Why Isn't She Loves Me a Monster Hit

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 6:59pm

i know it has never been a monster hit in the past, but the reviews were mostly love letters, citing a great story, score, cast, and production values.  Yet it did 91% in a week in which so many shows did better.  I would have expected it to sell out for at least awhile, based on the critical reception. 

 

I actually have have not seen the show yet, but have tickets for late May, and can't wait.  The reviews only made me more excited.

 

So, what it the issue?

 

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 7:09pm

It's a musical from the 60's that hasn't been advertised as much as some other shows and has no OBVIOUS big draw. Word of mouth and tony-noms could help the show to become a big one though.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 7:15pm

It's been doing very well, given the show's low-key old-fashioned appeal and the absolutely pathetic marketing campaign Roundabout has put behind it. Also, worth noting that the grosses have a lower ceiling than commercial shows because of the subscriber base. 

[Steve C.]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 7:16pm

Hi J, you are absolutely right! I saw the show, (from a front row seat) on Wednesday and I was completely in heaven. I think some people are still stuck on the idea that SLM is an "old fashioned and dated" musical". And I'm too young to have seen previous productions. I don't know why people don't have that opinion about older plays like Miller and Ibsen. They are interpreted in a new way, so why think a musical is too old?

Back to SLM, I can not remember smiling so much days after I've seen a show. The cast is superb. There is not a weak performance from anyone! Laura and Zachary are perfect together and Jane and Gavin are so, so very good. Their dancing left me speechless. Michael McGrath is giving one of the best performances of his career (and I've seen him in several shows). The set of the parfumerie is probably the most gorgeous I have ever seen on Broadway period!

So if people have doubts, just go see it. It is a true gem.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 7:48pm

I can't say for sure, but here are a couple of my thoughts. Let me start by saying I ADORE the score and play both recordings all the time.

1. It's a charm show, not a blockbuster. The original production ran 300 performances, which wasn't bad for a small cast musical opening on Broadway within the same 12 months or so of HELLO, DOLLY!, FUNNY GIRL and FADE OUT, FADE IN. (The latter was actually the biggest grosser of the three in its day and closed because its star, Carol Burnett, left abruptly, not because audiences weren't buying tickets.)

Even those of us who like Jerry Herman and Jule Styne might well argue that SHE LOVES ME's score shows more skill, but the evening as a whole doesn't generate the same excitement that sends people home to call their friends and scream, "You MUST see this show!" It will be interesting to look back in a few years, but I think we will be able to make the same comparison of FUN HOME and HAMILTON (I write, having seen neither show). FUN HOME is obviously a hit, but I doubt it will be the mega-hit that HAMILTON is proving to be.

2. Nobody likes to hear this, but I think SHE LOVES ME has some subtle second-act problems in its book. Once George sings the title song, the main plot is over; we know he and Amalia love each other and can only wait for the fact to be revealed to her. Meanwhile, there is the winding up of various subplots, none of which carries anything like the emotional weight of George/Amalia. And no matter how much we admire the brilliance of "A Trip to the Library" and "Twelve Days to Christmas", the one time I saw an actual production, I could feel the excitement of the audience deflate as they waited for a play to conclude when it felt, for the most part, already over.

(Other shows I love, including CARMELINA and THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY have similar problems: they don't quite end; they end and end and end. INTO THE WOODS would be another example if it didn't have that catchy title tune as a final reprise.)

The deflation of SHE LOVES ME's last 30 minutes only increases the feeling among many spectators that the show makes for a pleasant evening, but not an unforgettable one.

Obviously, all of the above is IMO only and let me reiterate that I am a SHE LOVES ME devotee (it is by far my favorite Bock and Harnick show) and I LOVE the songs at the end of Act II. It's the story that peters out erratically, not the quality of the score.

(ETA I agree that the show isn't dated, unless one thinks every score that isn't hip hop is hopelessly old-fashioned.)

Updated On: 4/4/16 at 07:48 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 7:53pm

"Even those of us who like Jerry Herman and Jule Styne might well argue that SHE LOVES ME's score shows more skill"

 

Or might very well not.

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 7:54pm

I'm pretty sure the reason why the show isn't selling extremely well is not the book. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:01pm

After Eight said: ""Even those of us who like Jerry Herman and Jule Styne might well argue that SHE LOVES ME's score shows more skill"

 

Or might very well not.

 

"

Do you ever have a supporting argument for any of your opinions?

I challenge you to find a single lyric in SHE LOVES ME that is as clumsy as Merrill's words for "Don't Rain on my Parade".

Or a single tune in HELLO, DOLLY! that is as touching as "Dear Friend". (And if you answer "Ribbons Down My Back", you're just wrong.)

 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:03pm

TerrenceIsTheMann said: "I'm pretty sure the reason why the show isn't selling extremely well is not the book. 

 

"

Oh, good. Yet another argument with no explanation or support.

As I understood the original question, it wasn't just about the current revival, but about ALL Broadway productions of a much-beloved--but never quite a smash hit--show.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:07pm

It's not a very good show, in my opinion. 

[10086sunset]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:11pm

Has there been any sort of advertising? 

Has anyone seen a tv spot?

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:12pm

I think a big reason is also that it's not a recognizable title. Pretty much the only people who have heard of the show are old musical fans. For the "average" tourist and occasional theater patron, it's not a known blockbuster (Phantom, Chicago), or based upon a known property (The Color Purple, An American in Paris), or known widely as a big hit (BoM, Hamilton). The title itself is quaint and perhaps a bit feminine (potentially off-putting to a crossover audience) and isn't a "Snakes on a Plane" title that would grab by itself.

So, you're left with a likely audience of people who read reviews, or are old-school theater fans, or those who are close to them. It's a hard sell to build awareness beyond that limited group. A few seasons ago, "Promises Promises" caught attention and extended - but arguably, that one had a better-known title (and composer) and bigger stars.

It's sad. I've been in love with She Loves Me since listening to the OBCR and viewing the YouTube video a few months ago and am floating above the ground with marvelous anticipation to seeing it in May. I really hope it will somehow catch fire. (I hoped the same for Drood). While it's open, let us celebrate it and sing its praises to those who will listen.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:13pm

"(And if you answer "Ribbons Down My Back", you're just wrong.)"

 

Aren't we told here all the time that an opinion is neither right nor wrong, just an opinion?

[Fantod]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:15pm

Are you not a fan of She Loves Me? It seems right up your alley.

Updated On: 4/4/16 at 08:15 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:15pm

Good point, Mark. And the title song isn't the standard it was in the 1960s.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:18pm

Obviously the show's not at Hamilton levels of sales, but it's doing very well for what it is. Monster hit, no, but 91% attendance is nothing to sneeze at. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:22pm

Fantod,

 

Of course I'm a fan of She Loves Me. I love it.

 

Just pointing out that fans of other composers might like their scores more.

 

That doesn't seem unreasonable to me. 

 

Why must the slightest observation raise such a ruckus around here?

 

 

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:22pm

No hit songs either, unless you count the "She Loves Me" gag reprised repeatedly on David Letterman over the years.

[Fantod]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:25pm

After Eight said: "Fantod,

 

Of course I'm a fan of She Loves Me. I love it.

 

Just pointing out that fans of other composers might like their scores more.

 

That doesn't seem unreasonable to me. 

 

Why must the slightest observation raise such a ruckus around here?

 

 I didn't doubt it, just saying that your only comment was incorrectly assumed by me to be negative towards the show.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:25pm

GavestonPS said: "Good point, Mark. And the title song isn't the standard it was in the 1960s."

 

True. It was only after listening to the OBCR, that I connected the two (I'd mostly remembered the song in a Martin Short schticky sense). When I mentioned it to my husband, he hadn't remembered the original - not helped, I'm certain, by my tone-deaf rendition. 

 

Updated On: 4/4/16 at 08:25 PM

[stevie3]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:28pm

Same reason why Honeymoon in Vegas wasn't. Today people don't want something traditional, they want controversy, they are people who are very unhappy and difficult, good times they cant understand. Too many drugs, and too much fast money came their way

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 8:45pm

It's my favorite show of all time (despite its admitted flaws), but it simply isn't a "hit" show. Even in its own time it wasn't.

No crowd pleasing spectacle, no groundbreaking innovations, no knockout belting, no true STAR (usually).

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 9:13pm

After Eight said: ""(And if you answer "Ribbons Down My Back", you're just wrong.)"

 

Aren't we told here all the time that an opinion is neither right nor wrong, just an opinion?

 

"

We may be told that but it's absurd. I may opine that the world is flat and I will be wrong if I do so. Millions have opined that Trump is qualified to be president and they are all mistaken.

I'm not asking for scientific proof of questions of taste, A8, but when you post only in brief snarks, it's impossible to engage with your opinion or even to really understand it.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 9:20pm

I am not in NY these days, so I don't know how good or bad a job is being done to market the show.  Sounds not that good, which is a shame; since Studio 54 is a smaller musical theatre, it should be that much easier to fill.

 

Maybe it's a case of Follies again..a show that so many people love, yet it is never a real hit.  At least, the She Loves Me revivals have gotten better reviews than the Follies ones.  (The original production of Follies remains my favorite production ever, but all other versions I have seen have been somewhat to greatly inferior to the original, not the case with She Loves Me).

 

You would think that, given the number of people who love this show, word of mouth would help.  I imagine the 54th Street location doesn't help too, though it clearly was not a problem for Cabaret or Jim Parson shows.

 

Updated On: 4/4/16 at 09:20 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/4/16 at 9:20pm

After Eight said: "Fantod,

 

Of course I'm a fan of She Loves Me. I love it.

 

Just pointing out that fans of other composers might like their scores more.

 

That doesn't seem unreasonable to me. 

 

Why must the slightest observation raise such a ruckus around here?

 "

Because my use of the conditional "might" inherently allowed that others "might not".

So one had to wonder why you felt it necessary to repeat what I had just implied. And to do so in a snippy manner that made it seem as if YOU were trying to "raise a ruckus".

But no harm done.