The Little Dog Laughed is Closing on Feb. 18 — Page 2

Would that surprise you? If the reviews are good and the schedules check out....I hear the Cort's available...

Nope, Rath was just unfocused.

But I can see THE SCENE moving.

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Question: why doesn't/didn't it move to the Helen Hayes? I don't get it. The running costs on the show can't be that high that the Hayes couldn't support it. I forget, what's going in there now that THE TWO AND ONLY left?

Solid play (not great) with an amazing performance by a female lead.

And, I fear for the future of mainstream legitimate American plays. Complete bummer...

[Correction on Jay Johnson's play, which I'd had as THE TWO OF US -- sorry -- don't type after a single malt, straight up.]

Updated On: 1/4/07 at 10:19 PM

The Hayes was booked with Bridge and Tunnel & Two and Only, besides the fact that it's an independently owned theater and LDL has Shubert backing.

The story, and it's legendary in theater circles by now, is that Julie White went up to Gerry Schoenfeld along with the lead producer to beg for a theater. He gave her the Belasco, Cort, Lyceum....and told her to pick. She chose the Cort.

Updated On: 1/4/07 at 10:27 PM

Not great choices.

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Yes, gorgeous theatres...in horrid locations.

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Location really wasn't the main problem and its marketing campaign was actually pretty good.

But either way, marketing can't save a rather slight non-musical play with no major stars, awards, or the kind of reviews that call it a "Must See" event. Tourists want to see musicals and the local audience for straight plays has been getting greyer and dying off for some time now, in addition to being turned off by being asked to pay $96.25 (just $15 less than most musicals with huge casts, sets and costumes) for a 4 actor play. LITTLE DOG is having the same fate as WELL, LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE, GEM OF THE OCEAN, and SOUVENIR, all of which had mostly very positive reviews, but had no major stars, no awards and no buzz.

For a play to succeed (financially) on Broadway, apparently you either need a major star name (Julia Roberts, Julianne Moore, Ralph Fiennes, Denzel, Nathan Lane) or a combination of rave reviews and awards and GREAT word of mouth that turns it into a "must-see event" (HISTORY BOYS had the Olivier; DOUBT had the Pulitzer).

Unfortunately, in today's Broadway climate for straight plays (and it wouldn't have worked financially to do it in commercial off-Broadway) LITTLE DOG never really had a chance.

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Updated On: 1/4/07 at 11:56 PM

While on the surface, it would seem that a play so in tune with our celebrity-obsessed/tabloid-frenzied times should have done better, at the same time there is something inherently too trite and lightweight about the subject matter to justify a $96 price tag to many potential audience members (however, it probably would have scored decent ratings as a -- free -- tv movie for HBO or something).

For the most part, light comedies and contemporary dramas no longer seem to have a place on Broadway largely due to the vast amount of quality drama and sitcoms available nightly for free (or for a nominal cable fee) on television. However, TV has never been able to consistently create new longform musicals, so audiences still seek those out in the one place that can provide that form of entertainment -- live theatre. Plus, for most audiences, if they're going to shell out hundreds of dollars for a night out, they want a certain amount of "bang" for their buck; they want spectacle and dance and costumes and a live orchestra and to have an experience bigger and more thrilling than something they can get for free in the privacy of their own home. Thus, non-musical plays (without a celebrity) are rarely at the top of their agenda on the handful of times per year that most people see a show. The era of there being a new hit Neil Simon play (or similarly sitcom-esque light entertainment) every season is long past -- it's just too expensive to pay for that sort of theatrical junk food on a regular basis when you can have basically the same experience at home watching tv.

In most seasons, only one or two non-star-driven, non-revival, non-musical offerings manage to break through and create enough of a buzz to succeed financially, and those that do typically aren't light comedies (TALE OF THE ALLERGISTS WIFE is one of the last ones that did), but more substantial, provocative works that have the air of being "important" in some way or get chatted about at cocktail parties and/or smack of an "event" that must be seen (such as DOUBT or HISTORY BOYS). LITTLE DOG never had that kind of cache and while its subject matter was timely and very much in the current cultural zeitgeist, it never got the kind of word of mouth or "must-see" status it needed in order to survive.

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its been on play-by-play lately. hopefully ill see it before it closes.

Couldn't agree more, Rath.

I haven't seen a woman completely own a stage like White since I saw Bernadette in GYPSY.

And I'm glad you like Galecki. There's no doubting he has quite a...well...BIG...talent.

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Updated On: 1/9/07 at 11:48 PM

Does anyone know if they have student rush for this show? I'd love to see it before it closes if possible.

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Get there any way you can, Cape, and anyone else who is considering it. I can't recommend it strongly enough, if only for Julie White.

Before I saw it, I thought no one could live up to the hype her performance has been getting. I was wrong. Really, really wrong.

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