Shrek the Musical to kick Sister Act out of the London Palladium?

Rumor has it that Jeffrey Katzenburg, who runs Dreamworks Animation, has been looking around the London Palladium with the creative team of "Shrek: The Musical", including director Jason Moore and designer Tim Hatley. "Shrek" is rumored to play at the Palladium in October 2010 and "Sister Act" might close in August. I thought "Sister Act" had excellent advance bookings and was still selling well. I'll be glad if "Shrek" will be shown in London though.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/SHREK_to_Bump_SISTER_ACT_and_Play_the_Palladium_in_the_West_End_20091106

Updated On: 11/6/09 at 04:41 PM

Isn't Sister Act coming to B'way?

I saw Sister Act last month while in London and I strongly believe that with some minor tweaking to the book and a few songs this could be VERY successful. Patina Miller is phenomenal. The sets are MASSIVE though, so it would have to be scaled down dramatically at any Broadway house that would be available.

So then beautywickedlover will migrate over to the West End board and have a nervous breakdown there when Shrek decides to close in London.

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I hope Sister Act transfers soon. I don't see any reason for why it started out in London.

Obviously not everyone, especially investors, do not think it is awful.

Disagree with your assessment of it.

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People were discussing Sister Act and Shrek on the London forum. They were saying that the problem with Sister Act is that it is playing in a very huge theatre that let's it utilize its huge sets. However, the problem is is that the theatre has a HUGE amount of seats that are hard to sell. Therefor, due to the fact that it is in a massive theatre that is almost impossible to sell regardless of the show that is in there, they tend to offer a lot of comps and discounts. That is why Sister Act is not playing well from a box office standpoint.

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Unfortunatley, it is in one of Londons MASSIVE theaters, I believe it holds 2,286 people! And however brilliant and successful this show is, that is ALOT of tickets to sell, and at full price! It's starting to become abit like Spring Awakening in London, an AMAZING show, that had one of the highest attendance rates (in terms of percentage) however, they made a loss EVERY week on Spring (except closing week) due to all the discounts and comps they had to provide!

I dont think Sister Act is making a loss... yet! But at the same time, it is not making a huge profit, especially compared to the big shows like Wicked and Hairspray!

The quality of the show doesn't determine the box office success. Just look at the Broadway grosses.

The truth is that the amount of people interested in watching the show is not enough to fill those seats (which doesn't make it sound promising for a Broadway transfer).

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I'm not saying the show is the best, but the theatre is part of it, if the show could go into a 1500 seater, with the same size stage, i think it would sell out! (Which I think is about the average size on Broadway, i ma be wrong though) But we dont have them in London, we just thave the tiny 1000 seaters with the small stages, and the 2000+ seaters!

I think part of the problem with the Palladium is that the highest level (Upper dress circle? I don't know what they call it over there) is far too overpriced for what you get. When I was there it was about 30% filled. The sight lines are rough unless you are in the dead center and it is rather high. We really have no theaters like this in New York.

Blaxx - This show is massive. Set wise it makes Billy Elliot, Wicked, Phantom, you name it look small. I think it could play the Broadway or Marquis ok, but would still be considerably smaller. Also, part of the reason I liked Sister Act so much was due to the size of the sets so I can't really imagine a dramatically scaled down version.

Updated On: 11/6/09 at 07:48 PM

I honestly think with some minor book and song changes it could run a few years and be a big hit. It is a really good show. A few of the songs need to be cut or changed a bit (the one the hitmen sing at least). Patina Miller is giving a stellar performance across the pond.

Lol, yes, you made a point clear. But the show only fits a theatre that big, and it's not selling in that theatre. Therefore, the production as it is, doesn't work business -wise.

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