When Will FINDING NEVERLAND Pack It In? — Page 2

For as much as posters around here derided Matt Morrison as not much of a box office draw, its amusing to now see his exit given as a legit reason for the box office decline.

I don't recall many posters saying that he wasn't much of a box office draw. I think the argument was that he was hired not because he could play the role better, but because he was more TV famous than Jordan. The sentiment among the Jordan fans was that Weinstein was underestimating Jordan's box office appeal, and perhaps giving too much weight to Morrison's TV star status when compared to Jordan. I don't think there was ever any question that Morrison had fan base that would buy tickets.

Who's to say whether or not Jordan could have been as big a draw as Morrison? Weinstein himself said that in the early days of the show that the primary draw was the story, not the stars. Looking back on it, the situation was quite unfair to both Morrison and Jordan. Subsequent interviews of Jordan seemed to indicate that Weinstein had been less than forthcoming when Jordan was hired for the A.R.T. run, and more and more, I got the impression that Weinstein was not telling Morrison the entire truth about Jordan's situation either. As a result, Jordan was left out in the cold, and Morrison came off as entitled and somewhat less than gracious. Neither was served well by the position that Weinstein put them in. But what's done is done. Jordan has starred in a movie, starred in the Parade concert, played to numerous sold out cabaret shows and landed a job on a TV show since he left Neverland, and Morrison has completed his run and moved back to TV. Life goes on. However, there is little doubt that the show losing its star in January is affecting attendance. It will be interesting to see if they try to bring in a big name to take the show through the summer and fall, if they can find a big (TV) name who is willing.

So will Alfie Boe be a strong enough draw to boost attendance in the spring?

Alfie Boe is only a draw to his fans.. I find him much too operatic and not a very good actor. IMO bad casting and he is also opening it in London. He is more of a name there than here though.

I didn't hate the show, but it's certainly not going to go down in history as a great theatrical achievement. What surprised (and disappointed) me most was the focus on making it a huge, family- style spectacle when the movie is not that at all. It's a really sweet and gentle film, with strong central performances...it's actually probably the last role I truly liked Johnny Depp in, and Kate Winslet is lovely as the mother. The tone of the show is so at odds with the tone of the source material. The performances in the musical were serviceable enough, I adore Laura Michelle Kelly and Carolee Carmello but their talents were woefully underused. It's just overall a pleasant enough but ultimately unsatisfying show.

As big of a fanbase Jordan might have, I can't imagine it's enough to significantly decrease sales for a show. I just think Matt Morrison was the biggest draw, and now that he isn't in it, people are just less interested to see it. Again, as some said, it's only been grossing this poorly a couple of weeks in total, so I don't really think it's going away any time soon.

the producers will keep the show going through the summer. That's where they'll make their money. If advance sales aren't decent enough to keep the open in Sept/Oct., they'll likely close by Labor Day.

FN will never be up there with those 3 no name block busters or Phantom or Les Mis for that matter. It will just puddle along, probably breaking even, just trying to make more $ with different leads.[Havn't seen it] but it appears very lightweight, nothing special--pity 'they' had to turn a beautiful story into a musical. Why does [almost] every story have to now be a musical?

Just saw those clips of Waitress---good luck with that one too-yikes and that terrible Greek chorus style back-up with jive hands/arms--had a flash back to Tommy Tune and Will Rogers Follies

SL

Updated On: 3/3/16 at 06:07 PM

I specifically went in January to see Matthew Morrison's last week and Kelsey Grammer's first week back. I'm also not a fan of Glee (at all) but I wanted to see it with him because I was impressed with his performances of Neverland on TV and on the soundtrack. I thought he did a very good job and he seemed pretty into it to me. And his chemistry with Kelsey Grammer was terrific (he was great also).

With the announcement of Boe and and Grammer opening the show in London in early 2017, seems like the writing's on the wall.

What was Barry and Frans job in producing this show? Were they involved in getting Diane? Were they there to teach Harvey the ways of the theatre? If it's the latter I think they failed miserably.

Old Harvey is apparently still willing to shovel money to his Vanity project. When he tires of it, it will close.

Loved the movie