Truly looking forward to this. Loved the original and saw it numerous times. The truth is though that the original barely filled the then Plymouth which is a much smaller house than the Marquis. I even thought the Rodgers was too large for this. My pick would have been the Atkinson. Well, it's a limited run and I wish them the best of luck. Hopefully the devoted Jekkies which kept the original going and Deborah Cox and Constantine fans will fill the seats. I for one am a fan of the show and Ms. Cox. Constantine and his hammy schtick I could do without.
I believe I read in another thread that an extension would not be possible due to Scarlett's commitment to the second Avengers film, which will begin filming immediately following the closing of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.
This seems like a bad move. The Rodgers at least has some character and adds to the creepy feeling of the show. The Marquis is just like a touring house.
Agreed. The coloring and minimalist design of the Marquis will probably highlight the IMO unattractive and uninteresting Jekyll and Hyde set.
And I'm kinda confused still. Is this going to just be the tour production planted into the Marquis, or are they changing design elements and/or casting?
Its the tour production - contracts through August, if its a hit it will extend. No casting changes. Very few changes have been made from the original few weeks (after seeing it in Philly last), but there's still time to do some more tweaking (and can be expected for the Broadway run).
Its also always misrepresented that the show didn't "sell" in its original run - the attendance was fine, even very good in the middle years after Linda/Christiane/Bob left, but it was often discounted with Pimpernel or Civil War together, if I remember correctly. The theatre being small didn't help the (expensive) operating costs - it wasn't a very smart choice of a theatre.
The tour has been doing very well on attendance - usually full house. They have been playing venues that seat 3,000+
A few of the actors in the show (not the leads) did a M & G a few weeks back and they said the production would start doing some tweaking in LA and during previews.
I think this will fit well into the Marquis. The Marquis is similar to the barns the show played on the road. When I saw it in San Diego, the production fit very well into a large modern theatre.
It needs a good tweaking for some numbers that I thought would've changed by the time it reached Philly, particularly the finale (directed like the most overdramatic soap opera) and "Bring on the Men." Can't believe the ridiculous "Facade" reprise following "Murder" still existed, and was surprised they didn't add more humor to the murders as seen in the past productions.
But on a positive the tour has been selling terrifically, as said above. Surely a mixture of the title/legacy and the new stars.
Yes, the tour will be starting back up after the Broadway run, though which cast members stick with the show remains to be seen.
Like any tour that isn't Wicked/Lion King/Les Miz that sells out no matter where it goes, this tour has been having some really good weeks, and some really "eh" weeks. Not sure how that will bode for Broadway.
if it is indeed selling very well on the road, a three month Broadway run at the Marquis may not be long enough. I see this getting extended until Labor Day(to start at least).
I don't doubt it will run for a little while. I mean, I think he's a great choice for Dr. Jekyll. I'm worried about the direction. He's not a good director. And second, what made the original's weekly running cost so high? It didn't seem like it was such a big set or anything.
The lab set and Jekyll's parlor were large pieces, which entered and exited by hydraulics. Cast of 26 (then celebrity casting)... Current cast is still 23, however.
Take in mind that the theatre (Plymouth-then, Schoenfield) is not all that large to begin with and they were skating by quite frequently from sales and operating costs.
I think Calhoun has done a decent job, but I wouldn't really pin this as a "revisal." There are some obvious "why would he do that"s in there.
Their desire was to create a leaner, meaner version of the show with this tour. Problem is they changed some things that didn't need to be fixed; for example, they cut a whole subplot that didn't even take up that much space by the time the show reached Broadway the first time. Nonetheless, I await the result.
Yes, the tour will be starting back up after the Broadway run, though which cast members stick with the show remains to be seen.
I've seen no mention of carrying the tour on post-Broadway. The whole point of the tour was to have a 25 week out of town tryout in different markets. The tour extended. I think to 30 weeks.
I think they hope to have the show in NYC as long as possible. They may have announced a closing date for NYC, but I think they hope to extend it if the market is there.
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joined:5/3/03
Posted: 1/22/13 at 09:15am