SCOTTSBORO BOYS closing December 12? — Page 4

>> "Would you want to see a musical with comic singing and dancing about the Holocaust?"

Ahem. CABARET, perhaps? Yes, yes, I know, not about the Holocaust directly, but I doubt "If You Could See Her" is really about a man in love with a gorilla. Just me, perhaps.

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To those inquiring about student rush, I had no problem getting a ticket ($26.50) for this past Sunday's evening show around noon. The woman at the box office wasn't exactly cordial but she wasn't nasty either. The seat was first row of the balcony, dead center. The orchestra didn't look that full so I definitely could have moved down but decided not to. Not sure how full the mezz was. I'm sure it was mostly empty as there were only about 20 people in the balcony.

Challenging theatre on Broadway suffers yet another blow.

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I got there an hour before the box office opened on Saturday (of Thanksgiving weekend) and was the only one there. The woman was nice to me.

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maybe Julie Taymore should step in with a few masks and flying lessons to attract more crowds and keep it running for another 15 years?

"There is a huge black audience out there that loves theatre, but they did not come to "Scottsboro" in the throngs the producers had hoped."

Yes, but that huge black audience usually only goes when there is a huge black star in a show or the show has something to attract the black community. This show makes you think and has no black stars in it. That doesn't always attract the black community. And yes, I am black.

Here is a question that has been on my mind. I hope I ask it correctly.... Is the New York theatregoing crowd dwindling? My thought was that shows like this one and Caroline or Change would last because the NY theatre crowd would see them knowing they wouldn't have to "deal" with tourists and are looking to see some good theatre. (Not that other shows aren't good) But it seems these great shows are closing fast. If there was a big enough crowd of NYC theatregoers, it seems these shows would last longer even without tourists. Does that make sense?

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And Dottie, what gets me is that these are some of the shows that the black community should be running to see!

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In regards to NY crowds changing, I think there is some validity to that. But also keep in mind that the NY theatre crowd got to see both SCOTTSBORO and CAROLINE in their off-Broadway incarnations. So...perhaps their Broadway runs would have been a bit longer had they opened cold on Broadway (or were developed out of town).

SCOTTSBORO BOYS is one of the most audacious, thrilling and upsetting pieces of theatre I've ever seen. It's a tough sell. But I can't tell you how glad I am to have seen it.

americanboy99, well there will always be exceptions to what I stated. There's just no rhyme or reason as to why some shows have staying power and why others don't.

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Picture this

At Tony Time, Scottsboro beats out Spiderman for Best Musical.

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I can't respond as I haven't seen it yet. I'm still trying to figure out when I can make a day trip up to NYC to see it for myself.

I saw the last performance of Next to Normal in DC. Although I thought it was well constructed and the performances were excellent, it just didn't grab me. Whereas there have been plenty of other shows I've seen numerous times, for some reason, once was enough regarding Next to Normal.

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Updated On: 11/30/10 at 11:47 PM

does Scottsboro Boys stand a chance at winning the Tony?? Has a show ever won Best New Musical after it closed??

I'm just hoping that enough people opt to buy tickets for these final two weeks that the show will at least extend until New Year's(Jan. 2).

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Updated On: 11/30/10 at 11:48 PM

People will often go out of their way to see a show in a theatre with an inconvenient if there's a star in it like Patrick Stewart in The Scottish Play, or the production has particularly good word-of-mouth. People often will avoid a show even if it's in a convenient theatre if it's particularly bad. But when a show is good (or even great) but is risky and not especially touristy, and is in a theatre with an inconvenient location, its chances of failure are increased. And that seems to be the logic that the Lyceum is a death trap. Unless it's something like Patrick Stewart in The Scottish Play (and with a theatre that small, smaller shows will continue to go into it), it has a high likelihood of failure, no matter how good it may be.

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