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Wicked: Too big, too fast?

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#1

Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/18/05 at 8:21pm

So, is there such a thing as too big too fast in this buisness? I mean, ,It's got New York, a massive tour, a sit down in CHicago, and now London in '06... Do you think it'll keep bringing in the money?
Well, I'm glad he got away with it.
#2

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/18/05 at 8:21pm

Or the other angle is to hit when the irons are hot, rather than wait until people have found something else to distract them.
#4

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/18/05 at 8:27pm

wait till they try an open ended run in Canada... Canadian audiences have been closing shows early left and right. Producers and Hairspray both closed earlier than expected didn't they? no one's fooling the Canadians...

Updated On: 5/18/05 at 08:27 PM

#5

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/18/05 at 9:09pm

Torontonian here! True, Hairspray did not have a long run at all, the poor thing. However, Wicked just made a sold out appearance and the demand was so big that the cast is coming back.

So hm, I like it! I love the fact that it's gone big, means that I get something good to watch.
#6

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/18/05 at 9:14pm

I'm not saying I don't like the show, I really like the show. I've seen it ten times, I'm just curious if you think having it all over the place will 'deflate' it.
Well, I'm glad he got away with it.
#7

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/18/05 at 9:41pm

Torontonian here! True, Hairspray did not have a long run at all, the poor thing.

And it still remains a mystery to me as to why it closed so early. With its stellar reviews and enthusiastic audiences, it really should have ran much, much longer.

Although SARS took its toll on the city, I believe the real problem right now is lack of US tourists coming to Toronto, due to difficulties at the border. Sadly, I don't think Toronto can sustain a long-running megamusical right now. I think WICKED's sell-out success was/is the exception, because of its Oz cachet; I can see WICKED, and only WICKED, having a promising sit-down production here.
BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."
#8

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/18/05 at 10:03pm

Blue Wizard, that is a fair reply and unfortunately, probably true. Since the city is just starting to rebuild itself from that scare and tourists, most things wouldn't work. Soo disappointing. . . I think we're starving for something good. The only new thing we have is the Suzanne Somers musical.
Shoot.Me.Now.

And we're losing Mamma Mia now too...

Sigh. Well, only one option left: kidnap Norbert, maybe Sherie and hell, why not a little bit of Victoria Clark.

#9

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/18/05 at 11:38pm

Fast? that is one of the looooooooongest and most gruelingly boring at times show I have had to sit through.
#10

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/19/05 at 12:00am

Sweetheart, I didn't mean it like that. I mean the growth of it.
Well, I'm glad he got away with it.
#11

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/19/05 at 12:24am

Back to the original question - Wicked is a cultural phenom. My sister's family came from Oklahoma last weekend to see Wicked with my kids. They have never experienced anything like it and now the cousins have a shared experience and a story to tell their friends whose friends will tell other friends who will see Wicked.
#12

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/19/05 at 11:22am

I always say "the more the merrier" but, i do think that if there was a situation like "Phantom" had a few years ago, with NYC, SF, Toronto sitdowns and 2 US tours at the same time would delfate it. but i dont think you can compare it with 3 north amiercan shows and one in London. I saw bring on Japan and Germany too, LOL
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27199361@N08/ Phantom at the Royal Empire Theatre
#13

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/19/05 at 2:21pm

"wait till they try an open ended run in Canada... no one's fooling the Canadians... "

Well, more specifically, Toronto, since both shows played only here.

Put it in perpective: WICKED played only 7 weeks here. Much of it pre-sold to subscribers leaving limited seats for non-subscribers.

PRODUCERS and HAIRPSRAY ran 7 months each which for this city is a long-ish run. If they had been announced for 2 month runs, then been extended to 7, everyone would think they were big hits. But because the expectation was that both shows would run 2 years or more the end results were disappointing. (PRODUCERS was not as well cast or well produced as it should have been. HAIRSPRAY was, so it's abrupt closing was more of a shock.)

Oh well, there is lots to see in Toronto and the surrounding area.


Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!

I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com

#14

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/19/05 at 9:20pm

And we're losing Mamma Mia now too...

Some might see that as a blessing.... (I was actually quite surprised it outlasted THE LION KING).

I almost forgot to mention the musical adaptation of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. That's gonna be a wildcard; the idea is so farfetched that it's either going to be groundbreaking and spectacular, or a disaster. I really hope it succeeds, for the sake of the city.
BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."
#15

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/19/05 at 10:37pm

For the sake of the city, yes. For my sanity, I hope it crumbles and leaves and never comes that close to me again.

3 hours/book is still ridiculous to me. They cut enough down for the movies, I can't imagine how much it's being hacked for a musical.
#16

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/20/05 at 12:35am

As a LORD OF THE RINGS admirer, I'm going to reserve judgment of the musicalization until I see it for myself. (And I thought the movies did a phenomenal, even miraculous, job of adapting the work for the screen -- hell, I'm glad they cut out some parts like the nonsensical Tom Bombadil chapter). Schools have been putting on their own play/musical versions of THE HOBBIT for years, and that's just as unwieldy a text for dramatization, so it'd be interesting to see what theatre professionals can do with this.

Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star recently interviewed the composers of the musical, and it seems they're going for a more abstract, unconventional interpretation of the narrative, so who knows? Some of the names attached to the production are pretty impressive, so I have hope.

(I know, I know, I've threadjacked the discussion. As if there aren't enough WICKED threads out there.)
BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."
#17

re: Wicked: Too big, too fast?

Posted: 5/20/05 at 9:34am

I'm interested into seeing how the LOTR musical turns out. I agree that it will either be spectacular or a major flop because people will probably expect it to be amazing or to suck, so it might surpass or not meet people's expectations.

On Wicked, I think that the reason it does so well is because of the familiarity with it. If a tourist comes to NYC and wants to see a show, and there choices are Wicked, the prequel to the Wizard of Oz, or Brooklyn the Musical about some girl who wants to meet her father, what would they choose? I think tourists like the aspect of they already feel connected to the musical because they've seen the Wizard of Oz. Then once they see it and are amazed, they tell everyone they know to see it, who then go tell everyone they know, etc. It's a huge cycle, which is why word of mouth is one of the forces behind keeping this musical alive, besides the great marketing.

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