The Piano Lesson - Broadway 2022- Page 2

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/29/22 at 2:25pm

fashionguru_23 said: "It will be interestin if they will use the whol auditorium. Seems like a large house for the show"

I suspect they would LIKE to sell all seats without closing off the balcony, considering the star power here. But 1,710 seats are still a lot to fill, and sometimes plays can benefit from a smaller house which means tighter ticket. If we're being realistic, Sam Jackson is the one leading the ticket sales here. This thing probably doesn't go without a star of his calibre.

Did they close the balcony at the St. James for Kevin Kline's PRIVATE LIVES in that house a few years ago?

[bdn223]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:05pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "fashionguru_23 said: "It will be interestin if they will use the whol auditorium. Seems like a large house for the show"

I suspect they would LIKE to sell all seats without closing off the balcony, considering the star power here. But1,710 seats are still a lot to fill, and sometimes plays can benefit from a smaller house which means tighter ticket. If we're being realistic, Sam Jackson is the one leading the ticket sales here. This thing probably doesn't go without a star of his calibre.

Did they close the balcony at the St. James for Kevin Kline's PRIVATE LIVES in that house a few years ago?"

The St James is still one of the largest theaters on Broadway. Of the past 45 productions that have played there at the St. James in the past 50 years on Broadway only 5 have been plays. The two most recent of which were 2009 Desire Under the Elms revival and the 2017's Present Laughter revival staring Kevin Kline.  The former quickly closed after 32 performances, and the later while not a massive flop still did not recoup its investment, playing to only about 80% capacity. I am not saying a play cannot be successful at the St James, its just by playing in such a big house opens the production to a lot "this isn't doing well speculation." 

 

The Piano Lesson is simply not a big play that could have a production big enough to fill the St. James sightline wise. I know Samuel L Jackson is a big name, but still I would think producers would rather sell out a smaller house and charge outrageous prices for premium tickets, than struggle to sell out the barn of the St. James. Due to this I honestly wonder if this was their first choice of theater or they were forced to take the St. James as the Broadhurst, Hudson, Longacre, Golden, and Booth are all supposedly vacant this fall. The only thing I can think of is maybe they will be doing an initiate to either give away or only have students pay $10 for tickets in the balcony. Maybe someone else can shed light on this, but it just doesn't make sense that such a small play would play in one of the largest houses on Broadway if there wasn't some extenuating circumstances. 

[troynow]

Posted: 3/31/22 at 11:36am

No the balcony was not closed. In fact it was open for certain days of the week. Which sounds like the same will be true of this producer. Also important to note, that Present Laughter with Kevin Kline did actually recoup its investment.

Also important to note, is that while the Kevin was doing so well he extended twice in the show. So this can truly be done. 

[Lumiere2]

Posted: 3/31/22 at 12:16pm

Several recent shows at the St. James have also done a version where the third floor balcony is closed Tuesday to Thursday, then it's open for Friday to Sunday. Frozen, Present Laughter and Something Rotten! all did this at some point in their runs.

That means there's four performances each week both with and without the added seats. It's possible Piano Lesson could do this too based on demand.

[whoiam13132]

Posted: 3/31/22 at 12:55pm

troynow said: "No the balcony was not closed. In fact it was open for certain days of the week. Which sounds like the same will be true of this producer. Also important to note, that Present Laughter with Kevin Kline did actually recoup its investment.

Also important to note, is that while the Kevin was doing so well he extended twice in the show. So this can truly be done."

As someone who works at the James, I just wanted to chime in and point out that part of this is actually incorrect, the balcony was in fact closed for the entire run of Present Laughter. It was decided before the run began, and rent was adjusted accordingly. They didn't have the option to open it because they made that decision. 

Updated On: 3/31/22 at 12:55 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/31/22 at 2:00pm

As for "why" the St. James:

– it could be that the producers wanted to work with Jujamcyn, which has a long relationship with the work of August Wilson. The St. James is Jujamcyn's only open venue right now.

– Jujamcyn could be investing $X as a co-producer.

– They might believe –– perhaps foolishly, perhaps correctly –– that this combo of actors could fill the house, as we've seen from some other profitable, starry plays that were in large venues (Mockingbird with Jeff Daniels at the Shubert, All The Way with Bryan Cranston at the Neil Simon, etc). With the balcony closed, the St. James has about 1400 seats. Or they have grand plans to comp/discount a bunch of seats to Black audiences.

Updated On: 3/31/22 at 02:00 PM

[Harriet Craig]

Posted: 4/30/22 at 10:25am

Amex presale is available now, tickets go on sale to the general public on May 4 at 10 am. The ad in Sunday’s New York Times directs you to pianolessonplay.com, and the “Get tickets” button on that website directs you to SeatGeek, which appears to be the only site where tickets are being sold. I haven’t used SeatGeek before, and am finding it somewhat difficult to navigate. Any tips?

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/30/22 at 10:37am

Tickets don't go on sale to the general public until May 13. The Audience Rewards presale begins on May 4, with a fan presale starting on May 9.

As far as SeatGeek is concerned, you can't select seats from the seating chart on the app, so using the full site is the way to go, then zoom in on the seating chart to see individual seats.

https://seatgeek.com/august-wilson-s-the-piano-lesson-tickets?active_event_view=calendar

[Harriet Craig]

Posted: 4/30/22 at 11:06am

Thanks for the correction about dates, and the explanation about zooming in on the seating chart.  Damn shame tickets aren’t being sold through Telecharge, because my “spend $100 on Telecharge, get $25 off” Amex offer expires tomorrow.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/30/22 at 11:33am

I'm looking forward to seeing this play. I taught it a few times in my career but never felt I did a good job putting this one over the way I was able to do with other works. I don't think I ever "got" the play--possibly due to feeble stage directions in the printed text.

[kade.ivy]

Posted: 7/10/22 at 4:43pm

Anyone know if the St. James box office is selling tickets to this yet? Will be there next weekend for ITW and would love to save on some fees if possible. Thanks!

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/11/22 at 9:26am

A magnificent play with a magnificent cast. 

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 5:06pm

Kicked out of the St. James, and moving to the Barrymore?

https://nypost.com/2022/07/13/samuel-l-jacksons-broadway-play-the-piano-lesson-gets-shafted

Updated On: 7/13/22 at 05:06 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 5:08pm

Oh SH*T! I wanted Into The Woods to extend so I'm not mad but yikes for everyone involved. 

[Voter]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 9:06pm

kade.ivy said: "Anyone know if the St. James box office is selling tickets to this yet? Will be there next weekend for ITW and would love to save on some fees if possible. Thanks!"

I went to see the first preview (June 28) of Into The Woods and the box office is selling Piano Lesson tickets. I got a ticket for November.

 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 9:28pm

Huh. If true, it's a real shame that they'd have to re-build the set. I wonder if Jujamcyn would be responsible for footing that bill. What's the protocol there? They presumably signed a contract, and it's not like Piano Lesson even had the chance to fall below a stop clause. And the for a limited run like Piano Piano lesson, I wonder if changes like this (having to rebuild the set, and playing a smaller house) could mean the difference between recouping, and not.

If so, could Jujamcyn be liable? Or do they sign away all liability as the landlords by having absolute final say about what does or doesn't go into their theatres?

Anyway, speaking as a future audience member for the production, I much prefer the Barrymore over the St. James, and glad I won't have to deal with f*cking SeatGeek.

Updated On: 7/13/22 at 09:28 PM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 9:37pm

Yes! No SeatGeek! Looking forward to seeing this at the Barrymore.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 9:47pm

JBroadway said: "I wonder if Jujamcyn would be responsible for footing that bill. What's the protocol there? They presumably signed a contract, and it's not like Piano Lesson even had the chance to fall below a stop clause. And the for a limited run like Piano Piano lesson, I wonder if changes like this (having to rebuild the set, and playing a smaller house) could mean the difference between recouping, and not.

If so, could Jujamcyn be liable? Or do they sign away all liability as the landlords by having absolute final say about what does or doesn't go into their theatres?"

All good questions. Legally, would of course depend on what the contract says, but assuming competent lawyers drafted it, I'm sure (if any of this is true) that Jujamcyn would be weighing the benefits of ITW at the St James vs the costs of backing out of Piano Lesson. Can't imagine a scenario where The Piano Lesson (even on a pure estoppel theory, contract terms aside) wouldn't have a right to damages caused by this late switcheroo. 

That said, the Barrymore makes so much more sense for this show, and if Jujamcyn is making $$ from ITW (with another production coming in in the Spring), it seems like a win-win for everyone. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 9:57pm

In the Into the Woods thread, troynow, who tends to be right about these things, says the move was discussed but isn't happening. So maybe don't count on it just yet...

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1153514&page=10

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 2:55pm

I purchased tickets for Piano Lesson in mid-October via Seat Geek.  Have not heard yet re transferring dale from Seat Geek / St. James to Telecharge / Barrymore.  Hope they take the consumer into consideration when doing this.

[hollebolle]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 3:05pm

Lumiere2 said: "Several recent shows at the St. James have also done a version where the third floor balcony is closed Tuesday to Thursday, then it's open for Friday to Sunday. Frozen, Present Laughter and Something Rotten! all did this at some point in their runs."

Now that tickets are on sale, this appears to be the case--balcony is closed Tuesday through Thursday. 

Agreed that moving feels like it would be a win-win scenario. 

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 3:24pm

I'm sure they'd like to extend Into The Woods, but doubt those stars would commit to anything much longer. 

[jagman1062]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 4:13pm

Jarethan said: "I purchased tickets for Piano Lesson in mid-October via Seat Geek. Have not heard yet re transferring dale from Seat Geek / St. James to Telecharge / Barrymore. Hope they take the consumer into consideration when doing this."

Likewise, I have a ticket for October 10, and no notification of a new theater. When a show scheduled to play at a Shubert house is transferred to another Shubert house, I usually hear from Telecharge immediately.  I don't know how it works with SeatGeek. Unlike others who complain about SeatGeek, I've not had a problem with them. I just looked at my ticket on the app and it still says St. James Theater. Of course, I can't remember the last time a show was transferred from one theater owned by a production company to another theater operated by a different prodcution company. I guess we just have to wait and see. 

 

Updated On: 7/14/22 at 04:13 PM

[troynow]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 5:12pm

Well, my info has changed. There will be a move. And while it was leaked in a very unkind way, I hear they there is quite the price tag attached. A major win for team Piano Lesson. 

Updated On: 7/18/22 at 05:12 PM

[Voter]

Posted: 7/26/22 at 10:39am

THE PIANO LESSON has announced that it will now play at the Barrymore Theatre, instead of the St. James Theatre.

Just got an email from Telecharge about my tickets being transferred