Will the PRODUCERS close in 2006? — Page 3

They could still come up with some stunt casting ala Weissler.

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Its about time

Well this one was created for a legitimate discussion.

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There is no denying it is a great show - the amount of Tonys won shows that! But i also think there is no denying the audiences are down...I'd give (IMO) about year to a year and half max left on Broadway

Hasn't "Young Frankenstein" been on hold since Anne Bankcroft passed away? Is Mel Brooks still in mourning?

Wow, munkustrap178, that sounded a little harsh. Dang.

However, I too agree that I wish we could go back to how Broadway used to be where most shows didn't last for more than a couple of years.

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Being a fan this thread does make me a little sad but I don't think the Producers needs to run for decades, I really don't think that is any mark of whether a show is really 'good' or
'bad' anyway. For me Phantom doesn't do it, but I could see the producers over and over. It's not the best thing ever to hit broadway but it makes me happy when I see it and sometimes that's what I want.

Anyway I think the Producers has a couple of years left in it it wont be Broadway's longest running show, but hey it doesn't need to be to make it's mark, it already has whatever people think of it

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"I think another big problem with The Producers is that is just doesn't seem like the kind of show that inspires repeat attendance. It seems to me that the shows that last the longest are the ones that induce audiences to come back over and over again and not just one stop tourist ventures."


Tell that to Stephen Sondheim.

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How is Spamalot better off than the Producers as far as Hype? Producers and Spamalot both hand known actors playing the parts, and had opening audiences that were huge fans of the original movies. Spamalot will last just as long on the Monty Python factor as Producers will on the Mel Brooks factor. In another year Spamalot will calm down a bit.

For my other two cents, I'd say that the thing about Producers when it first opened was that it was really an "experience". You're talking about entire audiences that clapped and laughed just when they heard lines from the movie they liked. Anybody who was a Mel Brooks fan and went to Producers during previews experienced this in full, lines that were hilarious then and not so much now because the audience isn't filled with the same crowd. The reviewers were sitting in that same audience.

By the way, don't get me wrong, I really did love the Producers with Lane back when. After they left, though, it did lose appeal and luster. I don't think Spamalot weighs as heavily on original cast, but after some time (as much time as Producers, I'd say) I really do think it'll fall the same as Producers is in attendance.

Keeping Mel Brooks' type of humor in mind, I see it running for at least two more years or so- until it break's Hello, Dolly's record of 2,844 performences, since it already broke Hello, Dolly's record of most Tony wins.

Once it beats Hello, Dolly's record,, who knows how long it will run?

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Well, it's made money every week of the run except the last one (and made a LOT of money most weeks), so it wouldn't surprise me if it lasts long enough to pass Hello Dolly on the list.

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I enjoyed it with Lane and Broderick. In 30+ years of theatregoing, I can only recall maybe once or twice (Maggie Smith in Lettice & Lovage, Noises Off) ever seeing an audience laugh that hard and that consistently at a show. People were literally gasping for air and had tears rolling down their cheeks and the show had to stop over a dozen times due to the laughter and applause. I can't speak for the show now or any touring version (I've only seen it with the original cast), but the couple of times I saw it in the early months of the run, it was remarkable and every friend and family member I knew agreed.

Regardless of that, my statements are not pro-Producers statements, but rather pure business ones. I detest Mamma Mia, but if business had been way off for that recently (as it is they're running in the 80s which is low for them) people were arguing that it SHOULD close for some reason, I'd be saying exactly the same thing -- it ain't going anywhere for a while. Same with Lion King (that I'm also not crazy about) which has dropped into the 60s as of late (this has been a tough winter). No, it's no longer a sellout, but it's still very profitable and will probably run another 5+ years.

With the Producers you have a show that up until three weeks ago was earning a $200,000 to 300,000 profit (and a $600K profit Xmas week) every single week. They've only started discounting regularly in the past year or so (and not to any great extent -- their average ticket price is still over $70). Love it or hate it, shows with numbers like that generally stick around for years.

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