Why isn't the Oct 12th XANADU show sold out yet?!?!?

[HBBrock]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 4:07pm

Just got two tickets in the mezzanine for the show, but where are all the diehards? I expected this show to be sold out immediately.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 4:15pm

I think it's "the Rent factor" as I'm now calling it. People think it's bound to change "because Rent did it!" It just seems like now unless it was a limited-run show no one (yes, I know not EVERYONE) wants to believe closing day is closing day.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 4:22pm

According to the guy at the box office today (the same one as the other night)...he now sounds very certain that the show will NOT be extended.

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 4:25pm

We know. But as jordangirl said, because of ReNt, now some believe shows will not close on their CLOSING date.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 4:28pm

Look at the original B'way run of Les Miz.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 4:44pm

Thanks wicked_beast. :) Yeah, I wasn't saying *I* think it will extend, but I think a lot of people don't really believe in closing dates, largely thanks to Rent.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 4:47pm

Jordangirl, you going to the last show?

[Parks]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 4:49pm

Comparing Xanadu to RENT or Les Mis is kind of ridiculous... Don't get me wrong--Xanadu is my FAVORITE show on Broadway right now. Les Mis was open for 5,000 years. Xanadu has been open for a little over a year (right?).

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:02pm

^^^^
Haha, right. Xanadu is a fun, entertaining night at the theatre, while Les Mis is a moving masterpiece, IMO.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:06pm

Probably not. Short on funds at the moment. If there are still tickets when an expected check comes in, I'll probably go.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:06pm

Both are schlock. XANADU happens to be entertaining schlock.

I don't think "the RENT factor" has anything to do with it. RENT isn't the first show to extend.

[wicked_beast4]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:07pm

But ReNt is the first show with a cult following to extend recently, so that is the most fresh in everyone's minds.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:15pm

^ Right. And I've seen it both on here (ok, so one of the times it was coolkid) and in the blogosphere ~ the old "But Rent did it!!" thing. So that's why I say "the Rent factor".

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:19pm

XANADU's closing was on short notice, and it is on a holiday weekend, so there are other factors much more realistic than the closing of RENT.

Besides, Jordangirl is saving all her pennies for her many, impending trips to DC, right, JG?

[bwayfan9]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:20pm

because it's Xanadu

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:22pm

Hee ~ true Miss Pennywise! :) Though one of those might end up changing given the Tommy cast thing...waiting on info regarding that one.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 5:53pm

I would love to go to the final show, but of course it falls at 3pm, which does not fit with my work schedule and travel time. However, I will be there again this Wednesday, so at least I have that to look forward to.

[Malice]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 6:17pm

I was at the show last night to squeeze in a TDF ticket when I heard the sad news earlier in the week. According to the gentleman in the box office (a little on the saucy side) His line was "no, it is defintely closing on the 12th unless you want to pay the cast".

I mentioned this in the other thread-There were a few teenage girls in the onstage seats. I am sure they were having fun, but to a casual observer they did see on the comatose side. Jackie Hoffman made a comment about preteens and that's why that crap show Wicked will stay open for anothe 10 years and they are closing. It got a huge reaction from the audience. I did feel bad for the girls though, one of them was rocking out at the end of the show with her glowstick.

The audience was kind of on the deadside last night, I know on the 12th the audience will be electric.

[logan0215]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 6:52pm

I believe somewhere within the interview with Patti LuPone I've linked below she explains the different kinds of audiences once encounters in the live theater. Suffice it to say, Friday/Saturday evening crowds are not the best:

Monday/Tuesday: People (used to) skip lunch and use that money to by a ticket to the new Broadway show that week, see it and be damn appreciative for having seen it.
Wednesday: a. Matinee - little gray haired ladies who keep the theater going.
b. Still a steady line of avid theater-goers
Thursday: More of the b&t crowd funneling in.
Friday/Saturday evening: Suburban housewives forcing their husbands to take them to a show who in turn fall asleep in the first row after paying top ticket prices. The standing ovation, as Sondheim would say, is just a self-affirmation/pat on the back for the top-ticket paying audience to say "hey! I'm here and a part of this experience as well!"

EDIT: I was right, at 6:59 she breaks it down.
Interview Updated On: 9/21/08 at 06:52 PM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/21/08 at 7:03pm

By the way for any of you guys looking to buy tickets for the last show, you can still get them for $50 at theatermania.com.

[jeffrey1dog]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 11:21am

It will be sold out any minute. The only seats left are last row J in the mezzanine & a few premium tix in the back of the orchestra. I will be there on this sad yet celebratory day.

I wonder if Jackie Hoffman's last improv line will be something like "Doesn't anybody get it? We're gone... this is it. We're not coming back here any more!"
But hopefully it will be something hysterically funny instead, like "I'm available for work... My agent's phone number is 555-i81-u812"

Updated On: 9/22/08 at 11:21 AM