Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:12pm
Rumored on the board for a while, but now reality
https://twitter.com/McHenryJD/status/1128769493457616896
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:22pm
Sad, but not surprised. Glad I got to see this show almost exactly last year (and if you want to see the show from a really good angle, sit immediately to the left of the stage left stairs, row 6 or 7. You'll get a great surprise during "Get Me to the Church on Time."
, and glad it was able to run as long as it did, and glad it has a tour to preserve this production.
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:25pm
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:36pm
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:37pm
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:38pm
I wonder if either Harry or Laura will revise their performance schedule for the final weekend?
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:42pm
Such a gorgeous, thrilling production! I was so lucky to see Lauren, Laura, Norbert, Danny, Jordan and Christian! Congratulations to all the cast and crew!!!
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:42pm
brdwybound04 said: "Devastating news!!! One of the best things currently playing Broadway!!! So robbed of best revival by the ****ty OOTI revival its not even funny!!!"
you need to CALM DOWN
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:43pm
brdwybound04 said: "Devastating news!!! One of the best things currently playing Broadway!!! So robbed of best revival by the ****ty OOTI revival its not even funny!!!"
The Once On This Island revival was far from sh*tty. In fact it was phenomenal. My Fair Lady perked up when it got a competent leading lady.
With Laura, it was a great production. It's sad to see it go. Hopefully it will be filmed as a live from Lincoln Center, but that seems unlikely. The grosses have been sinking and it's a very lavish production so I'm not surprised but I am disappointed.
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:47pm
It makes sense given when the leads were scheduled to depart. I probably could have limped along with understudies for another 4 weeks but there probably was no need for that. But we can all look forward to the next show!!!!!
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:51pm
Jordan Catalano said: "brdwybound04 said: "Devastating news!!! One of the best things currently playing Broadway!!! So robbed of best revival by the ****ty OOTI revival its not even funny!!!"
you need to CALM DOWN
"Everyone is entitled to a little hysteria every now and then; even to shouting 'calm down'.
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:54pm
brdwybound04 said: "Devastating news!!! One of the best things currently playing Broadway!!! So robbed of best revival by the ****ty OOTI revival its not even funny!!!"
Once on this Island 110% deserved it’s win.
that said, i am sad to see 5is go. His was by far the definitive My Fair Lady. Can’t wait to see it again one last time
Posted: 5/15/19 at 5:54pm
Posted: 5/15/19 at 6:04pm
Yes, it will boost ticket sales which is one advantage to posting a closing notice on a successful show where some of the original cast members are still in the show.
Posted: 5/15/19 at 6:04pm
Posted: 5/15/19 at 6:23pm
So My Fair Lady about matched the run of The King and I, and both fell around 450 short of South Pacific, which went the last six to seven months with a near novice as the female lead.
We discussed this a little recently, with (wish I could remember so I could give her credit) having the best argument that South Pacific had been less seen in productions at all levels of theater. I wish Bart had put a fresh young face in the lineup. He was in London and seemed to be very disengaged.
Surprised that Benanti did nothing for the box office, even though her reviews were very good. She was around Lauren’s age but played older and with more self confidence than you expect to see in Eliza.
I would really like to see Laura in Camelot. She would make a fine Queen as she herself is more of a queen than a guttersnipe.
Posted: 5/15/19 at 6:30pm
Posted: 5/15/19 at 6:47pm
Posted: 5/15/19 at 6:49pm
OlBlueEyes said: "Surprised that Benanti did nothing for the box office, even though her reviews were very good. She was around Lauren’s age but played older and with more self confidence than you expect to see in Eliza."
No "theatre star" is going to sell $1mil a week for a year on their name alone, especially not as a replacement in a revival. She helped it a bit, and her presence also caused it to be re-reviewed, which wouldn't have happened with an actress of a lower stature. This was a great, healthy run. South Pacific was an anomaly: it was THE show to see of 2008, it won 7 Tonys, and LCT has become much more competitive with its ticket prices.
For that one person who hated OOTI (lol??), you can sleep well knowing that with 8 weeks to go, MFL is already waaay ahead of OOTI in the stats department:
OOTI
– Cumulative Gross: $30,783,523
– # of people who saw it: 311,099
– Average ticket price: $98.46
– Performances: 486
MFL
– Cumulative Gross so far: $63,605,413
– # of people who saw it so far: 475,804
– Average ticket price: $132.92
– Performances: 548
Posted: 5/15/19 at 7:00pm
Posted: 5/15/19 at 7:42pm
Sort of reminds me how rare it is for a musical revival to run more than 15 months or so. Must be very hard tontine investors in for-profit productions. Beyond South Pacific (NP), you can name the number of revivals that have had true long-runs with three fingers: Grease, 42nd St (which still lost money), and Chicago, which benefited from three things (besides being a great show): the movie; the fact that you can really enjoy it, while knowing little to no English; and the fact that it was the first revival of a show which was never a household name.
Posted: 5/15/19 at 7:44pm
SomethingPeculiar said:
No "theatre star" is going to sell $1mil a week for a year on their name alone, especially not as a replacement in a revival. She helped it a bit, and her presence also caused it to be re-reviewed, which wouldn't have happened with an actress of a lower stature. This was a great, healthy run.South Pacificwas an anomaly:it was THE show to see of 2008, it won 7 Tonys, and LCT has become much more competitive with its ticket prices.
Now, now. Where did I say a million dollars a week? It's not at all uncommon for a new star who is an audience favorite to generate a little box office and excitement.
Consider the wonder that Roundabout enjoyed when Emma Stone took over in Cabaret. The number of premium seats doubled overnight.
Really I'm just a little sad that my Golden Era shows, although they will be revived, will come to not be great special events any more. As in host Alan Alda admitting tears welled up with the first notes of the overture of South Pacific, the overture orchestrated, of course, by Robert Russell Bennett. Did you know that the 1996 revival of The King and I with Donna Murphy and Faith Prince in the lead ran 780 performances. Surely the LCT was better (although I admit the 1996 was good and won Donna a Tony). But then the LCT might have been more expensive to operate.
Posted: 5/15/19 at 8:39pm
Emma Stone in 2014/15 (right off Spider-Man, Birdman, and a slew of rom-coms) replacing a multi Oscar nominee is quite different than Laura Benanti (a respected theatre talent but not a household name) replacing Lauren Ambrose. It's tough to sustain the numbers for a BIG, expensive revival of a classic musical, especially when Broadway's in such a healthy place with lots of different options. I don't think anyone expected the numbers to go up with Benanti.
Posted: 5/15/19 at 8:52pm
Laura taking over helped the box office, most people went to see HER playing Eliza I would imagine. I certainly did. She didn't whisper the entire score like Lauren did, so huge upgrade.
