The other day, I was looking at the Nederlander Theaters site and Ghost was still listed for the Lunt. Just now, I checked again, and the Lunt says, "New Production to be announced soon."
I think it's a good bet.
Jekyll & Hyde back on Broadway! / Rock of Ages - 5 Tony nominations! Awesome!
How is the LUNT a good fit? We haven't seen the set yet. J&H couldn't fill a small BWay house, how could they expect to fill the Giant LUNT? I hear a diff show gets the LF.
^^ Jekyll filled the Plymouth plenty (The show ran for four years!)... broke box office and house records while there. The weekly operating expenses were very high for a small theatre with some not so great producing.
I'm actually curious how big of a name draw Constantine and Deborah will be, on top of the musical's large (and international) fan base will come in.
philly, love your enthusiasm about all things Wildhorn, but J&H barely ever "filled" the Plymouth, that's why in 4 years they never made a penny.
I too wonder what the "stars" draw will be like, Connie has a following, Cox hasn't had one for a while, people certainly know the name J&H, it will be interesting, but the critics could be under-enthused about a tour production in a BWay house (read the GET IT ON reviews).
If the tour catches Fire it will help. Don't you think the Theatre announcement might come later rather than sooner. The stop is not till April in New York and a lot can happen till then. PETER AND THE... is just about my fav show right now but their numbers ain't great and The BROOKS seems appropriate. But it would be very rude to announce taking that Theatre, since PETEY is a loved little show. if it lasts till March that would be a nice run.
I love Jekyll and Hyde, but I can't see this thing selling out on Broadway even just for a limited engagement. If the show can generate a lot of buzz and hype on the road and advertise its return to Broadway adequately, maybe it will do great. If it is promoted like Bonnie and Clyde and Wonderland though, the show will most likely suffer the same fate (in terms of ticket sales). I certainly hope not though! I really hope this is a great production, and I am quite bummed it is not touring to my city!
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
I'm not suggesting this run will be selling out or breaking house records but I do imagine it will fair incredibly well. PR team won't be spoiling anyone's closing, as you said. WONDERLAND had a rookie producing team, don't expect to see that again.
CPD: A small theatre, large cast and elaborate set is what set off Jekyll with not making money. The show was doing decent business during the entire run (well, as decent as could be with the small gross potential they had)
Take a look at the gross potentials and capacity and you will see a different story than what you are suggesting. Ironically the most (in)famous star of the production gave the lowest numbers (Hasselhoff). Jekyll by capacity
The show did well, now and then but it the long run failed to recoup it's initial investment, and therefore a big ole flop. The fact that it did run 4 years and didn't return a cent is a true sign of bad producing, and would never happen on the BWay these days. I agree with you about the intial running costs.
"decent business" should show a profit. I know it's a silly argument because you see Jeckyl's beaker half full while it was really half empty. Let's hope they do better this time.
La Mirada Theatre has a far away shot of the set here from Day #5 of their load in. The cast will be arriving next Thursday to begin a week of rehearsals before the dress rehearsal on September 6th--I'm going--before opening on the 7th.
The set's not going to be as elaborate (at least what I've seen thus far) as last time. It's going to be very industrial, for the most part simplistic. Should be interesting since the last two major productions (the pre-Broadway tour (especially) and Broadway) were pretty lavish.
The show had done good business until the Hoff came in/Sebastian Bach's final weeks. Good enough that they were contemplating bringing in other stars in the Spring of '01, but decided against the harsh winter. Probably a smart choice. I think Jekyll's the longest running flop at 1500+ performances - yes, it flopped no one's denying that, but the audience popularity always seems to be pushed over for unknown reasons around here. It lost around a million dollars by close, of about the $7-8 MIL capitalization if I remember correctly.
^It's funny to see you describe the Broadway set as elaborate. I thought it was actually pretty simple. Not in a bad way at all, I thought it was beautiful, but simple. Jekyll's study and laboratory were nicely detailed, but the rest of it wasn't exactly extravagant, in my opinion. Lucy's bedroom was just a bed with a dresser and a projection of a window. That was part of it's charm for me though. I liked the simplicity. I really liked the "red box" concept with the stairs too, even though I know a lot of people hated that element.