I heard the same thing with weekly running costs. Some of you may or may not remember the hubub when Glenn Close went on vacation (and Karen Mason was Norma) and RUG bascially said there was no change in the box office. Close was understandably steamed...she felt her performance was part of what made it a successful production (The NY Times trashed Patti LuPone in London, which also did not help her chances in the Broadway production). She was also the highest paid Broadway star at the time, pulling in $50,000 a week. So even though it had a large advance sale, it had massive weekly running costs, which when Close was not in it, did not make. There was very little room for paying back that initial investment for the production (also the most expensive at the time, around $10 million I think).
Betty Buckley replaced Close on Broadway, after replacing Patti LuPone in London. She garnered very good notices in London (and I believe the majority of NY critics liked her better than Close), and I think at that point they felt the show was the star, more than their 'Norma' (this may also explain why they cast Linda Balgord in a touring production). Buckley did keep the box office alive for a bit, but to Joe Q. Public, she is no Glenn Close. They brought in John Barrowman for a two week stint (who played 'Joe Gillis' in London), who at that time was popular being on the show "Central Park West." Buckley may have been a bigger box office draw in London, but who knows, they do not post their figures like they do here, and the producers may have felt she could sell tickets like she did in the U.K.
After Buckley left, Elaine Paige repeated her 'Norma' which was first seen in London (Paige actually stepped in for 2 weeks with very little rehersal when Buckley was hospitalized, and formally replaced Buckley when she left for Broadway). Although my favorite performer (and the best 'Norma' in my book, having seen all the Broadway ladies and their understudies - Mason and Janet Metz); if Buckley is not known by Joe Q. Public, Paige is even less so (at least in America). Paige was billed as making her long awaited Broadway debut, but from what I saw, there was not much publicity in the mass media, as the show had been running for a while and may have been considered old news. So at that point, they still had these massive weekly running costs (though deserving, I doubt Paige could command Close's salary on Broadway, although she was the highest paid West End performer when she opened "The King and I" there), ran through the advance sale (which was pretty much just for Close) and posting big discounts. It's a shame really, for I thought the show was at it's best when Elaine was in it. The rest of the leads did not change throughout the run - Alan Campbell as Joe, Alice Ripley (pre-'Side Show" as Betty) and George Hearn as Max.
Petula Clark took over for Paige in London (with Rita Moreno filling in during her vacation). I did not see Clark, but have her cd sampler and she does not seem quite as bad as reported. Debra Byrne played 'Norma' in the Australian production (with Hugh Jackman as 'Joe'); she seems to sing the hell out of the songs on her cd "New Ways To Dream," but I believe that production was also somewhat troubled. Byrne was absent frequently, and reportedly unhappy with her singing of a cd sampler sent to people in advance of the production.
My mother always used to say, "The older you get, the better you get, unless you're a banana." - Rose Nyland
Updated On: 7/26/05 at 01:49 AM
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