The Theatres They Didn’t Get

Recently I remember Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was a hot commodity for theatre owners

https://nypost.com/2016/10/13/broadway-theater-owners-all-want-the-harry-potter-play/

Originally Next to Normal was supposed to go to the Longacre, but according to David Stone. "When the Booth Theatre became available... we knew it was the right space for Next to Normal"

>I remember Rebecca wanted the broadhurst but never got it.... I think it had commitment issues and got cold feet.<

The Rebecca story is far too complicated for me to delve into, but they had the Broadhurst.

Phantom of London said: "Iam thinking of successful shows, when the 3 big theatre owners bid for a show.

Take Broadway’s longest running show, The Phantom of the Opera, obviously the Shuberts were successful in the Majestic. This didn’t stop the Nederlanders offering the Minskoff, this got struck down very quickly, however Jujamcyn offered the Al Hirshfeld rent free until they recouped. Cameron Mackintosh wanted the Al Hirshfeld. However the Shuberts pitched on the extra seats in the Majestic and how this will make a different to the weekly nut,this swayed Andrew Lloyd Webber (the one smart producing decision he has made.)

So what other theatres have been offered but politely turned down?"

I re-visit this NY Times article from March 1987 quite often because I love the history of the New York production of Phantom:

https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/20/theater/shubert-signs-phantom-of-the-opera.html?smid=url-share

It was between the Hirschfeld, the Majestic, and the Hellinger for Phantom. The Hirschfeld seemed like it was going to be the winner because it was most similar to Her Majesty's in London. One thing I always wonder about that is the giant pendulum-looking thing in the ceiling of the Hirschfeld. Would that have been removed if Phantom moved in? I think the look of the theater is all wrong for Phantom anyway.

The Hellinger was favored because it had 400 more seats, but that was about the only thing it had going for it.

The Majestic, believe it or not, was pretty much a non-starter because the show simply could not fit inside the theater and because so many rows in the back of the orchestra did not have a view of the chandelier. So the Majestic was pretty much ruled out.

But then, the Shuberts offered to pay mega bucks to dynamite the heck out of the stage so there would be room for the candleabras, among other things, to rise out of the stage. That, coupled with the 400 extra seats, sealed the deal for the Majestic.

Also interesting that the show as due to start in November 1987 but did start until late January 1988. With the amount of construction needed, that is understandable.

Thanks for that enjoyed reading both NY Times articles.

The Mark Hellinger Theatre got sold by the Nederlander Organisation, as in the eighties all the big shows were going to the Shuberts, at the that time the Nederlanders were in trouble, now they’re the most successful operator on Broadway, so hindsight says they made a mistake. A legendary theatre that is lost for years to come.

Im Michael Riedel’s first book Razzle Dazzle he says that Phantom was earmarked for the Minskoff, albeit Michael Crawford did appear there, not in the Mark though but in the mega flop ‘Dance of The Vampires.’