So if/ then never recouped?
#2
Posted: 5/16/17 at 5:41pm
Nope. Most shows never do. It's newsworthy when one does.
#BoycottTrumplikePattiMurin
#3
Posted: 5/16/17 at 5:58pm
What about the tour?
My father (AIDS)
My sister (AIDS)
My uncle and my cousin and her best friend (AIDS, AIDS, AIDS)
The gays and the straights
And the white and the spades
#4
Posted: 5/16/17 at 5:59pm
But happy that a musical about a gay dad and his lesbian daughter recouped on Broadway and on the road!!!
#5
Posted: 5/17/17 at 12:54am
RippedMan said: "But happy that a musical about a gay dad and his lesbian daughter recouped on Broadway and on the road!!!"
not just that, but it was the ONLY musical that recouped during the 2015-2016 season. Funny how everyone said that Fun Home will not win the tony because of how difficult it would be to promote and sell the show on tour, thus will not get the out of town voters. Now after only 8 months it has recouped. Ha!
#6
Posted: 5/17/17 at 1:00am
Glad it was a hit! I don't see it being done regionally, but I hope it concurs London.
#7
Posted: 5/17/17 at 2:58am
The likelihood of If/Then ever hitting London in anything other than a tiny Southwark Playhouse-esque production is slim to none; maybe it'll get to The Other Palace or something like that, but I can't see anything else ever happening. We'd be more likely to get someone doing a musical adaptation of Sliding Doors instead.
#9
Posted: 5/17/17 at 4:02am
Does the show work without Idina?
Give me claws and a hunch, just away from this bunch.
#11
Posted: 5/17/17 at 6:28am
I finally saw Sliding Doors this year and thought it was brilliant compared to If/Then.
I do feel compelled to applaud Mr. Grief for continuing to get new, original stories to the stage. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, but I'd rather get this than another soulless movie adaptation.
#12
Posted: 5/17/17 at 7:02am
Markie27 said: "RippedMan said: "But happy that a musical about a gay dad and his lesbian daughter recouped on Broadway and on the road!!!"
not just that, but it was the ONLY musical that recouped during the 2015-2016 season. Funny how everyone said that Fun Home will not win the tony because of how difficult it would be to promote and sell the show on tour, thus will not get the out of town voters. Now after only 8 months it has recouped. Ha!
I don't recall anyone saying that except perhaps After Eight. Fun Home was the heavy favorite that year and most people fully expected it to win the Tony.
#13
Posted: 5/17/17 at 7:05am
I believe Fun Home will be at the Young Vic Theatre in London. For those not familiar with it, though off-West End it is one of the highest regarded of smaller venues. Size-wise it's not a million miles of the Circle in the Square.
No sign of If/Then in London- but of course we never got Next to Normal either.
Sometimes the intransigence of producers, who won't stage the show in releasing titles to producers who will, astonishes me
#14
Posted: 5/17/17 at 8:33am
The show works without Idina, but the flaws show themselves a bit more.
I'm sure the tour did very well when Idina did it on the west coast, but I doubt it recouped with Jackie Burns (who is excellent).
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
#15
Posted: 5/17/17 at 8:55am
DeNada said: "The likelihood of If/Then ever hitting London in anything other than a tiny Southwark Playhouse-esque production is slim to none; maybe it'll get to The Other Palace or something like that, but I can't see anything else ever happening. We'd be more likely to get someone doing a musical adaptation of Sliding Doors instead."
Not a bad bet. Southwark seems to have supplanted the Union in smaller stagings of "big" musical! Although Charing Cross would be a good venue for If/Then.
#16
Posted: 5/17/17 at 10:00am
If/Then was the worst kind of bad musical- an unmemorable one. Better to flop big and flop hard with audacity than sputter out with a shrug.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#17
Posted: 5/17/17 at 10:19am
I think the show can work. I hope Brian Yorkey continues to tinker with it going forward. Give me an ambitious, imperfect musical over stale movie adaptions and cliched jukebox musicals any day.
I still think it's a travesty BEAUTIFUL was nominated for Best Musical (And Best Book?!? Ugh) over IF/THEN.
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
#18
Posted: 5/17/17 at 10:26am
Beautiful is a better constructed and ultimately more successful piece of theatre than If/Then- and this is coming from someone who thinks Beautiful has a lousy book. But it's focused, tonally consistent, and knows what it needs to be.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#19
Posted: 5/17/17 at 10:35am
Kad said: "Beautiful is a better constructed and ultimately more successful piece of theatre than If/Then- and this is coming from someone who thinks Beautiful has a lousy book. But it's focused, tonally consistent, and knows what it needs to be."
Totally disagree. Considering Act 1 is 90 minutes of the same scene over and over and over and over again with the same 2 jokes, but with a different Motown song shoe-horned in. At least at the end of IF/THEN, I understood the point. I get what the writers were trying to say. At the end of BEAUTIFUL, I knew nothing more about her life than I did when I walked in. She wrote a bunch of famous songs and her husband had issues. I'd rather have seen Jessie Mueller do a tribute concert a la A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
#20
Posted: 5/17/17 at 10:54am
I still think it's a travesty BEAUTIFUL was nominated for Best Musical (And Best Book?!? Ugh) over IF/THEN.
Beautiful had the edge by having memorable tunes and while its book was rather simple, it was much more coherent than If/Then. If/Then had a great cast and a great design. The score was pretty bland and unmemorable and the book was a confusing mess. At least we had the glasses and lighting color change to clue us in to which story we were following. Unfortunately, neither story was particularly compelling.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Updated On: 5/17/17 at 10:54 AM
#21
Posted: 5/17/17 at 11:32am
While I loved If/Then, I really can't see if being successful overseas. As a non-American, there were just too many references that I didn't get and without an audience of American reactions to provide context (if that makes sense) it would be even worse. A few times it was a case of 'oh, they're all laughing that he's from Nebraska, that must be funny'. I'm sure some small theatre companies will do it in the UK and here in Australia, but I definitely don't see a major mounting of it anytime soon or ever.
#22
Posted: 5/17/17 at 2:07pm
Mister Matt said: "I still think it's a travesty BEAUTIFUL was nominated for Best Musical (And Best Book?!? Ugh) over IF/THEN.
Beautiful had the edge by having memorable tunes and while its book was rather simple, it was much more coherent than If/Then. If/Then had a great cast and a great design. The score was pretty bland and unmemorable and the book was a confusing mess. At least we had the glasses and lighting color change to clue us in to which story we were following. Unfortunately, neither story was particularly compelling."
Of course. The songs from BEAUTIFUL are some of the best ever written. I did not find the book coherent. I found it bland and repetitive.
I am by no means saying IF/THEN is a perfect musical. I fully admit to problems with some of the score ("You Don't Need to Love Me"; "You Never Know" ) but I think "This Day/Walking By A Wedding," "Here I Go," "No More Wasted Time," "Love While You Can," "Learn to Live Without," and "Always Starting Over" are wonderfully written songs. The book definitely has problematic spots. I definitely think don't it's as confusing as people say it is. Both stories track pretty consistently through the same relative arc, and it has the distinction of being 100% original and unique.
I say all of this with the full knowledge that when something is unique, ambitious, and wholly original, I am much more willing to forgive its flaws than with a show that has a built-in successful history. I hold a GROUNDHOG DAY to a higher standard than I do a DEAR EVAN HANSEN. Give me IF/THEN and all its flaws over LEGALLY BLONDE and SISTER ACT any day of the week.
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
Updated On: 5/17/17 at 02:07 PM
#23
Posted: 5/19/17 at 12:51pm
I say all of this with the full knowledge that when something is unique, ambitious, and wholly original, I am much more willing to forgive its flaws than with a show that has a built-in successful history.
Ah...well...that's too bad. Having an original book doesn't give a show an edge for me. Especially when the original story is less interesting and the show is less entertaining that one with an adapted book or even a jukebox score. You place more importance on the means, whereas I'm all about the end product. For example, I loved Legally Blonde because I found it quite entertaining in the vein of a classic musical comedy. If/Then had an original book (though I've seen the concept of it's story before), but I've mostly forgotten the show and only listened to the cast recording a couple of times since I saw it. It's originality had no effect on my enjoyment, just like countless other "original" musicals that have failed in the past...In My Life, Brooklyn, The Story of My Life, Glory Days, etc. Hell, I'd rate Mamma Mia over any of those.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#24
Posted: 5/19/17 at 12:58pm
Mister Matt said: "I say all of this with the full knowledge that when something is unique, ambitious, and wholly original, I am much more willing to forgive its flaws than with a show that has a built-in successful history.
Ah...well...that's too bad. Having an original book doesn't give a show an edge for me. Especially when the original story is less interesting and the show is less entertaining that one with an adapted book or even a jukebox score. You place more importance on the means, whereas I'm all about the end product. For example, I loved Legally Blonde because I found it quite entertaining in the vein of a classic musical comedy. If/Then had an original book (though I've seen the concept of it's story before), but I've mostly forgotten the show and only listened to the cast recording a couple of times since I saw it. It's originality had no effect on my enjoyment, just like countless other "original" musicals that have failed in the past...In My Life, Brooklyn, The Story of My Life, Glory Days, etc. Hell, I'd rate Mamma Mia over any of those."
It's not always the case, but I find original stories more interesting that adaptations. The unknown tends to excite me. Granted, it's not full-proof. I totally agree with you on GLORY DAYS and BROOKLYN. Those were not exciting to me at all, but then neither was LEGALLY BLONDE or GROUNDHOG DAY. I enjoyed both. They weren't bad experiences in the same vein BROOKLYN was. But I did find IF/THEN much more interesting and compelling. Obviously, I'm in the minority, which happens regularly lol
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
Updated On: 5/19/17 at 12:58 PM
#25
Posted: 5/19/17 at 2:09pm
Beautiful 's book, in addition to being simpleminded and repetitive, was riddled with historical inaccuracies. very bothersome to anyone who knows even an iota about that era in pop music. Just one example-in the second act, she gets up to sing in a club in the Village and announces she's going to play a song she just wrote-"It's Too Late". She cowrote it with Toni Stern, who's unmentioned. No reason to distort facts just to entertain.
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