Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Wizard of Oz Transfer?
CleveNMLActor
Swing Joined: 7/25/11
#1Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/16/11 at 11:20pmDoes anyone think the West End Production will eventually or even have a chance at transferring to Broadway? Supposedly the show has gotten stellar reviews, and audiences seem to really eat it up.
jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#2Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 2:54amI doubt it. We hold The Wizard of Oz a little to near to our hearts in the US to do anything too different with it. I also don't remember the reviews being particularly glowing.
Sally
Broadway Star Joined: 5/12/03
#2Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 4:37am
How different is too different?
The additional songs? The story is the same, the characters are the same, they go the same places and do the same things, and it ends the same (with one little twist).
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#3Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 5:51am
Yes.
ALW's songs are an unneeded addition to something that is perfect the way it is..
And the fact he's put his name above the title, like it was his idea.
He's a pompous douche bag...
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#5Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 6:19am
"And the fact he's put his name above the title, like it was his idea."
That's because he's the producer, you dick.
#5Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 8:16amOnly if they bring it here without the new material.
#6Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 8:53am
Dumb as it sounds too, I think alot of the average Americans that would go would have issue with the look of the piece because it is not a carbon coppy of the film. No pointy hats, no bubbles.
Personally I dont see what the big deal is, so they are new songs, it needs them, sure they could have been better songs, but it needed something extra added in.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27199361@N08/ Phantom at the Royal Empire Theatre
DeNada
Broadway Star Joined: 7/7/07
#7Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 9:08am
The show has not had stellar reviews and the audience has not "eaten it up". The reviews were generally good-to-fine, but not out-and-out raves, and the show is reportedly struggling to break even on a weekly basis with rumours of a closure in February (they ARE just rumours at present, could be malicious, I don't know).
I don't know whether the denizens of this board are the right people to judge how "beloved" Wizard of Oz is to America as a whole, bearing in mind it's a musical starring Judy Garland (and I'm not an American myself so I couldn't say either way). It's been a tough enough sell here in the UK even with a TV casting show to find (an excellent) Dorothy and Michael Crawford as the Wizard. I'm not sure ALW and Bill Kenwright would take the risk on a Broadway transfer.
#8Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 10:22am
On the other hand, there are regional and road company productions all the time, and I assume they're successful or they wouldn't still be happening. And Lloyd Webber is still a name that even non-New Yorkers recognize and value.
I'm not saying I'm hoping it comes. The clips I've seen look dreadful, IMO, and I really dislike the new songs--and I actually quite like ALW's work.
But I wouldn't be surprised if it did.
jimmycurry01
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/05
#9Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/17/11 at 2:39pmAndrew Lloyd Webber may indeed be a recognizable name, but people haven't exactly flocked to see any of his new shows in the US over the past two decades. I don't think he has the selling power he used to have.
#11Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/18/11 at 4:15pmClap I usually agree with your posts but I have to say I hate that ALW has his name above the title, same as when he did Sound of Music. Very few producers have their name about the title like that.
#12Wizard of Oz Transfer?
Posted: 8/18/11 at 5:45pm
This was the latest entry in the reality competition series to cast the lead and not a single one of those productions transferred, so I wouldn't expect this one to do so, either. And it seems to be garnering the least ticket sales of those particular shows.
And I agree that padding the score with some new material was not a bad one at all. It's just Lloyd Webber's contributions were rather poor. Should have been the Shermans or Ahrens & Flaherty.
Very few producers have their name about the title like that.
Only the ones who think it might sell tickets. Ask Oprah Winfrey.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Videos