wants to bring the show back just to celebrate it's new title of "longest running show in the world" then he should have a one-night only event much like the Tenth Anniversary concert rather than tie up a theater for 6 months at a time when new shows are scrambling to find an available theater.

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The reason a young guy named Stephen could get a show with no apparent plot into a Broadway house was because he was palsies with Broadway's biggest up and coming director/producer :P Stephen Sondheim has been able to get away with a whole lot in his career that other people couldn't dream of. He has helped prove what has been proven many times. Intelligent, artistic, edgy, insert your adjective shows usually don't sell to Broadway audiences. Key word here is usually. And it isn't completely Sondheim's fault the show don't sell, there are other people involved too in the mountings of these productions. It's easy to see how a score like Follies (pastiche, old style) or Pacific Overtures (Japanese music) does not appeal in the way Company (vibrant modern sound) or Sweeney Todd (familiar operatic/movie music sound) will the first time you listen. I do think that the right amount of shock value and word of mouth can sell anything (Showboat, Company, RENT, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, etc...)

It's discouraging. I understand the desire to see these older shows, sure, but I suppose I'm more interested in where art is going than where it's been, particularly since the history of the Broadway musical is well documented. Yes, I was lucky enough to see Les Miz on Broadway. It was great, I was 13. I never got to see Cats. Watched the video. I think it's a lot sadder that I didn't get to see Bernadette Peters in Gypsy because the audience was too busy seeing Hairspray (which is a good show) for the fifth time.

And many musicals resemble one another. The Wedding Singer resembles Hairspray which resembles the musicals that have come before it. I can count off five musicals that will probably give you a similiar experience to seeing Les Miz if that's your bag. In turn, I can probably name off five musicals that'll give you a similiar experience as Light in the Piazza. And musicals get archived, they get recorded (buy the recordings! Support the industry!), if you're that desperate you can seek out the accursed b word which is usually not that hard to find, especially for Les Miz. Just stop harping on how sad it is that you only got to see The Lion King eight times (or if you missed it all together) and go see Tarzan. Let shows turnover. Something will come to replace the void left in your heart by the closing of Thoroughly Modern Millie. It's when truly unique shows like RENT or Urinetown close that you should be sad! And no, the answer is not Tick... Tick... BOOM :P

I think the problem lies less in the material being presented to audiences (which always has and will continue to range from sewage to sublime) as the problem is with audiences themselves. As Margo said there's not really an audience anymore besides us dorks. It amazes me how people will flock to things that are clearly awful. I see that not everybody likes the nervier, edgier material.

The only way that musicals know how to speak to a popular and diverse audience is in that flashy Vegas style, that wink wink nudge nudge come see your favorite movie on stage... WITH MUSIC! thing. The adults who formerly made up the Broadway audience are dying off. Now adults raised in an era when the musical wasn't cool or was too smart, from a generation when it didn't speak to them aside from things like Hair. Then your next generation up is the adult who was raised with the Megamusical, and thinks that the musical is some special Vegas act you take your kids too. Then closer to my generation are the adults for whom it was a nonexistant art form. Lately with shows like Wicked I think people are interested again, but the trend just continues spiraling downward.

What are the musicals that have managed to speak to a popular young audience? The movie of West Side Story, Hair, A Chorus Line, RENT, Wicked...

Theater is like reading, even like movies in a sense, it's about the imagination. People aren't interested in that anymore. People are only interested in being in the vicinity of celebrities, flying witches who sing like r&b artist of the month, and falling chandeliers. Just like they are only interested in the books that the friendly black woman on tv tells them to read.

And as I believe it is the root of all evil and decay in the world, it all comes down to the influence of television and the dumbing down of entertainment and culture. Oh well.

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This is NOT the first time this has happened.

And won't be the last.

I think people are upset because Les Mis did so well its first time around.

I mean, new shows, the ones that I like, seem to be opening Off-Broadway. Nto because there is no room. But because they couldn't even survive on Broadway.

Les Mis brought a lot of people into the theatre world (myself included). Perhaps this revival will do the same. Maybe it will help Broadway financially.

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Someone said that i was opening during the "rough months" on broadway. Its opening during the holiday season. I have no doubts in my mind that it will be a sell-out hit. It urks me that its coming back. Its like the popular pretty girl in high school who steals focus from the more artsy kids. Its like Les Miz is coming back in and is going to steel all the focus from the new shows that are going to be opening around that time as well. Its had its moment in the sun, let it fade.

Well I DO love New shows and I support all new works I was recently just apart of a new musical here. But I love to see old shows also. I think there should be some type of balance between having old shows and new shows on Broadway.

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I thought it was silly to bring back Dreamgirls then, just as I think it's silly to bring back Les Miz now ..... even sillier -- Dreamgirls only ran three and half years, so one could argue not EVERYONE and their aunt got to see it; Les Miz ran 16 years and toured non-stop -- a whole generation of theatre fans saw the damn thing multiple times, so why does it need to take up valuable real estate again just three years later?

But, more than that, the state of Broadway was VERY different in 1987 when Dreamgirls was revived. It was a bad period with lots of empty theatres, so Dreamgirls going into the Ambassador (which nobody wants to book anyway), didn't deprive any new shows from coming in. Aside from Phantom, Sarafina and Into the Woods, most musicals that year were quick flops (Carrie, Chess, Teddy & Alice, Don't Get God Started, Gospel at Colonus, Roza), so Broadway was grateful to have Dreamgirls back for a 5 month run. Today, however, Broadway doesn't need to drag a long running war horse like Les Miz back. The overall health of Broadway is the best it's been in years -- there are tons of new shows that are doing well (all four Tony nominees from last year are still running, Jersey Boys has become a major hit and Color Purple is doing fine) and a half dozen more are on the way. Broadway doesn't need Les Miz -- the box office is doing great without it. That wasn't the case in 1987 when Dreamgirls popped back into town for a limited engagement -- Broadway was desperate for hits and was happy to see the show return for a few months.

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Yeah, Broadway is over-all much healthier than 1987. Yet you guys worry about one show's short-term rerun for celebrating a historic moment killing Broadway. What kind of "Reason of Voice" is that?

No, there isn't an exact production video availabe to buy. That's only a live concert. I am dying to get a copy of the true stage production.

Is there any place mentioned that Les Miz will run another 15 years instead of 6 months run? Or it will take Imperial Theatre? If not, what do you worry about? Where these accusations come from? Only from your pessimistic imagination?

No, bringing back Les Miz has nothing to do with saving or killing Broadway. It is about celebrating its 21st anniversary. It is an important event for every Les Miz fan. If you are not happy, sorry about it.

By the way, if New Yorker can find theatre in public, lincoln center or off-broadway, I don't see it is a big deal for old show running on Broadway. Not everyone can have the luxury to watch every show like New Yorkers. I am happy to see more tourists enjoying a great show first time in their life.

Updated On: 2/21/06 at 12:25 PM