Young Frankenstein to take the Hilton?- Page 2

[D2]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 11:49am

It might taste a little too much like crow for some people, Husk.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 11:56am

Or when people call work by respected composers "crap"

just saying.

[D2]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:05pm

Touché, CPD

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:09pm

Yes BJH -- I do think the PQ numbers will fall off quickly. The show has been fueled (like all Broadway shows) by group ticket sales. Typically, when shows open to the kinds of reviews that greeted PQ, huge numbers of group sales parties cancel.

People are citing PQ's "rising Box office" receipts week to week - but its too early to really say that. As it is, the show is barely hovering at break even. If the numbers decrease at all - the show is going to start losing millions of dollars on top of its initial investment.

Perhaps the wealthy producers of the show will keep pumping money into it - but I think it will be viewed as a lost cause by August or so.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:16pm

Ah, a bitter QUEEN-head. No wonder bjh is spewing vitriol about CURTAINS all over the board.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:19pm

Actually Rath, I didn't even like Pirate Queen that much. I just think that it got worse reviews than it deserved. I am not saying it won't flop, I just hate that people keep being like "IT'S OVER! MIGHT AS WELL PACK UP AND GO NOW PIRATE QUEEN!" I just find it somewhat unnecessary. As for Curtains, I am not the only one who didn't like it. I think my problem with it was that I went in expecting a lot, and it was somewhat of a let down for me. But like I said, it had its good qualities and bad qualitites.

[D2]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:21pm

Well, since CURTAINS has now been brought up, the whole PQ/YF/Hilton Theatre thing can be summed up in one of Kander's songs:

IT'S A BUSINESS.

Updated On: 4/18/07 at 12:21 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:25pm

"IT'S A BUSINESS."

Fair enough.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:45pm

Whether or not Brooks needs another home for Young Frankenstein, the idea that Stroman and company can't see the theater during a rehearsal ignores the fact that this is a business and that actors are used to heartbreaking moments where they realize their show is closing.

Whether we like it or not, this is a business and theater owners, producers, directors and others are not particularly concerned about the feelings of people in the production. While the team could probably have seen the theater at another time, we do not know what is going on behind the scenes, and whose schedule had to be accommodated. Perhaps it was just thoughtlessness on the part of the theater staff. Who knows.

In any case, we can always count on Riedel to lurk in the wings and capture moments out of context in order to keep his grist mill turning. It occurs to me that by Riedel publishing this, he has hurt PQ even more. Anyone reading his column may decide NOT to buy tickets because they believe the show is closing soon, or because they think the show must suck.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 12:55pm

Well, he is gonna need to make his decision soon (like, by the middle of May at the latest). If Pirate Queen does well until then, which, I hear it's sales through June/July are pretty good, then He'll have to do the St. James.

[AudreyTwoTwo]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 3:56pm

NOOOO! NOT THE HILTON! IT WILL CLOSE! EVERYTHING FLOPS THERE!
(well, at least recently things havent done so well.)

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 4:03pm

I don't really see how a show can be forced out if they are selling tickets.

Plus Brooks is coming off like an asshole in this article...i mean that is the weay i read it.

Updated On: 4/18/07 at 04:03 PM

[D2]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 4:07pm

Oh the naiveté!

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 4:12pm

"NOOOO! NOT THE HILTON! IT WILL CLOSE! EVERYTHING FLOPS THERE!
(well, at least recently things havent done so well.)"

The Hilton/Ford Center has only housed something like seven shows in its lifetime... only one or two of which were good.

Actually, now that I've brought it up, are 42nd Street and Ragtime considered flops? They seem to have been the most successful shows to open at this theatre, along with The Grinch...

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 4:18pm

Despite their long runs, Ragtime and 42nd Street were both financial flops.

[Shakespearean]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 4:25pm

Mel Brooks MUST be villified, he had the nerve to produce a show which stole all those Tonys. Why, with all that money he's made, he's almost as evil as Disney, who has the nerve to sell all those tickets to shows that take up space other productions might use. Thank God we still have a few ethical producers who care less about running successful shows, otherwise we might never have seen Moose Murders come to the stage.

(Removes tongue from cheek before it pokes through)
Updated On: 4/18/07 at 04:25 PM

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 5:00pm

When producers sign the contract with the theatre/theatre owner, there is typically a clause that if the attendence drops below a certain point for two weeks, the theatre reserves the right to essentially vacate the show. It is rarely invoked, but, it is generally there for 99% of Broadway rental agreements...

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 5:04pm

When producers sign the contract with the theatre/theatre owner, there is typically a clause that if the attendence drops below a certain point for two weeks, the theatre reserves the right to essentially vacate the show. It is rarely invoked, but, it is generally there for 99% of Broadway rental agreements...

Exactly. And with a guarenteed money maker (at least for a year) with Mel Brooks, a classic movie and Megan Mullally (who has a strong fan base), wouldn't you kick out PQ?

[C is for Company]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 5:11pm

Didn't the recent revival of 42nd Street make it a couple of years to recoup?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 5:17pm

I don't think they ever recouped, did they? I know they came THIS close.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 5:17pm

I'm not sure if 42ND STREET recouped after the national tour and all extra stuff but when it closed on Broadway it closed on red after a 4 year run, I believe. I don't think that had everything to do wih the Hilton though, didn't they have a cast of 40 or something crazy like that?

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 5:19pm

Yankee - That's what I wasn't sure of... I couldn't remember if they actually did recoup or if they just came OH SO close.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 5:34pm

They came close, but 42nd Street did not end up recouping during the 4 year run, leave it Dodgers to keep a show open that long w/o recouping...

[winston89]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 10:32pm

I thought that the whole reason they closed Producers is becuse it wasn't selling and Brooks needed theatre space for YF. So, he figured that he could kill two birds with one stone by closing the prodcers which wasn't doing well at all and then put his new show there.

Also, had Maria Friedman not gotten cancer during her stint in Women in White on broadway then that show would have closed faster then you could say the title. Most of the audience soon became full of people who saw her human interest story on the news and hoped that she was okay, or at least wanted to show her how they loved her and supported her through her journey. That is what sold tickets during its short run was the fact that a human interest story came from the show. I am not at all saying that her getting cancer is a bad thing and that I am okay with it ect. But, keep in mind that the experession goes that there is no such thing as bad poblicity. The producers don't care how tickets get sold for most shows just as long as tickets get sold period.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/18/07 at 10:38pm

That is complete bullsh*t. People didn't see the show because they wanted to see "the amazing cancer girl."