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PASS OVER Previews

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JBroadway
#75PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/16/21 at 2:13pm

Any word yet on where the rush seats are located? 

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ErmengardeStopSniveling
#76PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/16/21 at 11:11pm

PlayItAgain said: "Anyone who has been this week, how have the houses been looking?"

Can't speak for the mezz (or any performances beyond what I saw), but the orchestra center looked about 3/4 full, with the sides maybe 1/3 to 1/2 full. There were a number of comped seats, and I expect the houses will at least look full this week, as is customary for press performances.

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ErmengardeStopSniveling
#77PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/16/21 at 11:25pm

Spot-checking some performances starting next week, it doesn't look like any are more than half full. There's time for them to fill in, and reviews will probably be decent...but reporting the grosses would be helpful!

I have relatives outside of NYC who mentioned the news coverage of the first preview. The fact that sales appear this soft despite a ton of press attention says a lot about Delta + general interest in the title.

Updated On: 8/16/21 at 11:25 PM

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ColorTheHours048
#78PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/17/21 at 12:13pm

I really think we need to stop addressing their grosses and attendance like we’re not smack in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that has recently backslid. The producers, the creators, the crew, and the cast know this. They didn’t mount this show expecting it to smash box office records or pack audiences in. They did it because they believed in it and were willing to make a sacrifice. This is clear from the sheer volume of official discounts floating around that the production and Antoinette herself are disseminating. Just get as many people in to see this work as possible at a price that works for them.

Many of their tickets are now being sold day-of with rush and discounts. They’ll complete their limited run and that will be that. But let’s not play the numbers game right now and just be happy this show is running at all (and without any show cancellations, it should be said). Maybe I’m being overly positive about it, but I really don’t care.

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ddenoff2
#79PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/18/21 at 9:19am

Well said ! Most of the new plays coming will be struggling (as with the musicals) but we know this as an industry and are not expecting more. We want the audiences to feel safe to return so that everyone on Broadway has “Somebody to Dance For!”

InTheBathroom1
#80PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/18/21 at 9:43am

I found the production okay and I think most of my problems came from the direction. I was interested to learn that the director is a white woman. I’m just curious how someone directs a play where they can’t even say half of the words. It also makes sense why Evert’s character was the clearest. Just my rambling thoughts.

swright1031
#81PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/18/21 at 3:10pm

Does anybody know the lottery loser code or any code that works? Thanks in advance!

LightsOut90
#82PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/19/21 at 12:17am

its perplexing that this play was directed by a white woman

i know the writer explained why…but still bizarre

A Director
#83PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/19/21 at 3:36am

LightsOut90 said: "its perplexing that this play was directed by a white woman

i know the writer explained why…but still bizarre
"

If the playwright is happy with the director's work, there is nothing for you to discuss. This is from an interview with Danya Taymor where she talks about directing Pass Over.

"

When you’re approaching plays that are from a different world than your background, have you found any specific things you like to do to prepare for those?

Absolutely. I’m going to direct a play by Will Arbery that takes place in rural Wyoming and follows young Catholic conservatives. That couldn’t be more different from my background. This January, I went out to Wyoming to a town an hour and a half outside of Jackson just to see what it’s like to live in a place that is so remote and has so few people and has so much land. Just going there gave me a different perspective. With a play like Pass Over, I just immersed myself in all the references that Antoinette makes in the play, like Waiting for Godot, and she has all these references to these great comics like Nichols and May, The Three Stooges, and The Marx Brothers. There are all these forms that she’s referencing there. I read a ton of Richard Wright in preparation for Pass Over, especially Eight Men, a book of his that takes place in Chicago. I think no matter what the world, I try to do a ton of research and immerse myself in the world through music, movies, and books, and try to fill myself with the perspective of the people the story is about."

 

LightsOut90
#84PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/19/21 at 11:29am

i’m still allowed to have my opinion but thanks

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ClydeBarrow
#85PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/19/21 at 12:08pm

LightsOut90 said: "i’m still allowed to have my opinion but thanks"

Were you also shocked and appalled when she directed Daddy? Or when white women directed Suzan-Lori Parks's plays (one of which also directed An Octoroon)? Should Marianne Elliott not have directed Death of a Salesman with Sharon D Clarke and Wendell Pierce? Or maybe she shouldn't have directed Angels in America because she's not a gay man either.


"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah

LightsOut90
#86PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/19/21 at 6:16pm

soooo many of the examples you laid out are nowhere near the same

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ClydeBarrow
#87PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/19/21 at 10:15pm

LightsOut90 said: "soooo many of the examples you laid out are nowhere near the same"

How? Because you didn’t see them?


"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah

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ErmengardeStopSniveling
#88PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/20/21 at 10:55am

From Forbes Magazine:

“The show is bleeding money,” confirmed one producer familiar with its finances, and some individuals do not think that the three-person show will be able to survive.

The team behind the show was still seeking to raise a significant portion of its $2.8 million initial capitalization costs right before the start of preview performances, and it is possible that they are now exploring loans to avoid a premature closing.

 

I don't think Covid/Delta is totally to blame here...this is a show that would have had a hard time commercially in any climate. Hope the reviews help.

Updated On: 8/20/21 at 10:55 AM

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EDSOSLO858
#89PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/20/21 at 11:15am

I wonder if they will have to postpone their opening by a day or two because of Hurricane Henri expected to make landfall this Sunday.


Customize and save with Liberty Biberty.

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ErmengardeStopSniveling
#90PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/20/21 at 11:47am

Unrelated, but just got flashbacks to the producers of that awful Al Pacino GLENGARRY revival releasing a statement along the lines of "we lost 2 days of rehearsals due to Hurricane Sandy so we're moving Opening Night back by a month"

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ColorTheHours048
#91PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/20/21 at 12:02pm

I think this quote is more important, given the climate and circumstances surrounding this show opening:

“There is a building full of people making Herculean efforts to mount a play that we deeply care about … [t]o employ people and keep them safe, … [a]nd welcome audiences and keep them safe,” commented the lead producer, Matt Ross.

It’s also important to note that they are filling the house about 2/3rds of the way so far, even if the tickets are heavily discounted or given away. Isn’t that… literally the equitable access to Broadway productions we’ve been asking for? And they also opened on schedule, teched ahead of schedule, and have yet to require a cancelled performance due to COVID exposure. I think that’s pretty remarkable.

Obviously, it’s a capitalist venture, so money is important to their survival and nothing is “free” and I guess Forbes has to report on something, but I really think comparing Pass Over to something like Hamilton or Wicked is… I don’t know. Sh*tty?

Updated On: 8/20/21 at 12:02 PM

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jacobsnchz14
#92PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/20/21 at 12:10pm

ColorTheHours048 said "...even if the tickets are heavily discounted or given away [...] Isn’t that… literally the equitable access to Broadway productions we’ve been asking for? And they also opened on schedule, teched ahead of schedule, and have yet to require a cancelled performance due to COVID exposure. I think that’s pretty remarkable."

THIS.

 

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VotePeron
#93PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/20/21 at 12:31pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "I think this quote is more important, given the climate and circumstances surrounding this show opening:

“There is a building full of people making Herculean efforts to mount a play that we deeply care about … [t]o employ people and keep them safe, … [a]nd welcome audiences and keep them safe,” commented the lead producer, Matt Ross.

It’s also important to note that they are filling the house about 2/3rds of the way so far, even if the tickets are heavily discounted or given away. Isn’t that… literally the equitable access to Broadway productions we’ve been asking for?

 

Sure, but what will it say if the show closes early at a major financial loss? Will it be lauded for paving the way for access, even if their solution is not sustainable? Will other producers be encouraged to mount shows just for access and not for business? It’s definitely part of a larger, complicated, and important conversation about the true costs of access. I don’t think we’ve figured it out yet.

 

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ErmengardeStopSniveling
#94PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/20/21 at 12:41pm

Forbes is a financial publication, so naturally they will choose to report on this angle while other publications focus on the artistic merits of the production.

The grassroots outreach is admirable (historic might not be the word -- MANY shows that deal with specific subject matter have tried to target those constituents), but is it sustainable? FWIW, the crowd was diverse but still disproportionally white the night I saw it.

The producers could quickly end speculation about all this by releasing the grosses.

LightsOut90
#95PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/20/21 at 6:09pm

i saw a majority of them but again thanks for playing

A Director
#96PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/21/21 at 1:58am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Forbes is a financial publication, so naturally they will choose to report on this angle while other publications focus on the artistic merits of the production.

The grassroots outreach isadmirable (historic might not be the word --MANY showsthat dealwith specific subject matter have tried to target those constituents),but is it sustainable? FWIW, the crowd was diverse butstill disproportionally white the night I saw it.

The producers could quickly end speculation about all this by releasing the grosses.
"

Dear Sniveling,

I don't understand your obsession with the grosses.  Do you want Pass Over to fail?  Do you want Pass Over to fail because, in your mind, it will prove that plays by new black playwrights should not be produced on Broadway?  Do you want Pass Over to fail because, in your mind, it will prove white audiences aren't ready to see plays by black playwrights?

Wipe you nose on your sleeve and answer.

 

 

JasonC3
#97PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/21/21 at 7:25am

"The producers could quickly end speculation about all this by releasing the grosses."

Assuming most producers act with some degree of self-interest, they must not see advantages in doing so and don't really care about random speculation by a few folks on an Internet chat board.

VintageSnarker
#98PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/21/21 at 8:25am

I don't know what purpose getting the grosses would serve. We all know it's not doing that well. 

I'm very tempted by the affordable tickets but I still can't get over my reluctance to sit in a theater again. It still feels too soon. Hopefully things will improve and there will be more vaccinations and/or audiences will regain confidence as more shows reopen and are able to have safe performances. I would really love to see Caroline, or Change and Fire Shut Up in My Bones but I haven't gotten tickets yet because seeing a show in early fall still feels reckless with delta raging. 

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Jordan Catalano
#99PASS OVER Previews
Posted: 8/21/21 at 10:03am

VintageSnarker, obviously, everyone is going to go at their own pace here and do what they feel comfortable with. But having sat through over a dozen shows in the UK a few weeks ago where masks were required but vaccinations weren’t, there was a real sense of calm seeing “Pass Over” that I was (still masked) in a full theater of vaccinated people. I just found it so odd that this was one of the few places you can go where you knew everyone had done the right thing and got the jab.


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