Update: AIN'T NO MO extended thru December 23! Yay! — Page 6

I don’t think I’ve back pedaled at all. If the majority of Broadway audiences are white, and these types of shows are all failing… by the transitive property .. audiences don’t want these shows 

Fat Ham has a different pedigree and is a very different production, so it may have an appeal that ANM apparently did not.

Remember when people could disagree with each other and still be kind and respectful? Different times, eh?

HogansHero said: "This thread has really come off the rails.

1. If you want to sell a product, you have to market your product to potential customers. If you invent a computer and keep it a secret, people keep using their typewriters, calculators, and pens and pencils.

2. The future of Broadway is not in the present; it is in the future. I didn't think I'd have to explain that. Broadway is doing a terrible job of diversifying its audience and the solution here seems to be to pretend this is not a problem. (Oh, and the problem is not just with ethnic groups; the parallel and correlated problem is age groups.) But let's look at last century's data instead of this one we still have 80% of which to trudge through. Genius!!!

3. "Woke" means "sensitive to social justice" so woke is gross means sensitivity to social justice is gross. Let's take a step back and think about what that means.

4. If you think we cannot right this ship, have a seat and watch 50s and 60s TV reruns and ask yourself if we still portray women, blacks, asians, gays, etc. as they were portrayed then.

5. Spend a few minutes thinking about what you are saying instead of just making noise."

I’ve lost the plot of what or who you’re even angry at? I think we can all agree on all those points? Their advertising sucks but also audiences didn’t turn out for the other half a dozen POC center shows or even one that one the Tony for best new musical. Clearly there’s more at play here than just advertising. Old white people want to see A Beautiful Noise and tourists want to see Wicked for the 10th time. 

Unless production costs are dramatically reduced, or a generous sponsor  is found, the solution is to look for shows that have crossover appeal.  We are seeing many quality shows that are not finding audiences large enough to support them.  It's in part because their subject matter doesn't interest enough prospective ticket buyers.  Maybe you can successfully change that perception by ticket buyers, but given the cost of Broadway tickets, that is a tough sell. 

JasonC3 said: "Fat Ham has a different pedigree and is a very different production, so it may have an appeal that ANM apparently did not."

We shall see as that's to be decided by the target audience and if any wants to see it? Watched the scenes-clips on youtube and no thank you and we have no desire seeing this. Did not find it funny or at all interesting. Not sure why it's transferring?

PipingHotPiccolo said: "Yeah, you lose me here. Jordan Cooper, from what I've read, didn't lament that his play couldnt find an audience; he lashed out as if anyone is to blame for this reality. The KPop team decided Jesse Green was the problem. In both situations, neither party was able to acknowledge that inherent in doing something different/new/outthere is the the difficulty in getting lotsa people to plunk down 2hours/$75 for it. I think we agree on the problem/diagnosis/solution stuff but Ive been reacting to the way the ANM and Kpop folks HAVE NOT gone down that road at all."

Well, I acknowledge I have a couple of opinions weighing on some of what I am saying here and how I would react to what you said. First of all, based entirely on his MO in the show (which I found beyond smart and clever in lots of ways), I think his posture of blame has (largely-I do think the is genuine heartbreak because he is young and we've all been there and we are not instantaneously rational and level headed in such moments) a significant performative component. (FWIW I also think it cuts in both directions, meaning both toward white and black audiences, just as the show does, and I don't think the Smiths act of "charity" was an accident.) Second, I am not going to accept lumping ANM and KPOP in the same category because I think ANM is a work of quality and, unfortunately, the version of KPOP that made it to Broadway is a work of mediocrity. Finally, regarding "going down that road," I don't think that's the job of the playwright; that's producing. Building a market is a talent but it is not one we expect of a creator of the show. (And her again, I am not discussing KPOP and its can of worms with the producer.) A creator of a show should reasonably expect that if they bring the art, someone making the commerce will take care of getting the butts in the seats. And finally finally, I don't think we can solve these embedded institutional problems on a dime and certainly not in the moment. A younger, more diverse audience -- isn't built in a day But no one is doing enough. So when I say if Cooper's actions spur something positive, I am all for it even if the execution might seem clumsy to some or many. 

They should ask themselves why other shows like Six and Moulin Rouge are successful. Those are fun shows that people want to see over and over, and they have a diverse cast. These two shows that are closing (Kpop and ANM) were simply put, overlong and boring. Playing the race card won't sell tickets. Making a show more appealing will.

verywellthensigh said: "
but watching the idealism of WSYWAT ethos come smash against the hard economics of theaters keeping the lights on has been pretty dispiriting.

"

WSYWAT was never going to accomplish anything because it… didn’t really try to accomplish anything other than calling people out. It shared a list of demands and then did literally nothing to follow up on it. It was an opaque, rudderless movement that offered little in the way of solutions. 

@Duckie4 said: But there are LOTS of factors that go into what I see and when. I just didn't have a chance to see this one.

This is worth remembering.  It is natural to try and assign blame on one variable when a show we like doesn't succeed, but the answer is almost always more complex.

Here we sometimes talk about the merits of an individual show in isolation whereas ticket buyers often are considering them in relation to their other options.  Ain't No Mo has been on my list to see for awhile, but compared to other shows on that list, it just hadn't made the cut yet.

Just bought tickets for closing. I wonder where TDF will put me?

If you support the show, go. If you don't, please zip your lips.

Nothing productive is coming out of this back and forth meat-swinging contest

As an avid theatre goer and worker, I do have a problem with the rhetoric being spewed from the show. 
"To say we have not had time to find our audience, or we need to change Broadway and the structures that support only white focused shows, or to say, SAVE US AS THIS SPACE IS NOT MEANT FOR PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE US"

To say, Topdog/Underdog, Piano Lesson or Death of a Salesman as "WHITE SHOWS" compared to AINT NO MO? 

For some reason none of those shows are in danger of closing. Some with notables and some without. More over, THE WORK ITSELF IS GOOD! 

Lastly, this is commercial theatre...if your show does not sell then look to your producer and ask what happened? Then look at the market...We are in the business of supply and demand. There is no demand for AINT NO MO. 

THAT IS NOT A RACIST REFLECTION OF BROADWAY. It is a reflection that people didn't dig it. SAME HAPPENED FOR:
BE MORE CHILL

THE CHER SHOW

WALKING WITH GHOSTS

THE LIST GOES ON AND ON....this BROADWAY.