Time For A Gypsy Revival — Page 3

IronMan said: "joevitus said: "I'll never understand why Andrea McArdle has never been cast in a revival."

Because Andrea still has a wonderful voice, but she has never had strong acting chops. She couldn't pull it off."

Sadly this might be right.

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Had a dream Jane Krakowski headlined a revival and now I can’t get it out of my head "

Jane or Kristin could be very interesting in the role, a more youthful sexy take on it while still being age appropriate

Phantom of London said: "Like it or not and dare I say it Stephen Sondheim is great but niche and needs big name for it to fly.

Looking at the past 4 Broadway productions, they all have something in common and that is they all played a large theatre (Shubert, Broadway, Winter Garden, Marquis, Imperial & St James) this may have affected the length of its run. When Imelda Staunton recently performed Rose in the West End it wasn't it a large theatre, but in a 1000 seat house and the production was all the better for it, it made the show more intimate and it worked. So would suggest going in one of the Broadway Playhouses, such as the Jocobs or Barrymore etc.

I would also have the artist portraying Rose just do it for 3 months, then another 'name' taking the role over, so what I am trying to say someone like Audra McDonald kick it off then someone like Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara etc take the role over, then when a new actress takes the role over it gets re-reviewed by the New York Times, you can get Patti Lupone and Bernadette Peters reprise their roles for 3 months. However would a known actress take over a role, if they cannot win a Tony?"



I have always been under the impression that it is dramatically cheaper to open a show in London than in NY. I do not know if 'dramatically' still applies, as it did in the past, but I do know that it is still a lot cheaper. Shows are also cheaper to run in London. So they have a lower upfront investment and a lower operating nut. That means that they can return their investment sooner. So, I really don't think the analogy works.

The other issue with a much revived show opening in a smaller theatre: premium pricing. Some shows that have opened in smaller theatres, e.g., BOM, DEH come to mind immediately, have been very expensive to see (because they could be) and had a lot of premium seats; this 'deadly combination for ticket purchasers' allowed them to achieve grosses one would typically associate with a bigger theatre. I just don't see another revival of Gypsy commanding those types of prices, which makes it almost impossible to return its investment.

Finally, I agree with your last point. I'd add one...how many famous people are going to be willing to take an iconic role with such a low bar for critical failure. And constant comparison to predecessors. I don't see it, and I am not sure how many people are up to the challenges of Rose, are right for it, and would sell tickets. (I have to say that I think Kelli O'Hara would be terrible as Rose).

There have been shows that have relied on replacement stars in the past; however, in most cases, continued success was rare. Even with the original production of Hello Dolly, I believe that -- were it not specifically for Pearl Bailey -- HD would have have had a much shorter run. Martha Raye, her predecessor, died at the box office, as did Phyllis Diller, her successor.

So, best to wait at least another 7 - 10 years to me.

I believe Bernadette's Gypsy lost about half of the $8 million investment according to the NYtimes.

wiggum2 said: "Jarethan said: "To Bear88: The Lansbury production only made money from touring. I’d did great in its first 10 weeks, but did badly in the extension, I assume because they extended too late. I remember reading that the Daly one made a very small profit, don’t know about the BP one, and the Lupone lost money, partially because of the recession, partially because it was too soon.

To Henrik: QL and J.Lo are so off the wall they might work at the box office (previously I chartered audience). IMO Allison Janney and Toni Colette would not sell tickets. Menzel would probably sell well for while, but long enough to return the investment???

Toni Collette must have been incredible in The Wild Party, given the way her name comes up so frequently to lead big musicals. Having never seen her in one, I am always surprised. Did you see The Wild Party? Is that the reason you suggested her. I know she is an excellent actress who takes chances, but never having seen her sing, I can’t visualize it."

I do like Toni in the Wild Party tony performance!

Also I think I read that the Tyne version would have made a profit but didn’t it change theatres and then didn’t last too long to make back the moving expenses? It’s interesting to me that the Tyne production is the only one to have a replacement Rose
"

So, between your comments and Qolbinau's, we have learned that three of the four productions lost money and the fourth (Lansbury) only made a little bit of money because of touring. That production only ran 15 weeks on Broadway, back in the days when revival were few and far between. so it NEVER could have broken even from that.

Makes it pretty hard to justify a revival anytime soon, with a big '...unless', which I can not conceive at present.

The only way I see another production happening is if it was made expecting to lose a profit and is a "vanity" project funded by those who "need" to see a specific actress play Rose. There is a lot of passion behind this show (at least within a certain generation) and so long as this show has that, it has a better chance of a revival than most shows.

Jarethan said: "To Bear88: The Lansbury production only made money from touring. I’d did great in its first 10 weeks, but did badly in the extension, I assume because they extended too late. I remember reading that the Daly one made a very small profit, don’t know about the BP one, and the Lupone lost money, partially because of the recession, partially because it was too soon.

To Henrik: QL and J.Lo are so off the wall they might work at the box office (previously I chartered audience). IMO Allison Janney and Toni Colette would not sell tickets. Menzel would probably sell well for while, but long enough to return the investment???

Toni Collette must have been incredible in The Wild Party, given the way her name comes up so frequently to lead big musicals. Having never seen her in one, I am always surprised. Did you see The Wild Party? Is that the reason you suggested her. I know she is an excellent actress who takes chances, but never having seen her sing, I can’t visualize it."

Hi, Jarethan

i did see TC in TWP. She was very good. But I'm generally a fan.

By the way, I have many friends who are borderline obsessed with her talent. And I've seen her lionized in interviews by colleagues (Brie Larson, Kate Winslet, Sutton Foster), I share their awe of her. She's an actor's actor playing the long game - in this sense kind of like her Way Way Back costar Sam Rockwell. I have the sense her stock has been rising since her phenomenally courageous performance in Hereditary.

I would love to see her in a big musical again.

Updated On: 9/11/20 at 05:07 PM

What crack are you smoking? We've seen more than enough Gypsy revivals.

I did say earlier an issue is that Gypsy dis play very large musical houses, this is exactly what musicals did then, I stand by my point if it did play a large play house, it would have more chance returning its investment, like A Little Night Music did at the Walter Kerr. Also if the lead actress is refreshed then the midtown crowd would return again.

Getting 1,400 to 1,600 a night to see a Sondheim musical is a massive ask.