SHUFFLE ALONG Sets Sudden Broadway Closing After Audra McDonald Departs — Page 7

I think Adrienne would be better suited for Eliza and she has been in a show written by Lin before with bring it on so it is plausible.

Love the idea and the hope for it, but really? I'm pretty sure all of cast, unless they get some recompense from the producers for sitting around, aren't going to wait for it to start back up again.

I'd go with Brave's suggestion. This show could do phenomenally in one of those venues. I really don't see any reason why it needs to continue to occupy a Broadway house in the near future. It's done.

Oh yes you're right. It's just a question of the money to store sets. Jeeeez! How naive can you get!



Mr Roxy said: "I know this may sound simplistic but here it is:



Store the sets

See how many original stars could possibly be ready to restart when Audra would be ready to return

If and when it might be feasible, start scouting for an available theater



If everything fell into place, it could reopen. It would basically be a hiatus where it would cost the producers nothing other than the cost of storing the sets. Those involved might believe in it enough to make it happen if all the pieces fell into place.



The only cost they would have would be storing the sets as the show is basically set and would need a short preview period. Anyone care to chime in, one way or the other?



"

Well Ms. Warren is a very talented actress who I'm sure could play both Angelica and Eliza very convincingly. Her guest role on Orange is the New Black proved that to me. I didn't recognize her when I saw Shuffle Along but I was rewatching season 1 and she's the tough girl in the wheelchair during the "scared straight" episode, and she was great in that.

My guess is that, at the core of the decision, Scott Rudin did not like the finished show any more than I or some others here (and elsewhere) did. Once you accept that premise, everything else falls in place. This, of course, is a problem with building a show on Broadway-you don't know what you have when you decide to go forward, so you are making theoretical decisions based on what people have done before. As I said before, I didn't think most of the people involved were doing their best work here, but least among them was Mr. Wolfe.

The show is such a weird one. It's good, but like I stated in another discussion I started here, once I left the theater, I didn't even think about it for days. It was either a case of too many cooks in the kitchen or not a good enough one to bring it all together. I think that, like THE COLOR PURPLE, very good performances overshadow the fact that the actual show isn't that great. (Except COLOR PURPLE has a terrible book and awful score that are very much hidden by actresses being able to give exceptional performances in it).

@Jordan, I think that's right. There are a few other differences, some of which are obscured by the demographic here and without regard to the shortcomings of the book: Shuffle is a jukebox musical, with music for which the general public is not pining; it is based on a style of dance that the general public has no interest in; it tells a story that is pitched only to the base demographic. There are great performers in this show but (obviously) none of them except Audra are box office draws. Formulas don't sell tickets.

@dramamama, you set up a false choice. No one is likely to provide the same talent because arguably she has no equal, but there certainly are people who can meet or exceed her starpower. Would any of them do it? Who knows, but we never will. I assume you accept the notion that casting Beyoncé would do the trick.

I wasn't providing a choice....I was actually asking who could they get that had both box office draw and the talent to do the role justice as a triple threat, and yes, that would be a likely actual option to do it.