“It was an uproarious triumph. Too bad you weren’t there to share it with me. I guess you were at your favorite holiday show, ‘The Christmasy Mystery of Edwin Drood,’ voting on another ending. My favorite is when the Maccabees win.”
I love Jackie Hoffman. And I would SO see that ending.
Historic flop houses (some have been 'rehabbed'): Nederlander - Pre Rent & Newsies, this was the most unloved of all houses Lunt Belasco Cort Longacre Ambassador - I know, Chicago, but here is an example of a hit show moving to a less desireable house and bringing its substantial word-of-mouth with it.
and in the long ago: Hirschfield-Beck ANTA-Virginia-Wilson - Both before Jujamcyn bought them
I'm curious where the direction of causality is. That is, are shows flopping because they are in these 'undesirable houses', or do the shows that tend to get undesirable houses (e.g. for competition reasons) tend to be the kind of shows that flop?
The Hellinger was a flop house and then a church bought it.
Once Sugar Babies closed in August 1982, nothing stayed more than six months and finally in Februay 1989 Legs Diamond closed it down as a theater. Link
I'm curious where the direction of causality is. That is, are shows flopping because they are in these 'undesirable houses', or do the shows that tend to get undesirable houses (e.g. for competition reasons) tend to be the kind of shows that flop?
I think there's some truth that theaters to the east of Broadway (are there any left?) tend to see less last-minute walk-in trade, but mostly I think it's a matter of superstition and availability. A theater has a couple of flops, so it's free and available for the weakest entries of the next season and has several more flops. Etc. and so forth until an unexpected hit plays there and everyone forgets it is a "flop house".
Aside from people like those who post here, I'd wager that most of the public doesn't know one theater from another. They hear about the shows/stars and choose a theater only because of the show presented there.
Gaveston, there are three Broadway houses that are east of Broadway still, the Cort, the Belasco, and the Lyceum. I believe they are the only ones, and then of course the Hirschfeld is the other oddball and is west of 8th.
Thank you, perfectlymarvelous. I'm embarrassed to admit that even when I lived in NYC for 8 years (70s-80s), I couldn't keep all those theaters straight. Of course I knew the difference between the Uris and the Winter Garden. But some of the smaller, "straight play" houses were easily confused in my mind.
And hence why I think the general public chooses a play, not a theater.
Damn, I felt like I was forgetting one, haha. So there are four, not three, that are east of Broadway.
And Gaveston, I am obviously the same...I've been coming to the city all my life and I've lived here for about 4.5 years and still can't keep some of the Broadway houses straight in my mind, especially the ones where I've only seen a show or two.
"Aside from people like those who post here, I'd wager that most of the public doesn't know one theater from another. They hear about the shows/stars and choose a theater only because of the show presented there."
I certainly don't--pretty much all I know is that the Gershwin is huge.
Interesting. Always though the Gershwin and Circle in the Square had awful street life, but I guess it's always been that way.
And back to the thread, I just wish theater architect's, etc, would realize that we don't need bigger theaters. Like the Book of Mormon, it's better to be in a smaller theater and selling out everyday than be in some huge barn.
I'm not sure it's fair to characterize a theater as a 'flop house' once it's been around for over 50 years. WOSQ cited the Lunt-Fontanne, which reopened as a legit house in 1957. Since then it's had some long-running hits (THE SOUND OF MUSIC, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), a bunch of solid runs (TITANIC, THE LITTLE MERMAID, THE ADDAMS FAMILY), and some real train wrecks (AIN'T BROADWAY GRAND, A BROADWAY MUSICAL, PEG). But all of those shows probably landed at the Lunt for economic and scheduling reasons, and the hits would've been hits in any house and the flops would've flopped no matter where they played. Over the years, any theater will have its share of hits and misses
I think producers prefer theatres which are midsized like the Shubert or Lunt rather than big theatres which are difficult to fill. Broadway does seem to have more midsized theatres but the theatres with big capacity aren't as big compared to regional theatres like the Pantages or Curran or West End theatres like Drury Lane, Dominion etc.
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joined:3/4/06
Posted: 12/14/12 at 05:28am