ljay889 said: "Great show, poor choice of theater. "
My thoughts exactly.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
Sad this didn’t catch on. I saw the tryout in Chicago. I thought the score was a mixed bag, but the performances were top-notch and the book the funniest since Book of Mormon. Congrats to all involved!
Not having seen it, why does the choice of theater play such a big role? Is it too big a house for the sized audience the show attracts (would it have done better off-Broadway)? Or is it something else? Thanks in advance.
The musical is very different from the movie. I enjoyed the show, but its big weakness was its slow start. I really only enjoyed the show when Dorothy was on stage. The supporting roles were very forgettable.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
Not surprising. At least now the speculation can end.
I don't think any show has benefited from an April premier in recent years as much as this one, but it was able to use Tony season excitement to get a near 300 show run that... it probably just wouldn't have had otherwise.
joevitus said: "Not having seen it, why does the choice of theater play such a big role? Is it too big a house for the sized audience the show attracts (would it have done better off-Broadway)? Or is it something else? Thanks in advance."
Basically yes, it’s playing at way too big a theater. If it was somewhere smaller and able to get the grosses it has had it might have been fine to run a while longer, but even making close to a million dollars some weeks, it was still far below gross potential and having to discount tickets steeply to try to fill the house.
I saw Tootsie and On Your Feet in this theater and while I loved both show, they seemed a little different because the theater seems so modern. It’s an extension of the hotel so it somehow feels less special to me than the other more “Broadway” theaters. I know that sounds crazy but it seems like a “step” theater, like the shows were not good enough to be in the older more Broadway theaters. I know that is crazy and unfair but the Marquis seems like a theater for less popular shows.
the size of the theatre is a nonsense explanation for the flop, the sort of thing that makes people who like the show feel better but nothing else. The only time that house size has more than a miniscule effect is when it has an effect on supply and demand. Clearly, that was not the case here. So what we are left with is the extremely marginal cost differential (much of which is avoidable or waivable all other things being equal) for things like house staff and utilities. This show did not fail because of anything ConEd did. It failed for the classic reason: people did not want to pay to see it.
Regardless of anyone's personal opinion of the Marquis, it has been home to several long runs including Me and My Girl, Damn Yankees!, and Victor/Victoria. I'm wondering if word of mouth helped to hasten Tootsie's demise.
Back in June, I fell for Tonys' hype & paid full price for a mezz seat on the matinee Dec 26. Any suggestions what I can do to possibly upgrade that seat?
Edit: looks like all current discounts only extend until Dec 18
The performers were wonderful but I think they were sunk by bad sitcom jokes and mediocre songs. My partner and I laughed once or twice. The rest...well, we couldn’t wait for it to be over.