Why is everything good closing?- Page 2

[julesboogie]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 6:09pm

fair enough.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 6:11pm

A Facebook group? Whatever happened to online petitions? Those worked BRILLIANTLY. Remember when they got the 2004 revival of La Cage recorded? Good times...

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 6:12pm

"Does anyone want to guess what other name "TheMysteriousGrowl" used previously????"

1.) That is three too many question marks.

2.) I, for one, would LOVE to know.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 6:13pm

Oh, Mister Matt...you are so behind the times!!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 6:16pm

I know, right? Maybe a Facebook group would help me out.

[GatorNY]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 6:31pm

Wasn't there a thread like this last year when Finian's Rainbow and Ragtime announced their closings? Next there will be a big discussion about if Benjamin Walker and Susan Stroman will be remembered when the Tony nominations are announced etc. I think there was also a Facebook group to extend the life of HAIR.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 6:33pm

They were plugging a HAIR extension? Oh, goodness gracious.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 7:24pm

"I'm not 16, so I'm not interested in rushes or lotteries. I'm a theatre lover, not a fanatic. I prefer to purchase my tickets in advance and plan a nice evening out, as do most of the theatre-going public. If I can't get good seats to a good show without having to take out a second mortgage, I'll pass. And often do."

I have to plan ahead becauae I have to fly there. I have always, with t he exception of a few times, gotten tickets ahead of time at a discount price. All of them have been good seats. I go online and get my tickets from the discount pages on these theatre websites. And I always have a nice evening out before and after the shows.

[dragonlp86]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 7:36pm

I buy 90% of my tickets well ahead of time, and am still able to find great discounts for great seats.

[redmustang]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 7:52pm

Because there are so very few "good" shows playing on Broadway these days. Most of you will not agree, and I understand that. You can only see the shows of your era. Just like most of you never got to see the original productions of Nine, or Edwin Drood, or Evita, or Chicago like I did. Likewise, I was too young to see My Fair Lady, or Funny Girl, or Mame, or Camelot. The young theatre crowd of today seem to be settling for average shows and calling them great. I, too, saw Wicked, and it was ok. But when you must pay $100, $120, $130 a pop, I guess you must call a mediocre show great. Luscious understands this. Are Broadway producers out of their minds? I'm just a hick from Ohio who used to visit NY 2 or 3 times a year and see 8 or 9 shows duing my week's stay. Not anymore. My last trip to NY was in 2007 and the last show I saw was Grey Gardens. Nothing has enticed me back since then. So I satisfy my theatre cravings by plopping down $130 to see ROAD COMPANIES of Mary Poppins and Billy Elliot in Cleveland. Then I drive back to my small town where a great cheeseburger is $3.95 (with fries) and I can sleep in my own bed for free.....But, I digress.

[marcblack]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 8:01pm

Hate to say it, but a Facebook group isn't gonna do much in this scenario. It's not like the Weisslers WANT to close The Scottsboro Boys, they HAVE to. Every production has a reserve in their budget, which helps push the show through rough times (ex. when it's not meeting its weekly nut). While I'm not familiar with The Scottsboro Boy's budget, it's likely that reserve is starting to run thin (hence their closing). It's nice to see a supportive Facebook group, and I'm sure the actors appreciate your well wishes. However, unless thousands start buying tickets as a result of your group, the show will still close. Even if Scottsboro sees a surge, I'm pretty sure the Shuberts already have another production lined up for the spring (or are not too far off). I'm all for creativity and original content, but you also have to understand that Broadway is a business and numbers dictate the game. The Weisslers have a duty to their investors. Even if they can salvage a little bit of money, it's better than keeping it running and blowing everything. Updated On: 12/1/10 at 08:01 PM

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 8:11pm

>> "The young theatre crowd of today seem to be settling for average shows and calling them great"

... because they have no context. Like you, I've been an avid theatre goer for years (and years and years... okay, not that many, but anyway), and I have yet to see anything that compares to the sheer amazement of, say, the moment the curtain rose on Act Two of the original NINE. The original tornado ballet from THE WIZ. Seeing the lace arches drop from the flies in FOLLIES. And it's not just about the visuals: in all three cases, you had everything on stage working together - lighting, scenery, choreography, music, performance. Want to see a masterful piece of staging? I dont even know if the LPA has it, but if it does, watch the first act finale of the original NIGHT MUSIC, an extraordinary blend of the theatre arts because everyone on the team was working *together* to create something extraordinary. Moments like this have now become so rare it's ridiculous. Maybe the closest thrill I've had since those halcyon days was perhaps the revival of MAN OF LA MANCHA, which, from a purely staging POV, was dreadful. But the muleteers ballet, those few minutes, was riveting and gave some idea of what the production *could* have been when it wasnt "Oh, I'm supposed to sing a song so I guess I need to be DC to sing to the audience." I remember when the boards here were practically wetting themselves over the revival of COMPANY, and I couldnt help but think, "You guys have no idea how amazing the original was, and how truly pathetic this one is by comparison." I posted as such and was properly scorched for saying so. But the truth is a painful taskmistress, guys. The revival, by comparison to Prince's work, was awful. Deal with it.

This isnt one of those "damn kids get off my theatre seat" posts, but it's harder and harder to get excited about something that now has become so formulaic and bland, when it's not trying to be outrageous for the sake of being outrageous. It's really sad when the stuff at ENCORES is anticipated more than the supposed *new* stuff. The *art* has long left the building, and I wish it'd come back.

Updated On: 12/2/10 at 08:11 PM

[redmustang]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 9:05pm

SeanMartin, couldn't have said it better myself. When you mentioned the Act2 opening of Nine, I began to tear up. That visual was breathtaking. That was a moment. My biggest gripe about theatre today (aside from the ticket prices) is that there are too few moments. Wicked fans may think that "Defying Gravity" is a moment. As Liza said in "City Lights" - oh please, my nerves. I saw a revival of Mame, and the end of Act1 is a moment. The title song has just come to a rousing cresendo. The applause is deafening. The audience is on their feet, cheering, waiting for the curtain to fall. Only it doesn't fall. Together the audience and Mame herself notices Young Patrick standing alone downstage R, and he cries out "...and if some day another beau comes along determined to take my place..." Mame races across the stage, drops to her knees hugging him... as the cast repeats the final line of the song..THEN the curtain falls. That is a moment. And it is emotionally devastating.

[SeanMartin]

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

I think you may have hit on it right there: the emotional depth. It's almost like producers today are so involved in providing the theme-park aspects of a production that they forget about the gut-level side of things. That's why CAROUSEL, as an example, works as a standalone piece, but SISTER ACT will be heavily dependent on playing off the audience's familiarity with the film, rather than setting out its own emotional path.

And to anyone prepared to rip me a new one over that last assessment, yes, I know, it's conceivable SA will be a good evening's entertainment. But it's just the movie, with some songs added on. CAROUSEL took an East European play and re-imagined it, giving it a whole new emotional context.

I think that was my main issue with COMPANY: it had a cute gimmick, but it had no heart. I came out of the theatre entertained by hearing that marvelous score again (albeit in a less-than-marvelous way), but I wasnt taken anywhere emotionally by the production. It was smart and cute and dead as a doornail. But it's all we have right now.

[marcblack]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 11:06pm

It's not that producers don't care about emotion - they care about success. Unfortunately or fortunately, these "theme park" shows are the ones doing monster business. Productions like The Scottsboro Boys may be great , but they don't make any money. And if a producer wants to have a career on Broadway, they need to make money, or no investor will finance their production. And many producer's choices are dictated by their investors desires. Unfortunately people weren't running to put money into The Scottsboro Boys, but Scott Rudin probably has a line down the block of people willing to give him funds for ANY of his shows, without even seeing a budget. That's because they all have big stars (except Book of Mormon).

Updated On: 12/1/10 at 11:06 PM

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/1/10 at 11:43pm

Well, if it's any consolation, it's not just Bway that's going through the theme-park fad. Movies are now high-budget *events* that play for a couple of weeks before disappearing onto DVD. Pop music -- packaged, market-tested, blandized for your protection. TV -- if it aint a cop show, you're gonna have a difficult time selling it to the networks for production.

:: shrug :: The times, they are a changin'...