WONDERLAND to Close on Broadway; Plays Final Show May 15- Page 3

[GatorNY]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 9:39pm

Wow, it's hard to believe that something lasted less time than Cry-Baby did at The Marquis, but I believe that this run will have been even shorter. I guess Cry-Baby at least had Best Musical and Best Choreography nominations, hence a reason to stick it out until the Tony Awards.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 10:16pm

"Wow, it's hard to believe that something lasted less time than Cry-Baby did at The Marquis"

Nick and Nora had a run of just nine performances at that theatre. It also managed to receive a Tony Award nomination for best score, long after it had closed.

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 10:25pm

Is the "a tour will follow" what they always say to soften the blow?

Credit to Wildhorn for tenacity, all his shows hsve flopped on Broadway. He must have some sort of record.

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 10:28pm

I think blaming the book for this disasterpiece is a little too easy. This was not Wildhorn's worst score, but by all accounts the book for the Broadway production was written around the music instead of vice versa. If the music had served a purpose, told a story, deftly illustrated a moment, or done any of the dozens of other things great musical theatre songs do, it would've been a strong enough skeleton to hang an evening of theatre upon. Instead, we got lots of generic ballads (no surprise there, Wildhorn), and an endless parade of nauseatingly sly multi-culti pastiche.

It's foolish to expect Wildhorn to work with the same notoriously focused collaborative energy as, say, Sondheim, but at this point it's pretty clear that whatever method he's been employing for the past fifteen years isn't working. You can't just show up for an afternoon, **** out 15 melodies, fling them at a show doctor, collect your paycheck and leave *cough WILLIAM FINN BONO THE EDGE cough*

[philly03]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 10:35pm

"I wonder how much moola Wildhorn's shows have lost collectively on Broadway?"
Jekyll & HYDE lost $1.5 million (over the course of 4 years), and together with 3 productions of The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway and The Civil War on Broadway all lost combined $20 MIL. (There's a NY Times article about this)

DRACULA lost around $7-10 MIL I believe, and WONDERLAND caps out at $13 MIL of the top of my head.


I'm surprised it didn't last around to the end of June at the least, very shocking but an overall huge disappointment to me was this production!

[PopAria]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 10:48pm

I think it's stupid that the WONDERLAND ppl are closing it without knowing how it'll do in the busy Summer/Tourist season.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 10:55pm

Kind of surprised as well--- would have thought they would have given it until Memorial Weekend/Summer to see how it would do-

They must be losing boatloads of dough.

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 10:57pm

I think it's stupid that the WONDERLAND ppl are closing it without knowing how it'll do in the busy Summer/Tourist season.

They know, love. That's why they're closing it, yeah?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:01pm

The idea of a musical about Wonderland is a great one, but I can't help but wonder if the concept they took with it is just way off. Why would they modernize Alice and her story? That would be like Wicked taking place in modern day. I guess I just don't see the reason for modernizing something that is fine as it is.

[philly03]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:06pm

The show was never meant to be a faithful adaptation... original scripts had Alice related to Alice Liddell (before and surprisingly during the first Tampa run), but it was scraped because of Janet Dacal (workshops conducted with Brandi Burkhardt & Lauren Kennedy).

I like the idea of a modern Alice, I have always loved the concept, and I will say agian - this production does no justice to what the original message and concept of the piece was. It never tried to be some sort of huge meaningful piece either - just some great tunes, an interesting story and a heartwarming ending about learning to balance youself, your loved ones and your ambitions!

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:10pm

^ This is true! I really wish I could have seen the show evolve and all the changes it went through. I was planning on catching the show this summer, but sadly I won't be able to. I love the music, and there are a lot of great songs. I would definitely take the music from this over Wicked ANY day!

[Moneyspider]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:34pm

I'm glad I saw it but I did want to take my family to see it over the summer too.

I've heard a Broadway run is a selling point for a touring version, but this was a pretty short run.

[LitesofBway89]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:36pm

What do you think they'll put in the Marquis next??

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:37pm

The First Wives Club

[LitesofBway89]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:45pm

Is that serious or sarcasm?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:46pm

The show must have a very small advance for them to close it so quickly. I join with a few others here in saying I thought it would last through the summer, at best. It's a shame that another theatre will be dark this summer.

as for it's next tenant, anyone else think Elf should take the Marquis if it returns.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:46pm

The First Wives Club

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/10/11 at 11:56pm

Jump for Joooooooooooooy!!!

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 12:00am

I still don't understand why they even bothered bringing this to Broadway. Its fate was inevitable.

[philly03]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 12:03am

Because when the show opens to critical success in Europe it sounds fantastic to say "straight from Broadway!"

The show in previous incarnations was literally so different in so so many ways. The Broadway production was open cold turkey!

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 12:03am

Well, they needed an opener for the First Wives Club.

[massofmen]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 1:21am

i am pretty sure the Drowsy Chaperone made money there...so what curse are you talking about?

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 1:31am

Drowsy closed a flop, even though it had a great run there. This has been brought up in many other threads, but if a show didn't make back its initial investment, it's a flop, regardless of how good a run it had.

And I sort of don't understand why shows in the Marquis have such a difficult time. It has a very central location in Times Square and isn't horribly big. Perhaps it really is just bad luck of what shows ran there.

[Feldzieg]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 1:37am

@wendilin622

For the 35 student group:

think with these musicals there should at least be a chance to get the whole group in for a halfway decent price:

- Catch Me If You Can
- Memphis

With these it is basically guaranteed:

- Million Dollar Quartet
- The People in the Picture

I would probably go for Memphis, if possible. It's an entertaining, well-meaning show with a lot of energy.
And I am aware that many people don't have a high opinion
of Memphis. But basically all people I know really liked it.

Updated On: 5/11/11 at 01:37 AM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 2:12am

I'm a little late to the game, but... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXf0yIRcdnI