If/Then is on TDF
If/Then is on TDF
ethan231h
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/5/11
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#2If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/28/14 at 6:15pmThere's a lot on tdf for this weekend.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
evic
Broadway Star Joined: 3/5/04
#2If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/28/14 at 6:22pmThe week before the Tonys is historically slow. Pass on If/Then. Yes for Forbidden Broadway.
#3If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 2:19amIt also grossed under a mil last week. Eesh I hope it bounces back after the Tonys (yes I unashamedly love this show and want it to run for a while).
#4If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 4:32amThe advance is definitely very very thin now. It will be interesting to see how it goes.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#5If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 9:02am
"It will be interesting to see how it goes."
How? IF/THEN has yet to gross below 70% of it's potential. Average ticket has been over $100 since its first preview. Capacity has never been below 80%. Besides ALADDIN and BEAUTIFUL, this is the most successful new show of the season, and summer is right around the corner. What am I missing?
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#6If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 9:12am^ You're 100% right. People are just rooting for it to fail. This is the first time it's been on TDF and they're not really discounting. It's doing fine.
Broadwayfan15
Swing Joined: 12/4/11
#7If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 9:52am
Saw it this past weekend and loved it. Helped that I had read the chatter so made sure I paid attention to the crossing story lines. Second act stuck with me emotionally.
Adair Haywind
Leading Actor Joined: 4/2/14
#8If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 10:04amI think people were pretty much expecting this to be "Next to Normal 2" when it's really a very different show. While it's not exactly on the same level of brilliance as N2N, I have to say I found the show very touching when I saw it in DC and have heard it's only gotten better since it opened on Broadway.
#9If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 10:30am
I saw it a couple of weeks ago and I really really liked it, especially the more I got away from it. I think about the premise, how one small choice can change everything. Of the 8 Musicals I saw, it is one of the three that I continue to think about after viewing it. I hope it continues for a while. Many of the others I watched, digested, and was done.
#10If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 10:44am
"Many of the others I watched, digested, and was done."
That isn't a defect of most shows, but a goal. There's not much left to ponder about Rocky's drive or most lead characters in other shows.
#11If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 11:04am
"What am I missing?"
I'd say you missed what qolbinau found interesting to think about: the advance sales.
There is no doubt, given that when IF/THEN opened it was already extremely well-sold for previews and post-opening, that the advance tickets were strong at first. When the show got mixed-to-negative reviews and few Tony nominations, the advance-sale $$$ went elsewhere (primarily I'd guess to GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE and to a lesser extent BEAUTIFUL, which was already selling well) and while IF/THEN has been steadily plugging along, there is reason to suspect that the advance sales will be drying up as the summer rolls along. Yes, there are reasons for IF/THEN to be a draw. But the tickets that were sold sight-unseen and before word-of-mouth are most likely dried up. Now the show is more likely running on its merits, and will be interesting to see how it does for the summer. That's what I took qolby to mean.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
#12If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 11:18amMy point is, given the grosses, capacity numbers, and average ticket prices since opening night and post-Tony nominations, not much has changed. There is no staggering dip to prove your theory that the advance-sale went elsewhere (or are going elsewhere). The show has had a steady ride thus far and, with an extremely busy time of the year coming up on Broadway, there's no evidence to suggest that IF/THEN will experience what you are theorizing.
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
#13If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 11:24amThat's correct: that's because the evidence will come out in the wash this summer. Which is exactly the point qolbinau (and I, in my post) find interesting: what will happen?
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#14If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 11:45amNo one needs to root for IF/THEN to fail. It will fail on its own accord, once Idina leaves.
dreaming
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/24/09
Up In One
Broadway Star Joined: 5/27/04
#16If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 12:11pmBut why TDF? I went on Ticketmaster and there aren't that many seats available, at least not enough that they couldn't go to the booth. Is she going to be out? Or are they trying to avoid being seen at the booth?
Up In One
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#17If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 12:20pm
As of yesterday, all performances Thursday-Sunday were up. Idina is going to be there for all of them.
#18If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 4:02pm
Thank you jnb9872.
LYLS3637, I enjoyed this show and I am not rooting it to fail. All I am saying is based on my observations (and I have been checking every day), the advance for this show has never been so thin as it is now.
To give an example, the available seating they had at approx. 3am Wednesday 21st May for the 2pm show that day was staggeringly high, much higher than I've ever seen it before.
In the past, if/then has been practically sold out for weeks in advance. However, now they have wide open availability for practically all shows going forward.
To give an indication of how fast tickets are moving at the moment post-reviews, here are snapshots of the June 3rd availability on the following dates:
6th April (one-week after opening night)
19th April
5th May
22nd May
30th May
(by the look of the increased seating they aren't even releasing all the seats at once, so the available seating on ticketmaster might be an underestimate of availability). As you can see, tickets haven't been exactly flying through the door.
Now, there are many events coming up that might help turn it around - the release of the cast recording, the Tony Awards, Summer. But this situation reminds me a little bit of the recent FOLLIES revival. A robust start followed by a decline. If things don't pick up, I don't see it lasting until the end of the year. FOLLIES didn't have Idina Menzel though, and that might keep a bunch of people buying tickets close to a performance though.
On April 2nd I said:
"April is already heavily booked and even if they start to lose a little bit of steam in May it won't be enough to close up shop because there seems to be a healthy advance to early June. I reckon It'll run at least until after the Tonys and by "then" depending on how consistent the box office has been, which awards the show wins ("if" any) and how long Idina is around for, we'll probably have a better understanding of the longevity of the show"
Early June is here very soon and unfortunately I don't think things have changed. Now is the real test for the show. I am very interested to know how long the show will last.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 5/29/14 at 04:02 PM
Visceral_Fella
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/12
#20If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 8:35pmO.o you are dedicated to your cause, whatever that may be.
ScottK
Understudy Joined: 12/13/12
#21If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/29/14 at 11:52pmI would assume things arent so dire at the show since they have been sending recoupment checks to the investors already. If there was a question of viability, they'd probably hold onto funds. Hopefully, this week/end was just an anomaly. Of course, time will tell if they keep offering addl dates.
#22If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/30/14 at 12:05am
For those of us outside NY, what does "TDF" stand for?
Audrey, the Phantom Phanatic, who nonetheless would rather be Jean Valjean, who knew how to make lemonade out of lemons.
brdway411
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/14
#23If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/30/14 at 12:26amTDF=Theater Development Fund. They are the people that run theTKTS booth in Times Square. TDF is a service they offer to students, People in the business, clergy, and Seniors that allow you buy discount tickets. Most plays are $39, Most musicals are $45, and they have off off Broadway for $9. If you qualify it is worth checking out. It is like $30 a year to join.
RUkiddingme
Leading Actor Joined: 12/9/11
#24If/Then is on TDF
Posted: 5/30/14 at 12:39amI just wanna know if I can get a refund on my TDF ticket. Damn that was one boring waste of my time! I had to leave the theater as soon as intermission came. I hope the understudys didn't have to go on and have their time wasted too.
