WONDERLAND to Close on Broadway; Plays Final Show May 15- Page 4

[Raspberry]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 2:18am

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.

Bwayfan7000, you are incorrect. Drowsy recouped its initial investment in under 7 months and then ran for an additional 13 months in the Marquis.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/104079-Officially-Its-a-Hit-Drowsy-Chaperone-Recoups-Investment

[N2Theater]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 3:41am

So sad to see any show close. Every time investors loose like this it hurts the whole Broadway community. I would have thought if they could make it until the summer they could do the same business they did on spring break weak. Too bad.

[N2Theater]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 3:41am

So sad to see any show close. Every time investors loose like this it hurts the whole Broadway community. I would have thought if they could make it until the summer they could do the same business they did on spring break weak. Too bad.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 4:16am

ZOMG First Wives Club PLEASE!!!

[AnythingGoes2]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 5:38am

That show is dead isn't it completely?!

Follies please...

How does Wonderland close and Million Dollar (that I dont think has ever done more than 60% capacity) keep going....

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 5:51am

I can't understand where he finds his investors. They must all live in River City, Iowa, and think their kids can play band instruments, too.

In all seriousness, the only people I can imagine who would write him a check for a Broadway show are people who have either never heard a Broadway show before, or haven't seen one in thirty years. If they know anything, ANYTHING at all about his track record or reputation on the Great White Way, they would stay away in droves. Yet, somehow, when it's nearly impossible to get anything produced these days, he's able to mount crappy show after crappy show.

He really is the M. Night Shyamalan of Broadway ... except he never had a Sixth Sense.

(The Scarlett Pimpernel comes the closest to being good.)

[AnythingGoes2]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 6:09am

Tax show... Investors would rather give their money to a show that flops to right off the money they'd have to pay in tax.

its a great way and something that could pay off if the show is successful...

[Justin D]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 8:23am

I'll give my 2 cents. I went to see it back in April. But honestly my main reason for going was because I have never been to the Marquis, so I got a 50% off ticket for front mez.
I didnt like it, it started out good when I realised they were going for camp comedy, then it got all serious and confusing in the second half.

But my real point is.....
What's wrong with this theatre? Is it really cursed?
I thought it was a lovely theatre, much nicer than the other 2 modern barns on Broadway (Minskoff & Gershwin) nice large balcony, comfortable seats.

My only gripe with this theatre is the Broadway frontage, don;t they realise you got some doors there that arent used and full of garbage? It doesnt look good. The average unknowing tourist may very well walk past, look up at the sign advertising a show, then look down and see the closed doors with all the garbage and assume that the show has been closed for a while and move along. (yes some tourists are that dumb but it happens)

I also found that actually finding the theatre wasnt the easiest of things, but once inside I thought it was quite nice.

side note.... Where is the loading dock for this and the Minskoff? I looked all around the buildings (knowing that the stage is not on street level) but didnt see the typical big doors anywhere. Are they behind a billboard or something?

[PremierFan]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 8:56am

I would take the students to CATCH ME. My daughter's high school took 90 kids from their Drama Department and they loved the show! They were very excited about Aaron Tviet and Kerry Butler who, I think, the kids were able to relate to. The show is great for any age group.

[JRybka]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 9:40am

I am very sad about this. It is a shame he cannot catch a break.

That being said.... Follies can now just slide right in to the Marquis.

[wonkit]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 9:40am

Anythinggoes - the "invest in a flop" theory is a gross oversimplification at the best of times. Investors don't go looking for losses unless they have significant investment income to write the loss off against. With the economy being crappy, most investors have plenty of losses - they need to find profits.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 11:43am

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

Perhaps the number of flops with no hits, but I think Charles Strouse and Jule Styne still hold the record number of flops for composers.

I get that Wildhorn has a horrific Broadway reputation, but despite what wound up on Broadway, Jekyll and Hyde proved a great success pre- and post-Broadway (I blame the producers for wrecking that show on Broadway). And he's had enormous success in Europe and Asia. I really like much of his scores for Rudolf (which recycles one song from Scarlet Pimpernel), Carmen and Tears of Heaven. Wildhorn has managed to get approximately 35 concept and cast recordings commercially produced internationally, so there is obviously something there people find appealing. It just hasn't translated to a Broadway hit yet. Personally, I think Scarlet Pimpernel is his best work and highly underrated. When I Look at You is one of my all-time favorite show tunes ever written.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 12:28pm

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.

Bwayfan7000, you are incorrect. Drowsy recouped its initial investment in under 7 months and then ran for an additional 13 months in the Marquis.


I thought I remembered Drowsy being a hit and not a flop. Thank you for digging up the article.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 12:44pm

Justin D, the Marquis is a gorgeous theater. It's just gigantic. I imagine the operating costs to be in a theater that nice--with the escalators and super-bright lighting and 80 gagilliion house staff members--sinks a lot of shows that could otherwise hang in there. You have to sell seats to keep that theater running and a lot of shows that wind up in there would be a better fit for a smaller house that doesn't need as much money coming in to operate.

And I apologize for even bringing The Drowsy Chaperone up. I only meant that I was shocked that THAT show--a self-referential piece of theatrical cotton candy with a great cast--would be the one show I could think of that made money in The Marquis Theater. It recouped and ran longer than I expected at such a large house. Of all those shows, that's the one to be a hit? The one about the guy in the armchair listening to a cast recording that comes alive in his apartment? I loved the show and thought "thank God I saw it before it closed." I then saw it again, again, and one more time for good measure during that run.

[RH1234]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 12:45pm

I do think this is yet another mistake by the producers. I know it got awful reviews and is certainly not anywhere near the best show on Broadway, but I do think this could have, with good marketing, done well from the tourist trade. Now I don't know he fine details of the accounts and advance and all that, but I would have been inclined to keep it running for a little while longer.

Shame for the cast. Must be gutting to get such a short notice.

[phantom39]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 1:26pm

Don't blame the house, the Marquis is not THAT big anyways. The show didn't sell. It had zero advance. They would have had zero advance even if they played the Helen Hayes.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 1:35pm

According to ticketmaster, there are still 780 seats available for the final performance. That's half the house! I guess the producers looked at the advance, the lack of nominations for this show, the word of mouth, and decided to cut their losses. Smart move. I do hope the talented cast will find other projects that are much more entertaining and will better utilize their strengths.

Looking forward to a fond farewell on Sunday.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 1:45pm

FIRST WIVES will never die, anythinggoes. It lives on in the hearts and minds of those fortunate enough to witness spectacular failure on a level that Frank Wildhorn, with all his experience, can only dream of. I saw it twice and look forward to telling my grandchildren (or Ken Mandelbaum) about it one day.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 1:56pm

It seems like the Marquis would be a great Broadway house. It's right there in Times Square smack dab in the middle of tourists. Just a random question, is the theatre actually inside the hotel, or can you enter from the street level? Just wondering :)

[philly03]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 2:02pm

The theatre is on the 3rd floor. You enter as you would with the hotel. (WONDERLAND moved the box office too, I seem to remember it usually being right outside Times Square where WONDERLAND has the TV playing the press reel.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 2:05pm

^ thanks philly! I wish there was a website that had different pictures of all the broadway theatre lobbies and houses. Theatre architecture interests me :)

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 2:20pm

WONDERLAND moved the box office too, I seem to remember it usually being right outside Times Square where WONDERLAND has the TV playing the press reel.

The box office has been in the current location since at least Come Fly Away. I know for 9 to 5 it was in the old location on Broadway, don't remember where it was for White Christmas.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 2:23pm

Did anyone who see Wonderland also see the Debbie Allen ALICE directed by Mike Nichols that closed out of town in the 1970s? Alice in Wonderland seems like the cursed element, not the Marquis. Some critics have asserted the episodic nature of the storytelling defeats theatrical adaptation. Wasn't there another Broadway Alice? There was the Eve La Galienne adaptation, I recall.

What I am thinking now is how Sony feels about bringing Wildhorn on as a contracted artist during his biggest flop. Are they betting on Bonnie and Clyde?

Now I feel inclined to get this cast recording ASAP so I won't end up in another situation like when The Pirate Queen closed. That cast recording abruptly went OOP after a fashion.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 2:56pm

"Wasn't there another Broadway Alice?"

Oh yes there was. No one remembers the short-lived, 8-performance flop musical BUT NEVER JAM TODAY starring the brilliant Marilynn Winbush as Alice. I love her song "I Like To Win" in Act 2.

It also starred Broadway veteran and Tony winner Lynne Thigpen as Persona Non Grata, who apparently stole the show with her role.

Also in the cast were Cleavant Derricks and, in her Broadway debut, Brenda Braxton. Cleavant and Brenda were also in the ensemble of the Debbie Allen ALICE the previous season when it closed on the road. Both shows were directed by Vinnette Carroll.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/11/11 at 3:02pm

I have to say that the photo of the First Wives ladies on the Titanic is brilliant!