Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Jay94
Featured Actor Joined: 4/10/11
#1Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 7:55am
What are some shows that you thought or that people thought in general would run for much longer?
I believe Billy Elliot was expected to run for much longer in fact i'm shocked that it closed so soon after being sold out for most of 2009 and doing pretty well in 2010.
Another one is Sunset Boulevard which i think was expected to be another mega-musical that would run for years
Titanic???
Jerome Robbins Broadway???
Sweeney Todd???
lupone76
Featured Actor Joined: 12/9/11
#2Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:29amBilly for sure cause it did so well at the box office and review wise as a whole. Sunset had a lucrative start at the box office while Glen Close was starring and after she left the box office fizzled. The show was also very expensive to run. Jerome Robbins ran for just about as long as a show of that nature should run. Titanic ran actually a tad longer than it should have. Sweeney was a dark Sondheim musical and as artistically wonderful as dark Sondheim musicals are they never seem to run for all that long. I believe the original La Cage was expected to have a longer run. Also Rent eventhough it lasted about 12 yrs was expected to run even longer. Avenue Q also ended it's Broadway run sooner than I expected. Memphis is running much longer than it should have.
#2Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:30am
I feel like the original RAGTIME was meant to be a mega-hit....a massive theatre was built for it, a history of the USA and topical issues (racism etc.), great performances, score and special effects (fireworks?)...to me it seemed like it wanted to be an American tourist attraction that would have run indefinitely...but maybe I have the wrong impression.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 5/7/12 at 08:30 AM
lupone76
Featured Actor Joined: 12/9/11
lupone76
Featured Actor Joined: 12/9/11
#4Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:37amAlso comes to mind is last years Catch Me, while it was far from a mega hit it should have run longer than it did.
Jay94
Featured Actor Joined: 4/10/11
#5Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:39amAgree with Ragtime and wasn't The Producers supposed to run forever on Broadway?
Jay94
Featured Actor Joined: 4/10/11
#6Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 8:45amI also find it interesting that Ragtime made 44 million during 1998 selling 725,217 tickets. That show would never have such an incredible wide appeal today as it had not that long ago.
bwaylvsong
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
#7Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 9:08am
Titanic
Ragtime
Billy
Beauty and the Beast
Tarzan
South Pacific
The Pirate Queen
The Woman in White
Women on the Verge
Spamalot
The Producers
Shrek
Updated On: 5/7/12 at 09:08 AM
#8Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 9:09am
Various productions of GYPSY might well have been expected to run longer than they did, starting with the original production which received glowing reviews yet ran for just 702 performances. Perhaps Ethel Merman had a say in the modest run of this hit, wanting to take the show out on the road for 6 months. After all, what star of today would stay with a show for 702 performances, let alone tour with it. And who would have replaced Merman, if the show continued on Broadway?
The Patti LuPone GYPSY also received excellent notices but ran for under a year and frequently at less than capacity. I believe it was expected to run longer.
"Madam Rose...and her daughter...Gypsy!"
Jay94
Featured Actor Joined: 4/10/11
#10Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 9:12am
Victor/Victoria started out doing very well but fizzled
Beauty and the Beast (really? 13 years ain't bad)
The revival of South Pacific ran for 996 performances (couldn't they just have fit in 4 more shows to make it to the 1000, that's very odd to me)
Young Frankenstein is a great example
#11Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 9:28amI feel like Disney was trying to set The Little Mermaid up as a big, long-running show, given all the money they spent on it. Shame it turned out so badly.
bwaylvsong
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
#12Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 9:54amYes, SP and Batb had amazing runs, but both were expected to run even longer.
#13Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 9:59am
The Odd Couple, reuniting Lane and Broderick.
Unfortunately, the show was terrible.
#14Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 11:53am
Billy Elliot
Women on the Verge
42nd Street revival
Next to Normal
Hairspray
Xanadu
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Updated On: 5/7/12 at 11:53 AM
willep
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/08
#15Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 12:15pmYeah, Billy Elliot is the first one that comes to mind for me.
egghumor
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/9/11
#16Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 12:39pm
The Scottsboro Boys
Amour
Taboo
King Hedley II
Gem of the Ocean
Radio Golf
Anna in the Tropics
#17Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 12:56pm
Next to Normal and Xanadu we not expected to run longer even in the slightest, they were suprise "hits" (I have hits in quotes because Xanadu technically was not a hit since it did not recoup, but it ran 12 times longer than anyone expected...a year) both shows ran longer than much longer than many expected them to run..especially being such small shows
Also on the note of Shrek the Musical I was at opening night and one of the producers was talking to me and he told me they had budgeted the show so that it could recoup after running 3 years with a 50% capacity...which I guess went out the window at some point, since it did but its gross potential percentage did hover around the 50% and did take a nose dive in October, but then recovered. They honestly could of kept it running...its holiday, spring,and summer grosses, would have made up for the slight losses in the fall and winter.
#18Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:16pm
WeeThomas, The Odd Couple starring Lane and Broderick was a planned limited engagement from September 2005 - May 2006, and even got extended until June. Tickets sold out the first day, within hours. I think it did pretty well...
nasty_khakis
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/15/07
#19Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:23pm
The producers of Xanadu honestly were pleased it ran as long as it did. I'm sure they wanted longer purely from a fiscal standpoint, but they told me many times "We were told a month, but lasted a year." They had another Whoopi-style stunt cast all set and ready but that fell through so they announced closing hoping to get a new "name" in the show.
Shrek may have budgeted that, but the theatre has a right to kick a show out if the show falls below a certain point and a new offer is made on the theatre. I think they'll recoup in London, tour, and I'm sure ametuer groups. Who knows, though?
#20Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:37pm
@nasty_khakis
Being given an eviction Notice by the Neaderlanders is the only reason I can think of for it closing..based on how they budgeted the show
Also I have a feeling thats also what happened to Mermaid or Cameron Mackintosh was like "No you are not closing Mary Poppin's so that you can move Mermaid into the New Amsterdam...." since their grosses were pretty even and add to that the New Amsterdam has 300 more seats than the Lunt Fontaine and you realize Disney was likely making way more money off of Mermaid than they were Poppins...If I had to bet Newsies is going to have the same fate as Mermaid despite selling out week after week...the only reason Poppins is still open is because Disney is not its sole producer
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#21Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:45pmSPRING AWAKENING was supposed to be the next RENT.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#22Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:48pm
The revival of South Pacific ran for 996 performances (couldn't they just have fit in 4 more shows to make it to the 1000, that's very odd to me)
Is there something about round numbers that's important to Broadway?
ChildrenwillListen
Featured Actor Joined: 3/12/12
#23Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 1:58pmI was really sad that Next to Normal and Billy Elliot and Hair didn't run as long as they should have.
#24Shows that were expected to run much longer?
Posted: 5/7/12 at 2:48pm
I truly believe Beauty & The Beast would have run longer.
I also think Ragtime & Billy Elliot too.
I remember when City of Angels (or was it Will Rogers Follies) closed and the times did an article about how it decided to close early to keep them wanting more. And it was actually a good idea instead of overstaying it's welcome.
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