If shows shifted their weekday matinee around, they could market to those of us who try fitting as many shows into as little time possible. Not that there's a great deal of money to make, but I can't imagine they'd lose any money from shifting their Wednesday matinee to a Monday matinee or a Friday matinee.
I wish them well, but it is NOT a good idea. In the summer, people are leaving the city on Fridays. Wednesday matinees in the summer are for kids and tourists. It's too hot for the old folks, and this is not a show for the older crowd anyway. This would be a better idea for the fall/winter months, when Wednesday matiness generally sell poorly. On the plus side, they will be the only game in town for a Friday matinee, but unless they advertise it heavily, no one will think to look for it.
A 7:00 and 10:00 PM performance schedule for a Broadway show is an impossibility. First off: most shows are two to two hours and 30 minutes. So if they started at 7:00 PM, they'd finish the first show at 9:30 and then need to turn it around to perform again within 30 minutes. Not possible plus Equity requires a certain amount of time between performance, not to mention what it would take to reset the running order of the sets, props, costumes, etc. for the second performance.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
I love the idea. It gives me an extra slot when I try to cram as many shows as I can in a few days! LOVE IT!!! I hope it takes off.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
As an actor who has worked on several different variations of the Equity 8 show week, I will say that in my opinion the Friday matinee would be tough!
The 5 show weekend it tough enough. With a Friday matinee it would be like the "current" 5 show weekend with an extra matinee following. That seems crazy.
I am sure there are some actors who have different preferences, but I definitely like the shows spread out more during the week, not having them all clumped together toward the weekend.