Why is FINIAN'S extending & moving to the Neil Simon?- Page 5

[VeraCharles2]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 7:37pm

EDIT: Two posters above me already covered it.

Updated On: 1/12/10 at 07:37 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 7:40pm

^ That is incorrect.

[VeraCharles2]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 7:44pm

Updated On: 1/12/10 at 07:44 PM

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 8:25pm

ugh what a shame. the show deserved a healthier life. does any body have more details from the meeting?

[Greatwhiteway3]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 8:36pm

Nonsense! They wouldn't give the cast that info prior to the show.

[maia3]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 8:43pm

unfortunately that is when the cast gets info, has their meetings on stage around 1/2 hour.
Updated On: 1/12/10 at 08:43 PM

[bestinshow2]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 10:35pm

ALW never had anything to do with it.

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 1/12/10 at 10:53pm

care to elaborate, bestinshow?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:01am

Riedel's column today talks about Garth Drabinsky having wanted to take the show over - to the horror of some of the people involved.

The most important part:

"We conducted exploratory talks with an investor group about moving our show to the Neil Simon Theatre," producers David Richenthal and Alan Marks said.

"Those talks concluded with no deal being reached. 'Finian's' will play its last performance at the St. James this coming Sunday."

Asked about Drabinsky's involvement with that "investor group," the producers said: "We have no comment."
New York Post on 'Rainbow' end

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:19am

So no move for Finian. That is a very smart decision.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:34am

Sad news. I very much enjoyed this show when I saw it last weekend. I certainly hope some aspects are remembered come awards time (hello, Christopher Fitzgerald FTW!), but this potential move was mostly wishful thinking. Ah sir, times is hard. Times is hard!

~Steven

[Smaxie]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:52am

Even in more stable financial times, I'm not sure that a Finian move would have been a great idea. (Nothing against the show itself). It got very good reviews but didn't much break out of the $500,000-600,000 b.o. range, which was earning too little of its capitalization back, if anything at all. To then add another $2 million or more for a move, competing for audiences against seven additional musicals/musical revivals that will be opening between March and May just seems irresponsible.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 8:59am

It's a shame. It's the best musical revival so far this season.

[Tom1071]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 10:32am

This is terrible. The best reviewed show of the season just goes down the tubes.

With the exception of a couple of songs, I knew nothing about Finian's Rainbow until I saw it. I fell in love with the show and this production, especially the performances of Kate Baldwin and Christopher Fitzgerald. If only it could have made it to the Tony's. I guess that is the gamble of opening a show early in the season. What a loss for Broadway.
Updated On: 1/13/10 at 10:32 AM

[philcrosby]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 10:34am

Finian's Rainbow has a score the equal of Gypsy in my opinion. (And has yielded almost as many standards as Babes in Arms.) What a shame it couldn't find the audience it deserved.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 11:13am

Thank goodness there was a cast recording made, though. It's not the same, but I know I'll love having this cast sing that score forever.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 2:42pm

FR may very well be in the same league as BABES IN ARMS, but it is not in the same league as GYPSY. It just isn't. Sorry.

P

[wickedfan]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 2:57pm

Thank you, Pgenre. I wonder if you think it's on par with Legally Blonde?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:10pm

He said the score, Pgenre, not the show as a whole. You don't have to agree, but at least do people the courtesy of reading.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:24pm

Oh, I read it. The SCORE of FR is not in the same league as GYPSY.

And, no, LB isn't in the same league as GYPSY either (or even FR). That's the best ya got, wickedfan (of all names)?

P

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 3:32pm

I don't know if they're in the same league because I don't think they're the same *type* of score. Finian's Rainbow produced so many songs that became standards because they work on their own. The songs from Gypsy, for the most part, don't.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 4:25pm

Yes, I was going to say that as well - because of that and the construction of the show (thus the way the scores fit in their respective shows), it's a little bit apples and oranges.

[kate2]

Posted: 1/13/10 at 10:30pm

It's really too bad that Finian's has to go. I saw it last night and LOVED it. The house looked full from what I could see and the cast could not have been better. Christopher Fitzgerald cracked up the whole audience when he said "bless you" mid-senence, to an audience member that sneezed so loud it echoed!