Cast and creative team will be doing a CD and Vinyl signing tomorrow (Tuesday 10/17) at the Museum of Broadway, 4:30pm. Album purchase at the Museum required for entry.
Understudy Joined: 10/2/22
Does anyone know whether Ghee, Borle, or Hicks have days/nights they take off or any announced absences for December? I didn't see anything on the show website, but I wanted to check here too.
Thank you!
I hope they are all in tonight. I got tickets as a gift for two friends for this evening (10/20). Bought them before Ghee had to be out of the show.
I have seen dates for covers of Hicks and Borle, but they are for this month. We’ll probably find out any scheduled absences in the coming weeks, or beginning of December. Borle has missed a LOT of the run, but I’m positive it’s production approved as he’s working on other projects while also doing the show, which he has special credits for.
My friends just texted me a pic of the At This Performance slip for tonight and DeMarius is on. Looks like everyone else is in and Dan Horn is joining the cast as a Swing.
For what it's worth, although it's a shame to miss a Tony-winning performance I thought DeMarius was quite charming in the role and has a certain level of charisma/youthfulness that it's actually hard for me to imagine Ghee in the role. It didn't really feel like an 'understudy' performance to me personally.
Leading Actor Joined: 12/9/23
https://x.com/darianjofficial/status/1738748003479847233?s=46&t=uBGDI6NvQcBRmZWjCiJ94A
interested in what the board thinks
Saw this again last Wed after having seen the first preview. They tightened it and minimized the whole sex preference matter. But it’s strange how the whole show just doesn’t satisfy. None of the songs pop. The dialogue and jokes never seem to land. And the music sounds generic with no real hits. Choreography is nonstop with not much impact. There is such a thing as too much of everything. That’s what happens here. No rest or variation or spark. Just lots of bludgeoning.
GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "https://x.com/darianjofficial/status/1738748003479847233?s=46&t=uBGDI6NvQcBRmZWjCiJ94A
interested in what the board thinks"
I think it's valid to say that this show was hampered by musical crossdressing fatigue, which the advertising did absolutely nothing to alleviate, perhaps out of fear of alienating a portion of its potential audience. The cloud hanging over this show isn't tiktok vitriol, it's indifference.
I would agree that had this come out before Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire, it would’ve been a hit. For me, it’s an old-school song-and-dance extravaganza in a way that we don’t see much anymore.
Broadway is in a weird place right now. You have the old theater goers who probably loved everything about this except maybe the “I like who I am and I don’t have to define who that is” speech that Daphne gives and then you have the newer audiences who love and applaud for those moments. I find myself to be part of the former, but not because of the sentiment behind it. Had Daphne just kept living the way they wanted to, it would’ve been a perfect show, and as an audience member, I would’ve been happy for them. I didn’t need the speech to bang me over the head. I think that’s the difficulty that some shows are having now. Which group do we appeal to - do we give big speeches about inclusivity and acceptance because, of course, we want our audience to learn from our stories, or do we tell a story that perhaps teaches that message more subtly and allows them to figure it out for themselves?
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/29/14
I agree with skip23
It's just overall a very dull show.
It is impossible to placate the vociferous chorus. This show was doomed from the beginning because it attempted to do so, thereby stepping on its own punchline.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/10/11
This show would have been a hit if two things had been different:
1. It had a good score, which it does not.
2. Had Sugar been a better-defined character and been given something to sing other than ballads, which all sounded the same.
With the exception of the actress playing Sugar, the cast was excellent. The production values were terrific. The direction, choreography and orchestrations were somewhere between solid and excellent. Let down mainly by the score. (I have to admit that, 6 onths later, I don't remember much about the book, but I remember thinking it was a lot better than the score,
Understudy Joined: 6/7/23
Has anyone won lottery in last 2 weeks? They took it off tdf and I am wondering if they are still doing balcony seats for this on lottery? I know tdf it went to orch finally.
seems like show still isnt selling out and i am getting fomo this last week after putting it off.
Swing Joined: 6/11/23
Won the lottery last Wednesday matinee. Seats were front row balcony.
Who’s seeing tonight’s closing performance?
tonight's closing performance is at TKTS for 50% off.
National tour launches in September, per Shaiman.
It’s hard to imagine it’ll sell any better than it did in NY, but I hope it finds an audience in London.
I see this show being heavily produced by Regional theaters in 3-4 years and then community theaters in 5-6 years.
EDSOSLO858 said: "National tour launchesin September, per Shaiman.
It’s hard to imagine it’ll sell any better than it did in NY, but I hope it finds an audience in London."
I played the cast album to some of my London friends and they were obsessed! I think British audiences are gonna love this musical! Hopefully I’m not wrong!
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/10/11
EDSOSLO858 said: "National tour launchesin September, per Shaiman.
It’s hard to imagine it’ll sell any better than it did in NY, but I hope it finds an audience in London."
Remember: subscription audience. It will do fine on tour.
ACL2006 said: "I see this show being heavily produced by Regional theaters in 3-4 years and then community theaters in 5-6 years."
For licensing, the challenge with this show will always be that it requires a large number of people of color. Data shows that musicals with that level of specificity don't get licensed nearly as much as shows that could be performed by people of any race. It requires a level of diversity of talent pool that some places just don't have. (This impacts community and school licensing more than the big Regional theatres)
Jarethan said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "National tour launchesin September, per Shaiman.
It’s hard to imagine it’ll sell any better than it did in NY, but I hope it finds an audience in London."
Remember: subscription audience. It will do fine on tour."
Regional theatre subscriptions have also plummeted since the shutdown, which leaves the UK as the show's only hope of success.
EDSOSLO858 said: "Regional theatre subscriptions have also plummeted since the shutdown, which leaves the UK as the show's only hope of success."
This is less about subscribers and more about touring having a per-week Guarantee, plus a split of any earnings above that. While the tour is its own capitalization, it will likely be less than Broadway, and the tour pays a Royalty back to the Broadway entity every week. The tour personnel might also be able to be scaled down a bit compared to Broadway, and that + larger touring houses makes for a better profit margin.
I don't know how much, if any, was distributed on Broadway, which means slooowly chipping away at a $17.5mil capitalization through touring, international, and regional/amateur licensing.
That the show ran more than a year on Broadway + won a few Tonys is good for its brand identity and name value, compared to something that ran 6 months and is trying to use the above method to make back its money.
That was great tonight. I do love this show and I’ll miss it a lot, hopefully I’ll be able to catch it on the West End. Several moments where actors were visibly moved by the response they got after their songs. I could see Ghee and Hicks tear up after two of their songs. A nice short speech from Nicholaw at curtain call. He was joined onstage the whole creative team which was nice to see. I was hoping for the impossible that Mariah Carey would come out lol
Updated On: 12/30/23 at 11:26 PMVideos