PARADISE SQUARE - Broadway Previews — Page 6

inception said: "Many of the aspects you mention, comparing it to Ragtime (wealth vs poverty, including historical characters) are what make Moulin Rouge such an appealing show for many. I know many hate it for its pop music score, but it is staged spectacularly. In this day & age you can't just put on any dowdy looking show. Even with a simple set, a show needs to start with a story & characters people care about. I haven't read that in any of the reviews yet. Just occurred to me, Mr. D probably thinks Hamilton ripped off Ragtime."

The pop music score and brand identity to the movie are what make MOULIN appealing to so many people. I doubt anyone is seeing Moulin for the history. Just like how they aren't seeing ALADDIN for its portrayal of the Middle East. The treacly love story at the center is all the character stuff they need.

RAGTIME was inspired by sprawling musical epics like FIDDLER and LES MIS and SWEENEY and SHOW BOAT (and a popular film), and HAMILTON draws inspo from all those things. I doubt even Garth is viewing Hamilton as a "ripoff" –– it has a contemporary score and was more successful in one year than RAGTIME will ever be.

Updated On: 3/22/22 at 12:20 PM

having conversations about standing ovations during papered previews is like giving out cigars before the birth of a baby. Not unlike Ragtime in LA and Candid in NYC, paper trumps demand. There is a reason this show is so hotly debated and defended, based on my experience, it's not that good.

JBroadway said: "I have a specific question, that I was thinking of starting a new thread for. But I figured I’d give it a shot in this thread first: Does anyone know why Marcus Gardley is credited as a book writer in some places like IBDB, but is not credited in the program or the show’s website? I haven’t really been following this show’s development, so I apologize if this is some piece of well-known drama."

I would consider the Playbill and show's website to be the most up-to-date.

Gardley was credited in Chicago as one of the several bookwriters. It could be that (a) he wanted his name taken off the book, or (b) his contributions were rewritten enough that he no longer warranted credit. Is there any kind of credit arbitration with the Dramatist's Guild like with the WGA on films? This is kind of a unique situation that more resembles a studio film –– most musicals don't have 4 bookwriters and multiple different composers, lyricists, and choreographers.

Updated On: 3/22/22 at 01:53 PM

re Gardley, I don't know and there are multiple possible answers, at least some of which have been mentioned. With Garth, one of course is that something was promised and then not forthcoming.

In the theatre, as I think most know, the literary property is normally owned by the writers (who have a collaboration agreement among themselves), not by the producer (to whom the collaborators license their creative product), as it is in film. Garth never liked that and has tried to change it (e.g., in Ragtime) without success. The situation being described here seems like Garth is up to his old tricks. The bottom line is that credit (and content) are within the control of the authors and any changes would require their approval. Everything is negotiable, of course, but there is an extant contract so any negotiation would be within the context of that contract. And of course of course Garth is not one who abides by contracts. Perhaps the drama will be disclosed in what is pretty likely to be some lawsuits, another Garth feature.

On Broadway, the book is almost entirely the work of one book writer, Christina Anderson. Craig Lucas created characters that are in the current script and retains credit for that work. Larry Kirwan is credited as well, since the original concept was his. Because of two movie commitments (including The Color Purple) and a TV series, Marcus Gardley couldn't continue after the Berkeley production. Sources such as IBDB haven't updated their information which they usually do with the opening night Playbill.

Updated On: 3/22/22 at 03:23 PM

chrishuyen said: "Has anyone done rush or lottery for this show? If so, where were your seats and what time did you show up for rush?"



my friend did and got orchestra J, one hour before and he said mot got in

theaterdude2 said: "I saw the OBC of Dreamgirls the week after the Tony Awards, and there was a standing ovation BEFORE Jennifer even started the song, so I'm not sure what you're referring to."

this is ain't no dreamgirls for a country mile.

Just getting home from the show. I didn’t know ANYTHING about this going in, and I mean nothing at all besides the fact dreamy Matt Bogart was in it. *sigh*


I quickly perused this thread and I guess I’m going to be in the minority of folks who just really really enjoyed it. My friend who was with me hated everything about it and the two guys on the other side of me got up and left at intermission (or woke up and left, I should say). I’m going to read more in here about peoples thoughts on the show but I loved it. Gonna go back in a couple weeks and take another friend who I think will enjoy it.

chrishuyen said: "Has anyone done rush or lottery for this show? If so, where were your seats and what time did you show up for rush?"

I won lottery for the first preview, my seat was left orchestra, Row F Seat 15.

I’ll never miss him. ;-p

Starting standing ovations during shows and spreading word about them during previews is a time honored trick. All the early plant posts on "Something Rotten" were OMG -- a standing ovation in Act One! They will stop when the reviews come out.

This show will certainly be gambling on the reviews (Tony noms will not help). In a factual back of the envelope look at the weekly gross as reported by Variety and Deadline, the show is losing approximately $250k per week. That is an unsustainable gross should the box office not explode on unanimous positive reviews and word of mouth. https://deadline.com/2022/03/broadway-box-office-26-million-music-man-march-20-grosses-report-1234984341/

Updated On: 3/23/22 at 10:09 AM