Riedel on Hamilton making other shows close fast

[10086sunset]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:11pm

http://nypost.com/2016/06/28/hamilton-is-making-other-broadway-shows-close-fast/

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:13pm

Incorrect. When will he give up spouting lies about Hamilton in order to get views for his posts?

[Broadway Forever2]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:17pm

Sigh I know people are trying to say this but I personally know many people who are not spending that money on the tickets and are just waiting till the prices go down. The people who are spending thousands of dollars on tickets are people who are ONLY interested in Hamilton because it's and elite show and wouldn't see another show anyway. 

Updated On: 6/28/16 at 04:17 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:18pm

Also, the Sound of Music tour didn't close — it just left Chicago.

[Broadway Forever2]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:23pm

LizzieCurry said: "Also, the Sound of Music tour didn't close — it just left Chicago.

 

"

yes this as well 

Also, I've said it before but tourism drives so much of Broadway's business and most tourists are not spending thousands of dollars on tickets. Also Hamilton doesn't seem to have affected the business of Book of Mormon, Lion King, Wicked, Phantom, at all so i don't get how he can say that people aren't going to see other shows. 

Riedel has tried to build Hamilton backlash from day 1 though. 

Updated On: 6/28/16 at 04:23 PM

[jomilo21]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:28pm

My sister saw fewer shows when she visited New York because they had to pay so much for Hamilton tickets… Just throwing that out there.

Updated On: 6/28/16 at 04:28 PM

[silentmob]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:30pm

We are going in April, have Hamilton tickets, and are seeing other shows while we are there.  So, that flies against his theory.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:42pm

 

Reminds me of that Susan Hayward line in Valley of the Dolls: "The only hit that comes out of a Helen Lawson show is Helen Lawson."

Oh well. At least it can't brag about having broken the record for the most Tony Award wins.

 

 

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 4:43pm

None of the shows that have announced closing would have seemed like they were going to last any longer in any other year either, except Shuffle Along which closed for one reason alone and it isn't Hamilton.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:00pm

^

 

How do you know that? If this show hadn't been around (if only!), then maybe one of the closed/closing shows would have won more awards, been given greater publicity, etc., and have run longer.

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:09pm

The reality is that Hamilton has surpassed the ridiculous hype meter. My guess is a lot of Hamilton ticket holders see it because it is THE show of the ages. Wasn't that Book of Mormon just 12 months ago?

I tend to agree with Diesel up to a point. Unless you spend megabucks, tourists who visit once are going to go to TKTS and get what they can. But tgere is a local effect for New Yorkers. They would be more likely to put their money on one show and eat up tgeir theater expenditures.

Don't want to be a hater, but the faster and the harder Hamilton falls, the better for theater AND theatergoers. Even Phantom in its heyday didn't have the gouging that the secondary market for Hamilton has experienced.

What does that beget? Actors in the show expecting to get a piece. Mind you, I don't think the Hamilton producers have benefited from the secondary market. Or is it possible the Hamilton producers ARE the secondary market? That is a big breaking story just waiting to happen. Would tgat even be legal?

Hamilton is setting all kinds of bad ticket pricing and handling precedence. 

 

[rebeccmam31]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:12pm

silentmob said: "We are going in April, have Hamilton tickets, and are seeing other shows while we are there.  So, that flies against his theory."

 

I saw Hamilton--and every other Best Musical or Best Revival of a Musical this season. Plus a couple plays. And I don't live in New York. So I guess I also fly against the theory.

[AnnieBlack]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:12pm

I agree that it would be a very big story if the Hamilton producers were part of the secondary market sales- and it would be quite easy to figure it out based on looking at the location of the resale tickets if anyone knew the house seat locations- 

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:15pm

I can't agree with it being a good thing for theatre if Hamilton was to fall fast and hard. I'm all for demand easing and therefore the prices lowering but if a true success story of a risky musical ended up having an extreme and surprising decline, it would only speak to the instability of theatre and producing non-safe bets. However, it wont happen anyway.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:18pm

"the faster and the harder Hamilton falls, the better for theater AND theatergoers."

 

Indeed, but it isn't going to happen. A monster has been created, and it's here to stay.

[Broadway Forever2]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:22pm

do people seriously think shows like American Psycho (despite it being good apparently) and Tuck Everlasting would have lasted longer if Hamilton didn't exist? Maybe slightly a few more shows closed than last year but I don't think it's an abnormal amount.. 

Updated On: 6/28/16 at 05:22 PM

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:27pm

BTW to clarify:

(1) on 2 trips to NYC this season, I saw 19 shows and Hamilto only once. But tgat is   norm every season since 1987.

(2) only want to fall hard and fast to undercut the secondary ripoff market. They are reaping the benefits for the risks taken by others.

One observation though... Someone posted on here that they sold Hamilton tickets on Ticketmaster asking $500 per. Then found out Ticketmaster bumped that up to $600 per ticket and the seller got their $500 and Ticketmaster got the extra. 

My point before was I sense we are on a slippery slope to an even more unaffordable Broadway theater world because of Hamilton.

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:28pm

You're right Broadway Forever2. The new shows of this season were not great, in comparison to other years. American Psycho, Disaster, Allegiance, Bright Star, Tuck Everlasting etc. all seemed like risky bets and none were raved about critically. I don't think anyone expected a much longer run for Fun Home than 18 months or so and An American in Paris has also had a healthy run for what it is. Without Hamilton, Shuffle Along would have won Best Musical and would have perhaps been able to run without Audra. However, there are probably musicals from this season that put off coming last season in order to avoid Hamilton that could have beaten Shuffle Along anyway. In any case, it's like saying if Fun Home didn't win last year, maybe An American in Paris could have run longer. One show has to win and others will suffer from not winning. That happens every year, not just this year.



Updated On: 6/28/16 at 05:28 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:36pm

there has never been a minute in the vaunted history of Broadway that proponents of flops have not insisted that some scapegoat explained why the show failed: the economy, 9/11, the weather, etc etc etc. Truth is, the real explanation is always the same: people don't go to see shows that people don't like. Plenty of shows are doing just fine swimming in the same waters as Hamilton and the losers that closed. 

Riedel, who is undoubtedly in the waning days of his time at the Post, and who seems to have stopped even pretending to break a sweat, nonetheless remains at Rudin's beck and call. 

[Broadway Forever2]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:44pm

SFFrontRow said: "

My point before was I sense we are on a slippery slope to an even more unaffordable Broadway theater world because of Hamilton.

 

"

I agree with this. I hope Hamilton's prices decrease after the hype dies down. just because when the next big show comes it will give them precedent to have even higher prices. This is what the Secondary Ticket Market has caused though... 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:45pm

After Eight said: "A monster has been created, and it's here to stay."

Yeah A8 it's that scary old monster called great theatre. 

Can you believe that someone who pretends to care about the theatre would suggest that "the faster and the harder [the most important and significant show of the last 50 years, the first show in ages that people are really paying attention to] falls, the better for theater AND theatergoers"? 

I can't. It's sad.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:50pm

"This is what the Secondary Ticket Market has caused though... "

 

Uh, the primary one, too, at least for a certain show. Or do you consider $500 tickets cheap?

 

Assuredly, things are now going to get worse, much worse, and soon. And we all know what we have to thank for it.

[artscallion]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:53pm

I wanted to see Hamilton, but won't pay the ridiculous prices or endure the ridiculous lines. So my money went to three other shows this Summer, Waitress, She Loves Me and Fun Home. I'm sure there are more people like me than there are those that will pay $800+ for one ticket to anything.

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 5:59pm

I'm sorry Hogan, but why resort to personal attacks? I do love theater. Do you? Or do you just get off on denigrating others for their views?

insulting other posters doesn't make your points more eloquent.

[Broadway Forever2]

Posted: 6/28/16 at 6:00pm

artscallion said: "I wanted to see Hamilton, but won't pay the ridiculous prices or endure the ridiculous lines. So my money went to three other shows this Summer, Waitress, She Loves Me and Fun Home. I'm sure there are more people like me than there are those that will pay $800+ for one ticket to anything.

 

"

Quoted for emphasis