NEWSIES to close Aug. 24 — Page 3

My money (hope) is on the Nederlanders offering the theatre to one of the many productions wanting to come in this season. With such a packed crop wanting to/rumored to come in, I wouldn't think the Nederlander would need to wait for one of the developing Disney shows. It isn't owned by Disney, after all. My hope is that Dames at Sea or Allegiance will come in.

And congratulations to Newsies on a wonderful run! It will do wonderfully on the road and in regional/amateur productions.

Did the Titanic revival ever announce a theatre? Or did I miss that in the initial announcement

Updated On: 6/22/14 at 11:12 PM

I would imagine with the overall lack of available theaters for the Fall, plus it's declining grosses just like Newsies, that Once will also announce a closing date shortly. Maybe for Aug. 31??

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My two cents:

The word of mouth I've been hearing is that the plan is for THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME to indeed end up in the Nederlander eventually (that's if they stick with the intimate concept and it proves to be successful). However, I'm still skeptical as to how this time-table will work out for them given the current circumstances.

First regarding NEWSIES, I think the closure has more to do with the national tour at the moment than HUNCHBACK, though I would say the two are somewhat related. NEWSIES is still making a nice profit just about every week, therefore the Nederlanders can't evict them so this had to come from Disney. My guess is that they have noticed the show was more than likely going to lose most of its steam within the next year (and replace it with Hunchback), especially with a tour on the road (as bringing fans to NY was a HUGE part of its market), and have decided to save money and use the Broadway set as opposed to building an entirely new one and scrapping the Bway one in a year. Selling the Broadway production to out of town tourists will no doubt become more difficult when it is competing with a National Tour.

Think about it: the Bway production closes August 24th and the Tour begins tech in Schenectady in early September. That is the perfect timetable to ship that set out. I'd be willing to say a majority of the cast may even go with it. It would explain why there is still no announcement regarding tour casting.

Regarding the timetable for HUNCHBACK, the plan was La Jolla in Fall 2014 and Paper Mill in Spring 2015. They may be planning to either forgo the Paper Mill engagement and go straight to Broadway from La Jolla if possible instead of trying out the same show with the same cast and design twice in the span of 6 months, or (depending on the Tony Eligibility date) they could open on the very last day of the season. While neither of those options seem particularly viable or practical, the last thing I could think of is that the Nederlander might undergo some much needed refurbishment that could take up to 6 or so months and that would make it more likely to still be open for a late summer/early fall 2015 HUNCHBACK opening.

Sorry guys, I've just been thinking a lot trying to justify why this show is actually closing so suddenly. It seems to have taken most everyone by surprise, cast included.

Updated On: 6/23/14 at 01:15 AM

There seems to be no precedent that I'm aware of that a standing Broadway show that never dipped under $500,000/week would close to not compete with a tour. By that logic, why do we still have Mamma Mia, Rock of Ages, Wicked, Chicago, Pippin, etc., etc., etc., if people just can see that show closer to home?

So this week Newsies ran at 75% of potential gross. 800k. Higher than Pippin, Motown, phantom, and 15 other shows. It just seems odd to close so suddenly...what am I missing?

How long does Disney typically play this game with the tickets for closing? Still having no luck with discount code or regular priced through website. I'm trying to do it as a gift for someone.

Congrats to the NEWSIES company on a wonderful run. Safe journey.

"No need to get snarky"

You've been on here a year and still get surprised by snark?!

I also thought this closing notice was shocking! I thought it would run for at least another year or two. I know people have been saying this show lost its energy, but I am seriously considering seeing it again. I love this show both times I saw it (saw it a month before Jeremy Jordan left, and then right after Corey Cott started)! I remember thinking that I could see this show many times and not get tired of it. I would love to see it again. Maybe I will try to catch it sometime in August.

Aka Newsies was evicted so that Disney can have it back for Hunchback since they don't want the Palace and the Neaderlanders won't then them a theater otherwise .

Haterobics-

Nah. Never surprised. Just amazed at how empty some peoples lives are!

What could need to possibly be done to it? It's a gorgeous theater. It'd be a good fit for Forum.