Riedel: "Passing Strange" revival for Spring 2018? — Page 2

"The Wilma is one of the most highly respected regional theaters in the US. Any regional theater can bring a show to New York if the right producers are involved. Your comment makes no sense."

I suppose it might be cogent to ask - has the Wilma ever had a commercial transfer since its 1973 inception? If not, it's not particularly nonsensical to wonder how and why they would start now with a revival of a relatively recent low-tier flop that doesn't even have cult appeal.

I honestly don't know if the Wilma has ever commercially transferred a show--my guess would be no, as that has never seemed to be their purpose, and the type of work they normally produce doesn't scream moneymaker. And I personally think the possibility of a transfer of this production is being overstated (how often does a flop return to Broadway as a hit fewer than 10 years later?). But as I said, anything is possible with a determined (or foolhardy) producer. It just struck me as odd to see this particular company, which is quite well known and well respected in the industry, spoken of as if it were a community theater.

The trend does seem to be producers thinking every flop musical of the last 25 years is an undiscovered gem (although The Color Purple is, technically speaking, not a flop; the original production made money, not sure about the revival.)

HogansHero said: "adamgreer said: "No, I hated this show. I had no idea what the "hype" was."

if you hated it, then isn't it logical (and redundant) that you had no idea what the hype was [for]?



Why are you always so smug?

Where a show started (i.e., the Wilma or anywhere else) has zero to do with its transfer to Broadway. Shows can come in from a reading in a rehearsal room with 5 people in attendance. Provenance means nothing, and nothing is expected of the regional theatre where it originates.

@adamgreer You need to look up "smug" in the dictionary. All I was doing was pointing out that your second observation lacked a meaningful foundation. It is not smug to parse a person's post on here; you've done it plenty. Don't apply labels because you are embarrassed.

adamgreer said: "Your holier than thou attitude is really insufferable. "

Why suffer? This site has a great tool at your disposal to dispose of me if you don't want to read what I have to say.

"The Tonys were tense that year, with “Passing Strange” and “In the Heights” running neck and neck for Best Musical right up until the last minute" LOL

I wonder how much Riedel got paid to write this.

As a reminder, Passing Strange, during its brief 24 week run in 2008, had a high gross of $393,296 (for its closing week) and a low of $81,740 (2nd full week of performances), and an average weekly gross of $223,839.

It was never remotely successful.

HogansHero said: "I liked the show a lot, but it's toast for Broadway purposes. If you want to discuss something interesting, figure out why Riedel wrote this article.



"

Riedel obviously likes the show, and I think that he wrote the article to drum up interest to prompt a transfer to Broadway. I think that he is trying to "make" news here.