Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert
Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#1
Posted: 10/24/08 at 7:39amhttp://www.nypost.com/seven/10242008/entertainment/theater/winter_forecast__evere_134980.htm
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#2
Posted: 10/24/08 at 7:47amThats exactly what Smaxie has been saying along
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#3
Posted: 10/24/08 at 8:06am
As I was walking in, I overheard Rocco Landesman, who owns Jujamcyn Theaters, say to Tony: "I love reading about how rich you are in the papers."
I placed a friendly hand on Tony's back and said: "I'm afraid I'm responsible for that."
He recoiled as if he'd stepped on a snake.
"Please, just go away," he said, and shot me a look as cold as anything Stalin must have fixed on those Soviet artists who fell from grace.
That just made my morning.
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#4
Posted: 10/24/08 at 9:02amHave they announced the HAIR cast yet?
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#6
Posted: 10/24/08 at 10:26am
That first paragraph is dead-on. By the middle of January there could be less than 20 shows (even less by mid-late February with more of the 'limited engagements' closing) still running before the spring shows start opening.
I'm not following his statement that Boeing-Boeing is in the same class financially as ATOTC and 13 because Boeing-Boeing just recouped and has been playing to fairly decent audience lately compared to the much lower attendance figures of the other two shows. Last week, Boeing-Boeing only made 7k less than ATOTC, a show with a much larger cast and an orchestra to pay.
EDIT- And I just want to mention how hysterical the Osip Mandelstam reference was to me because he was an integral part of my senior thesis on the Soviet repression of the arts. It was as exciting to write as it sounds...
Updated On: 10/24/08 at 10:26 AM
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#7
Posted: 10/24/08 at 10:50am
I agree with what you said, frogs_fan85 re: BOEING-BOEING.
They have recouped, and are already considered a success even if they were to close tomorrow.
13 and TALE are still very much fighting an expensive uphill battle.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#8
Posted: 10/24/08 at 10:58amI think he said it correctly: They've used up the New York audience. I think when you start tailoring things to tourists and foreign tourists then you can't expect those shows to stay afloat in the off months. That's a stupid idea. Why not just put out the best show you can regardless of who its target audience is.
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#9
Posted: 10/24/08 at 11:11amtrue dat.
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#10
Posted: 10/24/08 at 11:57amNow Spring Awakening on Jan. 18, plus possibly 13, ATOTC, Avenue Q, Gypsy & Young Frankenstein all closing in January as well. YIKES!!
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#11
Posted: 10/24/08 at 12:28pmYikes. I hope GYPSY can survive until March.
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#12
Posted: 10/24/08 at 1:06pmI'm sure it can.
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#13
Posted: 10/24/08 at 1:11pm
The most telling quote in this article...
"We are in a very, very serious situation," says veteran producer James B. Freydberg.
"We have lost the New York audience and have become dependent on foreign tourists. But their currencies are weakening and their economies are in very bad shape. That is going to affect us.
Meanwhile they are planning to blow $40 million on SPIDERMAN. Yes, that's a show that New York audiences will flock to. (Even if they get the Hilton the show would have to sell out for 3 years just to recoup.)
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#14
Posted: 10/24/08 at 1:11pm
The most telling quote in this article...
"We are in a very, very serious situation," says veteran producer James B. Freydberg.
"We have lost the New York audience and have become dependent on foreign tourists. But their currencies are weakening and their economies are in very bad shape. That is going to affect us.
Meanwhile they are planning to blow $40 million on SPIDERMAN. Yes, that's a show that New York audiences will flock to. (Even if they get the Hilton the show would have to sell out for 3 years just to recoup.)
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/15/05
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#15
Posted: 10/25/08 at 12:19amI just think the New York theater scene needs some new, young producers to throw everything off balance. We need some new shows to sort of rejuvenate Broadway. It doesn't matter what the source - original, books, movies, etc - a Broadway show should be of a certain caliber. The shows should all be good, not stinkers. There are too many people in kitchen! They need to let the directors do their work, or have one producer with a vision of how the show will work instead of 30 producers all putting in input and afraid that Mrs. Smith from Minnesota is going to be offended because they said the word "****" in the musical. Not everything needs to be family friendly!
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#16
Posted: 10/25/08 at 3:45amIs Reidel really that eeevil? He looks a lot better when he does television commentary. I must admit his Post pictue looks kind of smarmy. from RC in Austin, Texas..
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#17
Posted: 10/25/08 at 10:55amThis is like the ****ing broadway apocolypse
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#18
Posted: 10/25/08 at 11:52am
This is nothing like the Broadway apocalypse. The Broadway apocalypse is having Sunset Boulevard win Best Musical because there was no competition. For every theater that empties now, there will be a show eager to get in.
Is Broadway in a great creative flowering? Not really, and gambling everything in hopes of a 10-year smash is not a great method of producing, but I'm really not seeing the whole End of Days scenario here.
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#19
Posted: 10/25/08 at 12:01pm
i do not think gypsy is going to make it past January.
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#20
Posted: 10/26/08 at 7:52pmAnd look who they are looking to crucify again for costs being too high-the unions!
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#21
Posted: 10/26/08 at 8:01pmWas there really a "Broadway apocalypse" or was it just show queens getting their panties in a twist over a Tony upset?
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#22
Posted: 10/26/08 at 8:48pmI think the poster meant that the season that Sunset won the award was ridiculously light in terms of new musicals.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#23
Posted: 10/26/08 at 10:22pm
A little off topic but can I just ask how we can be so sure about how YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is doing financially?
Just wondering what people are basing these assumptions off of...
re: Riedel: HAIR at the Shubert#24
Posted: 10/26/08 at 10:27pmwe're basing it on how empty the Hilton theater has been for the past 9 months. During the week, if you've got balcony tickets, chances are you were moved down to the mezz. Plus, this has happened on weekends, too. I can't it see it surviving during the even slower winter months.
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