If/Then selling out?- Page 2

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 1:46am

The artwork and premise are enough to bore me to years. I have zero interest in this. Zilch.

[promisespromises2]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 5:52am

I saw it in DC twice and I can't see it lasting very long on Broadway. However, I can see it being "busy" for the first few months because of Idina and LaChanze. I only say this because 80% of people at the stage door both times I went to see it were only there to see her and Idina.

[Stevie72]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 6:00am

She might she is very good in this in a difficult piece

[Stevie72]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 6:01am

who do you think will win a Tony Sutton Foster come on Idina has more talent

[adamgreer]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 7:15am

I seem to recall people on the board assuring us this team's last Broadway outing would never enjoy a long run, either.

[Libby1209]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 8:10am

So essentially what you're all saying is that IF I want to see it...I should buy the cheap tickets?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 8:39am

So the throngs of theatergoers who saw Idina in Rent (including people who saw her in it 25 times) and or Wicked (ditto) and saw her on tv in the concert version of Chess have no idea who she is?

(I don't think this means it's nec. going to sell out, Still, I think that "no one has a clue who she is" when speaking of the subset of the general population who buy tickets to musicals is far from convincing)

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 9:47am

Nobody has a clue who she is by name association outside of Manhattan, love.

Living outside of Manhattan, I can tell you that I think you underestimate her fame. A majority of my non-theatre going friends and family are at least aware of her name (as in, if I asked them to name a Broadway performer, Idina’s name would be one they could likely throw out there). Now, I don’t know if seeing her name on the marquee would sway them to buy tickets if they were looking for a show to go to, but many are at least likely to have name recognition when they see it.

As for selling out or not, this is one of the shows I am most anticipating and didn’t want to take any chances, so I got my tickets already. At least in the theatre community, between “Rent,” “Wicked,” and “Next to Normal” fans, this will likely be a “must-see” toward the beginning of the run, whether it turns out to be good or bad.

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 9:54am

While she's not a household name, if you said to the average person who has any knowledge of Wicked, "She's the Elphaba on the CD," there would be some recognition of her. Plus, given recent events, I think if you said, "She's the voice of Elsa the Snow Queen in Frozen," that would be a greater acknowledge of her existence to the average person. It won't necessarily sell seats, but it certainly might help.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 12:55pm

"who do you think will win a Tony Sutton Foster come on Idina has more talent"

Perhaps we should wait until either of these performances have had their first preview before weighing in on which (of the two, I guess these two already beat the other fictitious three?) will win the Tony for which they aren't yet nominated?

[mschwager]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 1:13pm

They are really promoting this whole two storylines thing with their new marketing in a way they didn't in DC. I have faith this team can solve most of the problems this show had. It has an amazing cast and gorgeous music, so if they fix the story a bit, this can really take off I think.
New Marketing Pic

[NewSynchopation]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 3:35pm

Think about how many Wocked fanatics there are. A lot.
Star power isn't the question here, it's the show itself. Tom Kitt tends to go flop, hit, flop, hit, so we should be good with If/Then.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 3:58pm

My boyfriend says he wants to get wocked

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 1/27/14 at 4:01pm

Didn't the show get decent reviews in DC? Menzel got very strong reviews and the show, while it had some issues, was gaining some pretty good buzz.
I think it will be a hit. They just need to fricking get rid of the ugly posters.

[jv92]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 8:52am

I actually enjoyed NEXT TO NORMAL even more when Ripley left the show and Marin and Jason took over. When I first saw it, as much as I liked Ripley, I liked the writing even more.

Having said that, this show interests me very little, except that I really think Kitt and Yorkey are really talented writers, and I hope that they surprise me. (I'm seeing it-- bought my ticket for late March already.) I really don't think Idina Menzel is all that wonderful, Rapp annoys the crap out of me (Oh look! I rhymed!), and I think LaChanze will be out the day I see it. But I do look forward to a surprising piece of musical theater writing. It'd be nice if the cast and the idea of the show interested me more, but perhaps it will when I leave the theater after the show.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 8:58am

I enjoyed Next to Normal equally with both Broadway casts and loved both Alice's and Marin's very different takes on Diana.

[GatorNY]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 10:33am

I think that Idina and Sutton will be losing the TONY AWARD to Miss Marin.

Also James Snyder is likely to bring all the Cry Baby fans out of hiding. Just kidding.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 10:43am

"Rapp annoys the crap out of me (Oh look! I rhymed!)"

Uhh, unless Rapp rhymes constantly off-stage, it seems you are confusing the actor with the characters he has played?! Onstage, the dialogue is actually written for them and they say it...

That said, I can't even sort out what rhyming you refer to, heh.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 11:44am

According to Riedel, Marin may be competing as featured. But before anyone sees the show, I don't know how anyone can possibly guess how the committee will treat the role of Helen. My guess is that the role might fall into that could-legitimately-be-a-lead-or-featured area, but at this point who really knows? (and often what's genuinely lead v. featured doesn't enter into the discussion of how a role is treated for the Tonys)

Anyway, if Marin is considered a lead, one would think she might well be a strong contender, especially given that other leading actresses this season already have gotten tonys for best actress in a musical (in Sutton's case, two of them).

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 11:44am

According to Riedel, Marin may be competing as featured. But before anyone sees the show, I don't know how anyone can possibly guess how the committee will treat the role of Helen. My guess is that the role might fall into that could-legitimately-be-a-lead-or-featured area, but at this point who really knows? (and often what's genuinely lead v. featured doesn't enter into the discussion of how a role is treated for the Tonys)

Anyway, if Marin is considered a lead, one would think she might well be a strong contender, especially given that other leading actresses this season already have gotten tonys for best actress in a musical (in Sutton's case, two of them).

[CoreyRyan3]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 1:16pm

I don't know who you're referencing (I'm guessing only Sutton and Idina?) but not all the contenders for Best Actress in a Musical have received a Tony.

Michelle Williams, Jessie Mueller, Kelli O'Hara?

[jv92]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 8:26pm

Uh...Rapp and crap rhyme. And he annoys me as an actor. His whiny voice, his pretentiously intense acting choices-- perhaps I'll like him this time. I hope so. But I'm sorry, darling Anthony Rapp fan oasisjeff, that I offended you.

I would really love to see Marin win a Tony-- featured or leading. People don't (or shouldn't) work for awards, and she's had a long and wonderful career and is recognized as a great singing actress, but it would be fun to see her win.

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 8:55pm

I saw the show in DC at the VERY end of the run, when they had rewritten the most confusing scenes. I LOVED it, except when I hated it. (That's an If/Then reference). The end was a real tearjerker, and I couldn't stop thinking about the story. Idina has PRESENCE, just as LaCHanze does. Hit? It deserves to be.

[blaxx]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 10:25pm

Living outside of Manhattan, I can tell you that I think you underestimate her fame. A majority of my non-theatre going friends and family are at least aware of her name

Oh, well, nobody told me that your three friends and your family actually knew who she was.

I apologize, she's practically Madonna. Expect this to sell out for 30 years.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 1/28/14 at 10:26pm

There's a mention in today's Washington Post that If/Then wasn't nominated for any Helen Hayes Awards (the major D.C. theater awards, for those who aren't familiar with them), because they didn't send tickets to the judges. I was a bit surprised, but then I have no idea whether a D.C. theater award is a prestigious thing for a Broadway show to have, or whether it would have created positive buzz for the show. Maybe they just didn't think it was worth it!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/helen-hayes-award-nominations-announced/2014/01/27/102c87b2-878b-11e3-a760-a86415d0944d_story.html