SPRING AWAKENING RUN -- why so short for a Best Musical?

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:20pm

Just wondering...What other musical has won as many TONYs as SA -- 8 including Best Musical -- and run so few performances? How many awards did Passion win?

[JKlock]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:24pm

I think it has a lot to do with the OBC leaving and the new cast not being up to par

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:27pm

PASSION won four: Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, and Best Leading Actress (Donna Murphy). But the show was so bleak, and the production was problematic, so audiences stayed away.

It's the same, in a way, with SPRING AWAKENING: despite having practically everything handed to it that PASSION didn't, and lots more (critical orgasms all around; every award in existence, including the Nobel Prize; etc.) the story isn't exactly frothy and happy-go-lucky.

And the show was certainly capable of making some audiences uncomfortable (pity the poor teenagers who had to see it with their parents).

That said, running 851 performances is not "little." It's a very respectable run, and the show made its money back pretty early in the game: THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE ran around the same number of performances and didn't pay back a dime.

Updated On: 10/24/08 at 11:27 PM

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:28pm

...because it shouldn't have won best musical.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:28pm

Passion won 4 Tonys.

Sweeney Todd won just as many Tonys as Spring Awakening and only ran for 557 performances.

~Steven

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:28pm

What's the deal? They recouped and by January will have made it on Playbill's longest running musicals list. It's not that bad.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:31pm

Wishing, I doubt Grey Gardens would have even run this long if it won the Tony.

~Steven

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:33pm

WishingOnlyWounds2 probably thinks LEGALLY BLONDE deserved to be nominated and win, judging by their avatar.

And I agree that GREY GARDENS -- being similarly bleak as SPRING AWAKENING -- wouldn't have run close to as this long. Not to mention that if SA wasn't around, LEGALLY BLONDE, MARY POPPINS, or CURTAINS would have won before GREY GARDENS.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:34pm

I doubt Grey Gardens would have even run this long if it won the Tony.

That's true. If Riedel is to be believed, the show was badly produced, and would have died anyway.

Also, for most people, most of the production beyond Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson didn't really fly (I think the score is wonderful, but it does take some getting used to).

But if SPRING AWAKENING hadn't been around, it definitely would have won: the competition wasn't exactly stellar, and the production did have a whole lot of big big fans.

Updated On: 10/23/08 at 11:34 PM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:39pm

Yes, Bustopher. Their performances are actually the only things I remember about seeing the show (and I loved them both). I haven't really given the score a good listen, but I remember liking "Jerry Likes My Corn" for some reason. Other than that, I can't comment too much about the rest of the piece. I don't really want to say it was forgettable, but if I can't really remember anything else... oops.

~Steven

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:40pm

SPRING AWAKENING totally and completely deserved the Tony. But anyway, it's not a short run by any means. They made back their investments, if I'm correct, and have truly made a mark on musical theater history. Many expected the show to be a critical gem but a financial flop and it proved to be both. No one expected it to run for a year let alone three.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:44pm

When I saw it, I immediately realized that it was not for a mass audience. The subject matter, the tone and the style are way too "sophisticated" for a super long run. This show is not entertainment, it is theater.

For purposes of comparison with other multi-Tony-winning shows (including those that did and did not win Best Musical), whose runs were not as long as they could have been, I believe that "Hairspray" won eight Tonys, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," "The Light in the Piazza" and "Jerome Robbins' Broadway" won six each, "Tommy" and "Assassins" (r) won five, and "Contact" and "Passion" won four.

(Of course, there has been category inflation as of late, so a higher number of awards doesn't mean quite as much as it did fifteen years ago.)

Still, you make a very good point. No show in the last twenty years has won so many Tonys and yet run so short a time.

But at least it recouped its investment and is playing in very similar form in other cities. It is not as lost as it seems.

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:49pm

My question is not to denegrate their run. Clearly the economy is affecting all of B'way. Just wondering what show has won so many awards and comparable run. By the way, on another board, I read that MILLIE did recoup about a year after it closed on B'way.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:52pm

Paul, I agree with you. I first saw the show at the final performance at the Atlantic and heard the buzz in the theatre about moving it to Broadway. I thought they were ludicrous to even think of it! It has defied my expectations for sure. I never thought it would become a hit.

~Steven

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:54pm

Wanna Be A Foster, I think Legally Blonde should have won for choreography, that's it. I mean synchronized jump roping, kick lines, drum lines... far better than Spring Awakening. If I had to choose... I would say Mary Poppins or Curtains should have won.

[A Director]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 12:24am

The length of a show's run has little to do with the show's quality. The original production of West Side Story ran for 732 performances and the original production of Gypsy ran for 702 performances. Before the 1940s, few plays or musicals ran for years and years.

When I first read that Spring Awakening was being turned into a musical, I thought it was a dumb idea. I knew the show well. When I finally saw the musical version, I thought the show was inspired.

Yes, it's sad that it's closing, but I think it will be done at the more daring theatres around the country.

[njohn]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 12:31am

SA won an Oscar? Did you mean it won a Grammy?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 12:41am

HALLELUAH BABY!

[theatreguy]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 12:57am

Best Musical Tony Winners that had shorter runs than Spring Awakening:

Raisin (1974) – 847
Titanic (1997) – 804
Fiorello! (1960) – 795
Nine (1982) – 729
Company (1971) – 705
Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (1989) – 633
Two Gentlemen of Verona (1972) – 614
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1986) – 608
Bye, Bye, Birdie (1961) – 607
A Little Night Music (1973) – 601
Kismet (1954) – 583
Wonderful Town (1953) – 559
Sweeney Todd (1979) – 557
Redhead (1959) – 452
Hallalujah, Baby! (196 – 293
Passion (1994) – 280

And of course In The Heights has yet to out-run Spring Awakening as well.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 1:21am

Regarding the shows that were on theatreguy's excellent and well-researched Best Musical list and that were not on my admittedly subjective "recent high Tonys/short runs" list, "Titanic" and "Drood" won five Tonys each, and the still-running "In the Heights" won four.

And "Fosse" didn't run all that long, did it? It won three Tonys, including Best Musical.

All in all, it seems that the show that "underperformed" the most is "Sweeney Todd," as was pointed out earlier.

[Bobby Maler]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 1:23am

It's defied a lot of people's expectations and had an extraordinary run. It is the subject matter which makes it hard to market. People, especially older patrons, might not feel comfortable recommending it to their friends, etc. even if they loved it. It got huge buzz in its first year, but was not able to sustain it once they were no longer the new kid in town. I agree with Paul Thompson. The sophisticated nature of the show, not only in subject matter, but in the way it was told (non linear, poetic lyrics, etc) and the staging made it art and not entertainment. It wasn't what (foreign) tourists wanted to see necessarily when coming to see a Broadway show. The creative team and the producers took a huge risk and they were rewarded. I do not agree with Jklock...I think there are many current cast members who are just as good if not better than the OBC. At the very least, it would be hard to argue that the current cast is not talented. This show has given many future stars their first Broadway debut...I think the casting directors have done an amazing job. With their dwindling sales of late, it was only a matter of time, and I'm glad that they are leaving with a bang. Thank you, Spring Awakening! For everything.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 2:12am

Although I am rather stunned that it is closing, Spring Awakening has had a HIGHLY respectable length of a run considering the type of show it is, and it's subject matter, and kudos to it for recouping its investment and proving that non-commercial, artistic, important work can and will find an audience large enough to make some money.

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 7:12am

I posted my thoughts on this subject on the SPRING AWAKENING thread...then I saw this thread.

Certainly SPRING AWAKENING did very well for itself. Yet I can't help feeling that its producers brought it to Broadway with the hopes it would be another long-running cult show like RENT. Yet despite the raves and the Tonys, it didn't happen.

[dg22894]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 7:22am

I saw SA twice. I think the magic was in the OBC and then there was not a lot of magic anymore. It did deserve best musical and the one of best Broadway show I have seen in the last couple of years. The album is most played on my Ipod. I am sorry it is closing but it still will be remembered.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 10/24/08 at 7:38am

Oh well, guess it's back to Altar Boyz for Kids Night on Broadway...my daughter wanted to see this but since KNOB isn't until early February.

On the plus side, Duncan Sheik, John Gallagher and Lauren Pritchard are scheduled to play The Egg to Albany in November so she'll get a taste.

ETA: Scratch that...looks like only Duncan and Lauren now. John's name isn't on the Egg website any longer. Aw nuts.
Updated On: 10/24/08 at 07:38 AM