UPDATE: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG Moves Closing Date from Aug. 26 to Jan. 6- Page 2

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:00pm

https://broadway.news/2018/07/11/the-play-that-goes-wrong-will-no-longer-close-in-august/

[Elegance101]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:02pm

Seems a little weird, but good for them! Such a wonderful show.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:10pm

This doesn't seem to happen very often so good for them! The show is so funny.

[Kitsune]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:14pm

I'm glad to hear this. It's a very charming show, and I'm really happy that it'll have an even longer run on Broadway.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:20pm

I'm happy this show is extending as well. I went with a friend without really knowing anything about it and I honestly wasn't in the mood for a play full of slapstick comedy, but it was one of the highlights of my season. I loved every moment of it.

[Gink]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:24pm

So happy to hear! This was the most fun my family has had on Broadway--will be getting tickets to see the new cast.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:28pm

I would guess two reasons for the extension, 1.) It's close to recouping & 2.) Nothing new is looking to book the Lyceum this Fall.

Very happy for this show.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:37pm

Given the play's title, giving an initially incorrect closing date seems appropriate. 

[JennH]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:41pm

Extending hardly ever happens. Extending TWICE happens even less...and this all happened to a PLAY rather than musical...congrats to them!!

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 1:42pm

Good for them! Such a funny show.

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 2:20pm

If I had to bet the August closing was an agreement between the producers and the Shubert Organization as grosses were waning on a show that been riding the edge of profitability each week for most of its run, and the was an assumption that something else was in the pipeline to open at the Lyceum come Fall. 

If I had to put my finger on it the unexpectedly early announcement of A Bronx Tales closure for August 5th, on June 27th, when most expected it to close up shop in January, aided in the decision to extend The Play that Goes Wrongs to January. The Lyceum and the Longacre are relatively the same size, but the Longacre is the much more desirable theater of the two due to its location and larger orchestra seating. 

Part of me also wonders is if the Tour is selling well enough to justify paying building a second set to tour with, as it has been reported numerous times that the Broadway set was going to be taken on the road.

Congrats to all involved though. For a show with a with no stars, no brand association, no awards, and is a straight play, its been able to defy the offs and run for 22 months, and will hopefully turn a profit!!

[BritCrit]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 5:32pm

I’m going to be honest and say that I am not keen on the desicion to extend the run by a full six months...

I have no grudge against ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’. It is high on my to-see list in the West End, and I have really enjoyed their TV work (such as ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’. However, as someone who wants to see as many new and exciting projects on Broadway as possible, the last-minute extension annoys me on principle. The Lyceum could have easily put an interesting new play or musical on inside those extra six months. In fact, it would have been great if they had replaced ‘The Play that Goes Wrong’ with ‘A Comedy About A Bank Robbery’, the other Mischief Theatre hit from the West End...

However, in my opinion, extending the run of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ into 2019 shows that the Lyceum Theatre is averse to taking risks and unwilling to bring in an exciting new project. Given the growing complaints about the lack of new and innovative material on Broadway, it feels wrong to place so much focus on extending the run of an already successful play...

Updated On: 7/11/18 at 05:32 PM

[JSquared2]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 5:36pm

BritCrit said: "I’m going to be honest and say that I am not keen on the desicion to extend the run by a full six months...

I have no grudge against ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’. It is high on my to-see list in the West End,and I have really enjoyed their TV work (such as ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’. However, as someone who wants to see as many new and exciting projects on Broadway as possible, the last-minute extension annoys me on principle. The Lyceum could have easily put an interesting new play or musical on inside those extra six months. In fact, it would have been great if they had replaced ‘The Play that Goes Wrong’ with ‘A Comedy About A Bank Robbery’, the other Mischief Theatre hit from the West End...

However, in my opinion, extending the run of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ into 2019 shows that the Lyceum Theatre is averse to taking risks and unwilling to bring in an exciting new project. Given the growing complaints about the lack of new and innovative material on Broadway, it feels wrong to place so much focus on extending the run of an already successful play..."

 

You don't understand how Broadway works, do you?

[BritCrit]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 5:53pm

JSquared2 said: "You don't understand how Broadway works, do you?"

I accept that Broadway is dominated by big brands and long runners (and so is the West End for that matter!) but I also believe that we need greater diversity and more new productions. The desicion to extend the run of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ at the eleventh hour is a pretty frustrating indication that the owners of the Lyceum Theatre have no interest in providing new productions. What if a potential Tony winning masterpiece missed out on a Broadway stage as a result of this extension?

If I owned a Broadway theatre, I would put plays and musicals in a constantly rotating repertory (similar to the National Theatre). That way, we could enjoy mainstays like ‘Chicago’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’ for four months of each year, whilst also getting a variety of new and innovative productions or classic revivals for the rest of the year...

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 5:58pm

I'm sure if they had a viable tenent, they'd had kept PLAY to its closing date in August.  

[Dolly80]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 6:51pm

BritCrit said: "JSquared2 said: "You don't understand how Broadway works, do you?"

I accept that Broadway is dominated by big brands and long runners (and so is the West End for that matter!)but I also believe that we need greater diversity and more new productions. The desicion to extend the run of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ at the eleventh hour is a pretty frustrating indication that the owners of the Lyceum Theatre have no interest in providing new productions. What if a potential Tony winning masterpiecemissed out on a Broadway stage as a result of this extension?

If I owned a Broadwaytheatre, I would put plays and musicals in a constantly rotating repertory (similar to the National Theatre). That way, we could enjoy mainstays like ‘Chicago’and ‘Phantom of the Opera’ for four months of each year, whilst also getting a variety of new and innovative productions or classic revivals for the rest of the year..."

 

 

This shows you you have no clue. For a start you don’t seem to get how expensive staging shows in NYC is. 

Why on Earth would a very costly musical close for a few months then come back on again just so another show could open in that theatre? The costs of that are astronomical, plus they would have to be simplified versions (touring) which isn’t at all acceptable at broadway prices.

 

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 7:03pm

If there was a play or musical ready to open in the fall looking for a smaller theater, The Play that Goes Wrong would not be extending into January. Its been hovering above its weekly nut its entire run, and if the Shuberts had something to replace it they could easily enact a stop clause in their contract and the show would close in August.

Also the only Broadway theater with the storage space that was built to house completely different productions in Rep is the Vivian Beaumount. Considering only a likley only non profit would be able to finagle the finances and union contracts to have multiple non linked productions playing in rep at the same house, it is interesting that LTC has never tried this. Other then that one possibility it is next to impossible for multiple shows to play in rep at a Broadway theater without sharing a set.

[BritCrit]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 7:04pm

Dolly80 said: 
“This shows you you have no clue. For a start you don’t seem to get how expensive staging shows in NYC is.

Why on Earth would a very costly musical close for a few months then come back on again just so another show could open in that theatre? The costs of that are astronomical, plus they would have to be simplified versions (touring) which isn’t at all acceptable at broadway prices."

 

I accept that my idea is somewhat foolish - repertory arrangements are rather impractical outside regional theatre - but I feel like criticisms of my proposals are ignoring the argument I am trying to make. Broadway is stagnating, and the and the desicion to extend the run of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ at the last minute instead of providing a new production is proof that producers are unwilling to allow change and innovation. It’s not an attack on that specific play, I would be making the same complaints if any production was given five extra months in this fashion ...

 

[Dolly80]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 7:07pm

I don’t disagree- the show could easily fit in an off broadway venue and I think it’s a waste of a prime theatre but the fact is that it is only being extended because there is nothing else wanting that theatre currently. It’s not a prime musical house and no plays are looking for theatres right now

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 7:32pm

the last show to run at the Lyceum for over a year was a revival of Morning’s at Seven, which ran from April 1980 to August 1981. (Nearly 40 years ago!)
The longest run at the Lyceum was The Gold Diggers which ran from September of 1919 to June of 1921. These two points alone show how undesirable the Lyceum is for most productions.
It should be noted that with its extension The Play that Goes Wrong will be officially the longest running production at the Lyceaum by 17 days, so congrats again to the show for breaking a nearly 100 year old record.

[Myshmoopsiepoo]

Posted: 7/11/18 at 11:38pm

So excited to hear this!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/12/18 at 12:11am

I LOVE the Lyceum. I think it's a gorgeous theater inside and out, but, in modern day times, it needs a bit of an upkeep. The balcony is awful. But that said, I wish Broadway had more smaller house. I think if this show was at the Booth, which, I think, is probably the best house on Broadway, it would keep running on and on again. But it's just too small to keep a substantial audience.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/12/18 at 3:27am

>The longest run at the Lyceum was The Gold Diggers which ran from September of 1919 to June of 1921. These two points alone show how undesirable the Lyceum is for most productions. It should be noted that with its extension The Play that Goes Wrong will be officially the longest running production at the Lyceaum by 17 days, so congrats again to the show for breaking a nearly 100 year old record.<

The longest run at the Lyceum was the original production of Born Yesterday, which played about 1200 of its 1642 performances there, from February, 1946 to November 1948. No records will have been broken. 

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/12/18 at 11:50am

Smaxie said: ">The longest run at the Lyceum was The Gold Diggers which ran from September of 1919 to June of 1921. These two points alone show how undesirable the Lyceum is for most productions.It should be noted that with its extension The Play that Goes Wrong will be officially the longest running production at the Lyceaum by 17 days, so congrats again to the show for breaking a nearly 100 year old record.<

The longest run at the Lyceum was the original production of Born Yesterday, which played about 1200 of its 1642 performances there, from February, 1946 to November 1948. No records will have been broken."

My apologies i was going Line by line on IBDB on my phone and must of missed Born Yesterday. But the point of Lyceum being "flop house" in terms of modern Broadway financing still stands. Since being built in 1903 only 6 productions have run at least a year. 4 of those 6 opened before 1950, and of the other 2 one was Morning's at Seven in the 1980's and the other is The Play that Goes Wrong. Add that to in terms of modern business models, for a play to break even most are financed in such a way that even its playing to SRO crowds, it has to run for at least 6 months. In the past 50 years only 11 productions have played the Lyceum for at least 6 months, and only 3 of those were in the past 25 years. 

Therefore if I am a producer, the only way I am taking the Lyceum is if every other theater is booked and/or I have a short window of time a star is available to for a production. 

[broadwayrocks2]

Posted: 7/12/18 at 7:34pm

I would guess Oh Hello was one of the most financially successful shows at the Lyceum . They did recoup with 138 performances and had one of the best box office weeks ever for the Lyceum. Low 900s i believe  . A good part  of the equation is product , although 100 more orchestra seats definitely would not hurt .