NYT: Eleven Broadway shows closing soon

[MezzA101]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 7:08pm

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/arts/broadway-shows-closing-winter.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Z04.HH43.f8sC2lQcmIfE

[Wick3]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 7:12pm

And 7 out of 11 are closing before Christmas!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 7:12pm

Feels like a headline written to imply doomsday, when in actuality 8 of the 12 were always scheduled as limited runs.

There'll be more announced between now and January tho.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 7:14pm

If you haven’t seen “Yellow Face” yet - DO IT. It’s so so so so so damn good. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 11:36am

Don't we always get one of these "doomsday" headlines every year? And then I have theater periphery friends texting me being all "oh no, what's happening to Broadway?" Like, this is a normal yearly turnover, and like Ermengarde mentioned, these headlines fail to account for limited runs

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 11:46am

I remember January 2009 being joked about as a rough time for closings, there was even an SNL sketch about it. But was it really that big of a year for closings or was it par for the course? Did people freak out just because Hairspray was closing?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 11:47am

They won't shutter in January, but look for HADESTOWN, SIX, MOULIN ROUGE, and & JULIET to all conclude their Broadway runs at some point in 2025. Supposedly HADESTOWN may post their notice in January and close in the spring.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 11:56am

Certainly I could be wrong, but I feel like if a long running show like Hadestown, Moulin Rouge, or Six were to be closing on January we would have already heard by now. No? As for shows like Tammy Faye, Maybe Happy Ending, or Swept Away it’s pretty standard that many closings from fall shows. 

[Wick3]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 12:00pm

Hadestown, Moulin Rouge, and SIX have all recouped so as long as their weekly grosses are higher than their weekly nut, then I think they'll stay. I also think the extra money they make during peak/busy months will offset the money they might lose during the slow months.

[martheatre]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 12:06pm

Call_me_jorge said: "I remember January 2009 being joked about as a rough time for closings, there was even an SNL sketch about it. But was it really that big of a year for closings or was it par for the course? Did people freak out just because Hairspray was closing?"

I don't think it was the number of shows closing so much, but rather the amount of "bigger" shows that most had anticipated would have run longer. Losing 3 Best Musical winners in a month is rare. One of those, Spamalot, was the hottest ticket in town when it opened and seemed destined to run longer than the 3+ years it did (Hairspray of course was a hot ticket too, but had run 8.5 years at that point). Then throw in 2 big musical revivals (Gypsy and Grease) and another new hit musical (Young Frankenstein) closing way earlier than expected, and it did start to feel a bit like a doomsday scenario, amplified by all the financial fears going on outside of Broadway at the time.

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 12:13pm

Jordan Catalano said: "If you haven’t seen “Yellow Face” yet - DO IT. It’s so so so so so damn good."

But… if you miss it, be sure to keep an eye on Great Performances next year… 👀

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 12:30pm

I might be naive, but this kind of feels like a normal yearly turnover? Like, we've got a handful of shows that may not survive January due to poor word of mouth (I am REALLY hoping the positive buzz surrounding Maybe Happy Ending gives it a bit more life) and some long runners winding down their life. Hadestown is a great show, but I've never felt the need to go back and see it again since I saw the original cast, all of whom were so wildly idiosyncratic that the production has struggled to replace them, so I'm not entirely surprised it didn't end up having a Hamilton/wicked-style longevity. Moulin Rogue is honestly a little bit of a surprise, and Six I have heard is looking to move off-Broadway, which would be disappointing but makes sense financially for them.

Here's my question: How normal is it for every theater to be booked during a Broadway season? Literally every broadway theater has a show either booked or running for the spring (the Lyceum is technically free but we all know either Oh Mary or Glengarry Glen Ross will be playing there). How normal is that? I'm on the west coast so I've only recently started keeping track of the broadway seasons. It seems like this is a LOT of shows, and it seems like anything that does close will have shows ready to swoop in and take them. What are the odds that we will see dark houses in April, and if so, how many?

[verywellthensigh]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 3:12pm

NY Times being slutty for clicks.