Once again King Kong exceeding my expectations. It only played 6 performances, at $800k+. That would have been around $1.1m for 8 performances, first full week of previews. Someone made the observation this week (WSJ?) that the puppet might be a draw for foreign language tourists who want to see the spectacle of broadway, and a visual and story that is familiar to them, but who aren't as focused on an intricate English spoken/sung plot.
Allen S Bishop said: "...until the reviews come out. And they will be bad. They might be ALL-TIMEbad."
Regarding King Kong, people need to be more chill. If the puppet is beautiful and given that the lead is certainly a pretty woman, I think it could last until summer -- even if it gets frozen out of the awards season and even if the regular broadway goers aren't head over heels in love with it.
I know it's only two performances, but I was not expecting King Kong to jump out of the gates at 92% gross % potential for the first two previews, given how large the theatre is. My prediction has always been that in a best case scenario, it starts off slow in sales and word of mouth about the puppet slowly builds its momentum.
John Adams, thanks for responding. I too respect Whizzer's opinion and am so glad he attended the show and posted the review. And thank-you to the others who have chimed in -- I've been anticipating hearing everyone's opinions (good and bad) from the preview. With all due respect, I analyze people and words for a living and your initial post almost gave off the whiff of some sort of bias or inner hope that the show fails when you started by saying "It&#
John Adams said: "Look at Whizzer's review. He's pretty well respected on this board (at the very least by me). But Whizzer's not alone. Dan6 also says (after recognizing that the monkey puppet is pretty cool), "The bad:Pretty much everything else."
John Adams, were you at last night's preview? If so, anything specific you can go into about what you liked and disliked about the performance itself?
I think Jesse Green from the NYT made a great point: "If in its physical bigness this musical “King Kong” can really achieve big emotion, I’d forgive it almost anything. Operatic theatricality — one step over over-the-top — can short-circuit one’s critical facilities, and despite being a critic I value that."
I can't wait to hear the feedback from everyone. I don't have tickets until after opening. As I've said elsewhere, this show has spectacle in the bag. The question is whether the music OR the story are good. IF they have nailed one or the other, I see this running a long time. First time tourists to New York generally want to come and see a spectacle on Broadway, not a low budget art play. Hence why Lion King continues to run for so long. &
A huge factor for producers is the size of the theatre. You don't want a low budget play having to pay the rent of a huge theatre. Further, if you have a big budget King Kong or Moulin Rouge, you want enough product (seats) to sell in order to make recoupment for investors feasible. Investors won't back a show where recoupment isn't even theoretical. So a bigger theatre helps make those numbers more possible.
Thank-you everyone for the responses re the younger generation knowing this show. This sounds to me like the show could have a very strong commercial run as the audience could come from a pretty broad demographic and age group.
Are younger generations even familiar with the movie? I remember watching it in the 80's and being thoroughly entertained, but how familiar is it to people born after 1990?
Sauja said: "I'm confused by all the vitriol towards fans of this show...if the kids are loving it and getting more into theater because of it? Awesome. Good on them."
Agreed. We of the older generation of theater are doing a disservice if we chase away and bully the upcoming new technology / social media generation. Are there some annoying young people out there who are fans of Be More Chill? Of course. There are also some annoyi
Robbie2 said: "When my friends ask me what is new and coming to Broadway and say King Kong the musical...they all laugh and say seriously?"
I've had the same reaction from my friends. However, then I show them a youtube clip of the puppet and they see its potential to be a Broadway spectacle.
This clip gives me hope that the music could sound modern and fresh. Does anyone know if this is representative of the orchestrations and sound that will be in the actual stage version, or if this
perfectliar said: "CaseyBrent41 said: "The problem is the main attraction is the ape and we've already seen it in promo videos and pictures. If Phantom was only about the chandelier and the material wasn't good (Which sure, debatable, but it has its place)then it wouldn't be as successful as it is, if Les Miz were JUST about the turn table or Miss Saigon the helicopter well that wouldn't keep people going back.
