Phantom to change to "re-staged" production in flagship productions?- Page 11

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 2/15/21 at 8:32pm

>>So they would clearly lose the title of longest running production on Broadway if they did what you're claiming. Don't CM and ALW care about that? 

Why would they? They'll just continue to use the line and lie about it just like they've lied about every step of this process for the last year. Why stop now?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/15/21 at 9:21pm

TheatreFan4 said: ">>So they would clearly lose the title of longest running production on Broadway if they did what you're claiming. Don't CM and ALW care about that?

Why would they? They'll just continue to use the line and lie about it just like they've lied about every step of this process for the last year. Why stop now?"

To put this in a little bit of context, we don't have "titles" in America. What a show calls itself is up to its own marketing people, and unless the "lie" is material, it is not actionable. The League does not have a list of titles to bestow, aside for the Tonys. There are no rules.  

[joevitus]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 3:05am

Lot666 said: "g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Depends on how long it takes to make the replacement. And even then, some people don't care. Witness Cam Mac's advertising of the West EndLes Misas the longest-running whatever even though it is no longer even remotely the same production which earned that milestone."

I suspect that he would have a more difficult time getting away with such a claim on Broadway."

Why?

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 7:51am

joevitus said: "Lot666 said: "g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Depends on how long it takes to make the replacement. And even then, some people don't care. Witness Cam Mac's advertising of the West EndLes Misas the longest-running whatever even though it is no longer even remotely the same production which earned that milestone."

I suspect that he would have a more difficult time getting away with such a claim on Broadway."

Why?"

Call it a hunch, but I think the Broadway community plays by more "official" rules for this sort of thing than the West End.

[TaylorF221]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 11:03am

Just chiming in to say I heard the same rumors as Gdelgi. 

Apparently the Broadway set is in much better shape than the London set, and now because of the pandemic it will be spruced up rather than loaded out and replaced. They will implement cost cutting measures across the board though, and the main thing is the orchestra will be reduced significantly and the tour orchestrations put in. This is all secondhand though, take that for what you will!

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 11:47am

And I would not be terribly surprised if "spruced up" still resulted in some replacements if accomplished quickly and quietly.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 12:40pm

So as far as you guys know, does the sprucing up on Broadway mean a different chandelier and no more Angel? 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 12:45pm

HogansHero said: "To put this in a little bit of context, we don't have "titles" in America. What a show calls itself is up to its own marketing people, and unless the "lie" is material, it is not actionable. The League does not have a list of titles to bestow, aside for the Tonys. There are no rules."

And similarly, when revival of The Fantasticks opened at they marketed it as the longest running musical in the world. I guess it can technically be argued as true...this particular production may not be, but the show itself was.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 6:28pm

Phantom4ever said: "So as far as you guys know, does the sprucing up on Broadway mean a different chandelier and no more Angel?"

Considering the "sprucing up" it got in the West End was initially planned for Broadway, it would not terribly surprise me. If the Broadway set's in better shape, really all they've got to do is take out the common elements from Her Majesty's and graft on the new stuff. Probably wouldn't even need a full loadout.

[morosco]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 6:36pm

They will implement cost cutting measures across the board though, and the main thing is the orchestra will be reduced significantly and the tour orchestrations put in.

I wouldn't be surprised if this happens. I wonder if the musicians union is being challenged by producers of other shows as well due to current conditions? Perhaps just temporarily?

[veronicamae]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 11:42pm

Lot666 said: "joevitus said: "Lot666 said: "g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Depends on how long it takes to make the replacement. And even then, some people don't care. Witness Cam Mac's advertising of the West EndLes Misas the longest-running whatever even though it is no longer even remotely the same production which earned that milestone."

I suspect that he would have a more difficult time getting away with such a claim on Broadway."

Why?"

Call it a hunch, but I think the Broadway community plays by more "official" rules for this sort of thing than the West End."

What the advertising agency chooses to create as a tag line (which is then approved by producers) isn't like...put through an approval process by the League. Stats (and quotes, for that matter) are twisted all over the place to make it be technically correct, such as how many award nominations a show got in a season counting random things like this site's audience-voted awards. lol

[TaylorF221]

Posted: 2/16/21 at 11:55pm

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: Considering the "sprucing up" it got in the West End was initially planned for Broadway, it would not terribly surprise me. If the Broadway set's in better shape, really all they've got to do is take out the common elements from Her Majesty's and graft on the new stuff. Probably wouldn't even need a full loadout."

You hit the nail on the head. The issue is loadout/load in, which is significantly more expensive in NY than it is in London. When times were good they were inclined to do a full load out, now not so much. You're probably right that "spruce up" means grafting in what they can without doing a full union load out and then loading in. All of this "improvement" is/will be an exercise in cost cutting, but cost cutting in London vs NY mean different things. 

I wouldn't be surprised if this happens. I wonder if the musicians union is being challenged by producers of other shows as well due to current conditions? Perhaps just temporarily?

I was told the orchestra will be reduced to around 13-14, which is certainly larger than the minimum the theatre requires under the musicians union. Just sad because Phantom had the largest orchestra on Broadway.

[thedrybandit]

Posted: 2/17/21 at 11:29am

Phantom4ever said: "So as far as you guys know, does the sprucing up on Broadway mean a different chandelier and no more Angel?"

I certainly have no real answer to this, but I do think it would be very difficult for them to remove the angel, simply because there's not a lot of room backstage at the Majestic, certainly not enough for a slide-on statue like they did in the most recent UK tour. If they remove the angel, a lot of other things would also have to be removed backstage in order to make that work, because it's packed back there.

 

That said, if they do remove the raising/lowering of the Angel, I would hope they lock it in place at the proscenium rather than removing it. The bare proscenium looks so empty, and the angel adds something beautiful to the venue.

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/18/21 at 7:49am

thedrybandit said: "I do think it would be very difficult for them to remove the angel, simply because there's not a lot of room backstage at the Majestic, certainly not enough for a slide-on statue like they did in the most recent UK tour. If they remove the angel, a lot of other things would also have to be removed backstage in order to make that work, because it's packed back there."

As much as I'd like to believe this, I don't think space in the wings will stop them. I'm confident that they could squeeze the horse in between the throne/mirror and the elephant on stage right.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 2/18/21 at 8:18am

For years, the doors that open to the street from house right of the auditorium of the Majestic have had a beautiful picture of the Angel on them. I wonder if this image will be replaced when they remove the Angel from the Majestic. I know it's trivial but it's just one of the many details I'll be sad to lose. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/18/21 at 9:35am

Phantom4ever said: "For years, the doors that open to the street from house right of the auditorium of the Majestic have had a beautiful picture of the Angel on them. I wonder if this image will be replaced when they remove the Angel from the Majestic. I know it's trivial but it's just one of the many details I'll be sad to lose."

True!

[DrewJoseph]

Posted: 3/1/21 at 11:09am

https://64.media.tumblr.com/5431bfc678f75ae957e1d6c1ddeef528/46e36e340c84d7fa-cb/s1280x1920/f4a48cfcc28135f3a573f47b96ff90d4871e67d6.jpg

 

Get ready for this...

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 3/1/21 at 1:19pm

I cannot decide what I will miss the most....

Bjornson's original curtains and the way they kept peeling back at different speeds and heights to represent the turning back of the years.

The chandelier rising from and crashing to the stage

The chandelier being onstage when I walk into the theater

the Angel

the statues all over the proscenium

I think above all, knowing that I was seeing the show as Prince and Bjornson envisioned, not what Cameron paid a less talented designer and director to splice up into cheaper pieces. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 3/1/21 at 2:09pm

DrewJoseph said: "https://64.media.tumblr.com/5431bfc678f75ae957e1d6c1ddeef528/46e36e340c84d7fa-cb/s1280x1920/f4a48cfcc28135f3a573f47b96ff90d4871e67d6.jpg



Get ready for this..."

Where did this come from?

And I still think the chandelier in a sack looks like a giant, upside-down bat.

Yuck.

Updated On: 3/1/21 at 02:09 PM

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 3/1/21 at 2:37pm

Lot 666, that is the newest tour that was supposed to tour the UK in 2020 but only got to play one city. It was billed as a return to the Brilliant Original, as opposed to the Spectacular New tour that has been in the U.S. for many years now. As soon as these pictures came out, everyone could see that it was really a combination of the original and the new. 

Cameron confirmed in the Telegraph that this touring production is what is going back into Her Majesty's, and rumors are that the same fate awaits New York. Still plenty of time left in this pandemic for them to load out the Majestic. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 3/1/21 at 2:59pm

Phantom4ever said: "Lot 666, that is the newest tour that was supposed to tour the UK in 2020..."

Oh, that. I mistakenly assumed that DrewJoseph was posting something new. As there are people in the audience, I was scratching my head trying to figure out when such a picture could possibly have been taken at Her Majesty's Theatre.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 3/1/21 at 3:31pm

Check out these behind the scenes pictures from the World Tour:

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 3/1/21 at 3:35pm

Updated On: 3/1/21 at 03:35 PM

[singerunlimited]

Posted: 3/1/21 at 5:41pm

PHANTOM was the first Broadway show my parents took me to see when I was 6 years old. It has remained such a huge part of my life over the years, and I've had the fortune to see it on Broadway countless times.

I understand that elements of the Broadway and West End productions were out of date, but the show has lasted 35 years on Broadway for a reason - and a large part of that is due to Hal Prince and Maria Bjornson's contributions to the piece. For me, the "Spectacular New Production" that toured the US for several years paled in comparison to Broadway in every way. I can see updating some small scenic elements that the average unsuspecting audience member might not notice. But why do away with the iconic chandelier, one of the highlights of the Broadway production? The new chandelier (from the US tour) has some nice modern updates, but I sorely missed the chandelier rising from the stage and crashing back to the stage at the end of Act I. Why change that?

If these changes make it into the Broadway production (which I'm sure they will), I'm afraid I won't be able to return to the Majestic. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 3/2/21 at 7:35am

singerunlimited said: "If these changes make it into the Broadway production (which I'm sure they will), I'm afraid I won't be able to return to the Majestic."

You're not alone.