ALW just posted a video of him meeting with the Broadway company, giving his usual speech about how special the Broadway production is to him and how he wishes Prince were there. ALW just posted a video of him meeting with the Broadway company, giving his usual speech about how special the Broadway production is to him and how he wishes Prince were there. What worried me is that Seth was there and that ALW complimented him for doing such a great job with the London production. I know Seth has been involved in the Broadway production way before the pandemic and the huge shift to the touring version in London, but now he is seen as CM's lackey. Prince's daughter is there too so I hope she has been powerful enough to stop him from meddling too much. I hope there is someone there tomorrow night who is familiar enough with the show to set our minds at ease a little about these "minor tweaks" they are making.
What galls me about this video is that ALW even says how proud he is of the orchestra size, despite gutting it in London (and before anyone says this was all down to Cameron Mackintosh, ALW had to agree to it for it to happen) and then, when the outcry happened, tell The Stage that it was better this way as the London orchestra had supposedly got "stale" (despite telling the orchestra members themselves that he was thrilled with their playing). ALW is a master at making completely contradictory statements within weeks of each other.
I wouldn't worry too much about Seth being there. He's been the resident Broadway director for some time.
Broadway will get some lyric changes but I'm not expecting anything else for now. I'm so thrilled it gets the full orchestra and Maria Björnson's real designs and Hal Prince's actual direction, rather than a show 'masquerading' to be the real deal but not actually being that at all *cough*London*cough*.
I hope not, personally. I've had enough of the Rierra frenzy to last a lifetime.
Ditto.
I believe Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group are the only producers. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. I don’t believe any original investors have been cut out financially. What is speculated is that the changes may have brought about a renegotiation with the estates of Hal Prince, Gillian Lynne and Maria Bjornson but I don’t know if that has been confirmed or if it is simply conjecture.
To clarify, the 1986 investors of the original London production *have* been cut out of the show. The original London production has been unceremoniously killed off (a tragedy, given it is London's most successful homegrown production of any musical) and the new London production does not involve any of the 1986 investors beyond Cam Mack and ALW, so more £££ in their pockets (as well as the £££ saved by automating everything to get rid of stagehands plus the orchestra, and the £££ saved by installing a cheaper set that doesn't require so much maintenance).
The royalties will have changed. The contracts with Prince, Lynne & Björnson were for run of show. The show is now dead. Their estates will each get something but Hal Prince's estate won't get the whopping 4% of the gross he negotiated when he was rehired on the project (they will for Broadway, but not for London amy more). And since Matt Kinley has messed with/butchered Maria Björnson's designs, then her estate won't get the same amount of money either as previously.
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