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August 18, 2007
Embargo: Theater Monster Edition
Interesting Variety piece on Young Frankenstein, which is now playing in Seattle in its out-of-town "tryout."
The primary focus of the piece is on the $480 tickets available for the Broadway run. 480 bucks! But this is Broadway's dance with EBay, StubHub, etc. The producers of the show also put the show in the much hated Hilton Theater, which is about 500 seats bigger and considered by many to be a modern equivalent to a barn.
It’s also fascinating to watch the show’s team rationalize why Young Frankenstein will be a leggier hit than The Producers was… but no one brings up the current struggles of Avenue Q and Spamalot, two other Tony winners that are not as star driven as The Producers was. Spamalot has for months been spending heavily on advertising to bolster what was a saggy weekly gross.
Anyway… the thing that really caught my eye was the notion that Young Frankenstein was “opening” in Seattle next Thursday, the 23rd. Huh? The show has been running since August 7. And the show closes in Seattle after the September 1 show. So…
It seems that the answer is that New Yorkers and others have taken to reviewing major Broadway-bound productions on the road, much to the irritation of producers who are trying to work out the kinks (at $100 a ticket for Seattlers who want the best seats). And so, structure. The show “opens” so that it might close a week later and pack up for New York.
(And an FYI... looks like John C. Reilly may follow up his Dewey Cox turn with a turn on Broadway as Nathan Detroit opposite Debra Messing and with Anne Hathaway & Patrick Wilson as their opposite romantic numbers.)
Posted by poland at August 18, 2007 12:52 PM
Comments
The $480 scam is relatively new (or at least a more outrageously expensive version of a relatively new scam), but the "opening" date thing is not -- it's been standard procedure at least as far back as when "Lion King" tried out in Minneapolis a decade ago. It was here for months, but "opened" with a week or to go in the run, and practically every try-out show does the same. (And I get why they need time to work out kinks before inviting reviewers, but the scam there is that audience do not play discounted prices, although they're seeing pre-opening "previews")
Posted by: chris ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 18, 2007 01:27 PM
Surely there must be shills out there willing to part with $480 bucks to see a monster in top hat and tails dancing to 'Putting On The Ritz.'
Posted by: Spacesheik at August 18, 2007 04:01 PM
Rarh-rarh-rarh-rarh-rarh.
Posted by: doug r at August 18, 2007 09:18 PM
PRODUCERS was indeed a star vehicle. Having seen it in NY, LA and London, I can attest that PRODUCERS with Nathan Lane is a considerably different show than PRODUCERS with anyone else.
Funny about the imminent revial of GUYS AND DOLLS, which was last revived with Nathan as his (literal) namesake. It all comes back to Nathan Lane!
Posted by: Cadavra at August 19, 2007 11:57 AM
Saw the show here last week. It's no PRODUCERS. The songs are a bit lame, Mel's book is creaky, and for what he once said would be a "family show," it has more potty humor than the movie (not a good thing for a long-running touring show). But the crowd loved it. The sets, the key moments from the movie, the performances and the "Puttin on the Ritz" number are pure gold. As far as ticket prices, there are $90 seats in the loges, but you can get a main floor seat in the back for $40. The balconies are ghost towns.
Posted by: seattlemoviegoer at August 19, 2007 06:20 PM
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