Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
#1Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/10/13 at 4:19pm
Just a thought, if you are from the New York area this will not affect you, it is aimed at the people like me who go and have a Broadway theatre vacation, to get their fix on theatre.
So wondering to be a bit more flexible, whether Off Broadway should do a matinee on Tuesday or Thursday instead of Wednesday? I imagine there are a few theatre tourists who would welcome this?
#2Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/10/13 at 4:32pmI love it when the occasional Off Broadway show does a 5PM performance on Saturdays in lieu of the matinee. This allows us weekend bingers to cram three shows into one day. Sunday evening shows are always appreciated and Friday matinees would be, too.
loliveve
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/24/12
#2Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/10/13 at 4:34pmYES!!! I was just thinking about this earlier in the week.
#3Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/10/13 at 4:59pm
My general perception is most off-Broadway shows (excepting the major theatre companies that produce off-Broadway) do Monday nights and take Tuesdays off, which is akin to the strategy you're suggesting. There are also a good number more off-Bway shows on Sunday nights at TKTS than on Broadway, but very rarely any I particularly want to see.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
Updated On: 10/10/13 at 04:59 PM
yankeefan7
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/14/12
#4Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/10/13 at 5:49pmSounds like a good idea to me !!
#5Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/10/13 at 7:32pmI have always felt that this would be a good idea.
#6Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/10/13 at 7:38pm
I haven't done a survey and won't pretend I have comprehensive information on this subject.
But here's an anecdote: on my first trip to NYC, I traded my ticket to HAIR (intermission and I'd seen it on tour) to one for 1776 (no intermission) which got me out in time to take a cab downtown to catch THE FANTASTICKS! (I have never regretted doing so.) I think the latter was doing a 5 or 5:30 pm matinee.
I don't suppose your average New Yorker will want to pile on like that, but for visitors with limited days, it's a godsend.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#7Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/11/13 at 5:22amI've caught a few shows like that ^, but I would doubt that there are enough of "us" to make alternate schedules be financially sensible. Even ON B'way, when only one or two shows try something different (Friday matinees for example) they have not been successful (I forget who tried a summer or two ago, and then wne tback to regular scheduling. Its hard to change the public's expectations.
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These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#8Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/11/13 at 5:58amBook of Mormon was going to do Friday matinees at one point, but I don't remember if they actually did or not.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#9Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/11/13 at 10:33am
Good pointers to consider here are:
1, That there are much more people than who we think, that come to New York just to see theatre, your normal Statue of Liberty/Empire State Building tourist (I was one once), will be more inclined to see a Broadway show and will see a evening show, where weekday matinee are more observed by the ardent theatre goer like us and the retired.
Also the worst job to have to see theatre is bizarrely is to work in theatre as each theatre generally is identical to each other schedule wise, if you had an alternative schedule many people who work in theatre both front of house, acting and backstage have a perfect opportunity to see a off Broadway show, they could easily see a matinee, be out by 4pm - 5pm have something to eat, then clock in at 6pm for their evening respective evening shows. I would imagine theatre staff would find it off putting to travel into Manhattan on their day off to catch a show and would rather chill at home.
That’s why I see Tuesday and Thursday off Broadway matinees as a workable alternative?
stevenycguy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
#10Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/11/13 at 10:54amI always make a note of the off-Broadway performances that have a non-traditional schedule (such as Saturday 11am, Saturday 5pm, Friday/Saturday 10:30pm). For example, the upcoming La Soiree at the Union Square Theater will have 10pm performances on Fridays and Saturdays, as well as a 5pm performance on Sunday. I wish every theater would do this (especially the 90 minute shows).
#11Should Off Broadway Do A Alternative Show Schedule
Posted: 10/11/13 at 1:06pm
I don't "get" one part of your post. You say "instead of Wednesday" matinee. Many OFF Broadway shows don't do ANY weekday matinees. I'd even welcome some on a Wednesday.
I've always loved London where you can generally see two shows any day, and sometimes even three with their twilight matinees.