Scottsboro, Who is to blame?

I loved the show. But, while watching it, I couldn't help but think that none of the many casual theatre-goers I know (as opposed to the frequent attendees) would hate it. They people I know who go to the theatre maybe twice a year all hate to be depressed (they wouldn't necessarily have the self-knowledge to phrase it so simply, but that's the way they are).

And Scottsboro is easily the MOST ironic show I've ever seen in my life. The ugly story told through happy forms is amazing to see for a sophisticated viewer, but just too disturbing (I believe) for the masses.

Has there been a show this dark, tragic, and unhappy that's been a success? Sweeney is much more a cartoon than this (and Sweeney and Lovett return triumphant at the end anyway). Maria takes control at the end of West Side Story pointing towards the possibility of hope. (SPOILER: I don't think that the Rosa Parks ending is enough to allay the tone of tragedy that's gone before, as she hasn't been a character with whom we've engaged prior.)

So, wonderful though it is, I just couldn't see Scottsboro having any chance of appealing to the herds you need to make a buck on Broadway. But that doesn't make it a bad show, just another good show that lost money. It's good company to be in.

The writer says 'Scottsboro Boys' had a 'healthy run at the Vineyard.' But the big difference is that the Vineyard is an Off-Broadway house that seats only 120. It's a gigantic jump when you move to a Broadway theater with 922 seats. The economic reality is, unless you can sell thousands of tickets each week, and appeal to a broad-enough audience, you're not going to last very long on the Great White Way. Nor is it alone. 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,' which arguably got even better reviews, including Ben Brantley's Times blessing, is closing early, too.

This is not the 60's with Cabaret

Prices have gone thru the roof & audiences have changed.People want to be entertained with no message. They are now more cautious as to how to spend their money seeing shows. Many do not go as often as they used to.They prefer Spidey over Scottsboro. This says it all.

No one should hang their head. It was a quality production that failed to catch on. It happens over & over . Another example is Sideshow.

---

As Fran Liebowitz says in the new HBO docu, Public Speaking, AIDS didn't just kill off the best creators in theater. It also killed off the best audience members.

There really is no audience out there for this kind of brilliant, edgy, genius kind of writing because the audience died.
Living in the Bonus Round

"Has there been a show this dark, tragic, and unhappy that's been a success?"

"Hamlet."

Just joking. But no doubt the depressing subject matter had something to do with the lack of ticket sales. Also the show deliberately sought to disturb audiences, which is always a tricky business, since being disturbed is not usually what an audience enjoys spending money on.

It might also be that audiences were divided on its merits. The show did not get unanimous raves, after all, so the show itself may have been found wanting.

I do think the linked column is overwrought in the extreme.

The book writer is to blame, for his inept dramaturgy.

The show has the dramatic tension of a soggy noodle.

Personally. I had never heard of the Scottsboro boys until this show. I wonder if that could have been another strike against it. Unfamiliar subject matter.

Yes, the show had a healthy run at the Vineyard, and no, the point of creating art should not be to turn a profit. You can even make the argument that it was a mistake to try to transfer such a risky show. But I’m not buying it. This show deserves to be seen, and it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Broadway gives it the best chance to do that.

I disagree with this comment. Obviously, Broadway has not given it the best chance to be seen. There is no shame in producing a good Off-Broadway show. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I feel as if the writer is almost turning his nose up at Off-Broadway.

Juke Box shows and movie adaptations dominate the Great White Way, cotton candy and bubble gum pop for the tourist crowd

I whine after watching an MTV telecast of a musical about a girl who goes to law school to impress her boyfriend, “Then we’d actually see the high-quality, in-your-face, change-your-life kind of musicals that we should be seeing.”

It’s an absolute crime, a soul-crushing travesty, that this show is closing, while elsewhere lighthearted Abba tunes will be sung in seeming perpetuity.

Okay, seriously. Enough. Jukebox musicals and musicals based on movies are here to stay. Deal with it. If you don't want to see it then don't see it. But the constant whining about it is annoying and elitist. We can sit here and list musicals that are't 100% original. Gypsy, South Pacific, Oklahoma and on and on. Did people complain about those when they came out? Of course not every single one is going to be good but some of them actually are. Look at Xanadu. They took a terrible movie and pulled something really great out of it.

---

"There really is no audience out there for this kind of brilliant, edgy, genius kind of writing because the audience died."

What a patently absurd statement. For one thing, it implies that the "audience" was predominantly gay men. Even before the tragedy of AIDS, gay men did not constitue the majority of the musical theater audience, nor was it even CLOSE to a majority. And, it implies that only gay men can appreciate this kind of "brilliant, edgy, genious kind of writing", which is just a bigoted statement.

---

To Dramamama

You can ignore it all you like, but high ticket prices do play a big part. They are going up yearly at a large clip. Many people here, other than me, have mentioned ticket prices (See Aja's post). Is it the main reason why it failed - no. Was it a contributing factor - definitely yes.

---

Updated On: 12/8/10 at 06:28 PM

I think part of it was the tickets prices:

Orchestra/Front Mezz: $131
Rear Orchestra/Rear Mezz: $99
Balcony: $39.50

They should of kept the prices lower, something like this:
Orchestra/Front Mezz: $110
Rear Orch: $90
Rear Mezz: $60
Balcony: $39.50

---

"I admire the creative producers who risk their money on the show which is a hard sell but I honestly question their business sense."

Taking risks is part of any business. No guts no glory.