Postponed Indefinitely: ROOM On Broadway - News & Discussion Thread — Page 6

The Distinctive Baritone said: "I agree that not letting it even open is cruel. And surely the producers knew going into this that they would never make a dime, that this was a “prestige” art house kind of thing. So to pull the plug when ticket sales are low (I’m assuming that’s what happened)? Lame."

If a producer doesn't have the ability to fund their commitment anymore, it doesn't matter how cruel or disappointing it is. It sucks, but people's financial abilities can change dramatically.

I’ve seen the movie a number of times - Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay were absolutely incredible. With that said, I had no interest in seeing this story live on stage due to the heavy nature of the material. It’s about the last thing I’d ever want to see on stage, actually. I’m sad for all involved but as others stated earlier, I do think the material was steering people away from buying tickets, as I know it was keeping me away. 

What a shame. Maybe it'll find its way onto to Broadway someday? 

Hairspray0901 said: "I’ve seen the movie a number of times - Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay were absolutely incredible. With that said, I had no interest in seeing this story live on stage due to the heavy nature of the material. It’s about the last thing I’d ever want to see on stage, actually. I’m sad for all involved but as others stated earlier, I do think the material was steering people away from buying tickets, as I know it was keeping me away."

This is exactly what prevented me from seeing this production when it was in Toronto last year.

 

saxpower said: 

I don't like being a voice of gloom, but I have a feeling the "indefinite postponement" is likely permanent."


 

You have a gift.

This is extremely unfortunate for the whole "Room" company.  I feel laying blame on any actor who never even had the opportunity to perform their part before a paying audience is astoundingly ugly, however. 

Any producer willing to take the risk on this material would obviously know that making a profit would be extraordinarily difficult.  The movie was made on a (by Hollywood standards) shoestring budget of $13M and even with multiple Oscar nominations and a Best Actress win only made $14M domestically and low $30M-something worldwide.  In other words, at the box office it failed.  With residual rights, it probably made a nominal profit.  

It's not difficult to assume this producer may have been spooked by recent market/banking and interest rate instability, but such a late withdrawal is, in my opinion, simply tragic.  No doubt the investor probably has other plans for their big bucks, like greasing the palms of some politician who will give them tax breaks.  🙃

 

Its also crazy ignorant. The rich are coddled by our politicians, no doubt, but the idea that any single Bway producer is somehow culpable in that is.... silly, at best. What this post is really saying is "how dare the producer not spend their wealth on this show!"--- an opinion I'll readily take seriously when the poster here provides receipts for what % of their net worth they've invested in risky, unlikely-to-turn-profit productions.

"What this post is really saying is "how dare the producer not spend their wealth on this show!""

The post I believe you are referring to calls out the "late withdrawal" and not the fact that the producer doesn't want to spend their money on the show. There's a nearly a limitless amount of people not spending their wealth on broadway shows and no one in this thread is blaming them. They're saying it's tacky that someone has decided to not fulfill their commitment of wealth.,, a commitment they entered into willingly. 

People have relocated and lost other opportunities all on the whim of this person. There's no promise of success in this business, but you do mostly expect the people involved to keep their promises.

KJisgroovy said: ""What this post is really saying is "how dare the producer not spend their wealth on this show!""

The post I believe you are referring to calls out the "late withdrawal" and not the fact that the producer doesn't want to spend their money on the show. There's a nearly a limitless amount of people not spending their wealth on broadway shows and no one in this thread is blaming them. They're saying it's tacky that someone has decided to not fulfill their commitment of wealth.,, a commitment they entered into willingly.

People have relocated and lost other opportunities all on the whim of this person. There's no promise of success in this business, but you do mostly expect the people involved to keep their promises."

Sure, you can think it's tacky, but you have no idea who the investor is or what their situation is. The only thing we know is that they had "personal reasons" for not being able to fulfill their commitment. The S&P 500 is down more than 10% in the past year, and some specific industries have been hit much worse. There have also been tens of thousands of layoffs year-to-date in some pretty high-wealth sectors.

The investor did willingly enter into the commitment to fund the show, but they also willingly withdrew that commitment. It sucks, and I'm sure there is a penalty for them pulling out, but if they don't have the money anymore, they don't have the money. 

I apologize if my flippant ending comment on my post triggered such strong reactions. I, admittedly, acknowledge I don't know the reason this person decided to pull their funds, surely at a loss already, at this late date.  My full empathy goes out to the cast, crew, and other producers who have been impacted. 

 

 

fbueller said: "The investor/investment group should be named for transparency."

We already know it's either Sam Julyan or James Yeoburn. It was specified as a Lead Producer, and those are the other two lead producers in addition to Hunter Arnold. Both are British, relatively young, and have never worked on Broadway prior to this. And as itsjustmejonhotmailcom said, investments are often discussed in a handshake way during the courting stage and nothing is finalized until an investor signs their binding agreement. A lead producer will be courting many investors and in this case was probably responsible for about 1/3 of the capitalization (which would be $2.3M).

There will no doubt be additional reporting, as there was with Nerds and the bts of Funny Girl and other problem shows. If Riedel were still writing, we'd already have the skinny.

Updated On: 3/17/23 at 12:04 PM

ChorusKitty said: "I apologize if my flippant ending comment on my post triggered such strong reactions. I, admittedly, acknowledge I don't know the reason this person decided to pull their funds, surely at a loss already, at this late date. My full empathy goes out to the cast, crew, and other producers who have been impacted."

Thank you for the faux apology in which you don't express regret for what you actually said, but for the reactions you triggered.  Here's what the real apology looks like.

"I apologize for my flippant ending comment in my post. I, admittedly, acknowledge I don't know the reason this person decided to pull their funds, surely at a loss already, at this late date. My full empathy goes out to the cast, crew, and other producers who have been impacted."

 

Updated On: 3/17/23 at 12:46 PM