Yay! So happy to hear this; I really enjoyed the show at the Kennedy Center a few weeks ago. The St. James does seem rather big for it, but here’s hoping for the best.
Well this should prove interesting with it being in the St. James during the fall-winter season. But I agree ljay889, this is starting to sound like Ragtime all over again.
A new revival of the 1997 musical “Side Show,” about the real-life conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, will come to Broadway this fall, starting preview performances on Oct. 28 at the St. James Theater and open on Nov. 17, the producers announced on Wednesday.
The show is transferring from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where it ran through mid-July; the move to Broadway has been in the works since the revival opened to strong reviews this summer.
The Broadway run will again star Erin Davie and Emily Padgett as Violet and Daisy; the lead producer is Darren Bagert (Off Broadway’s “Buyer & Cellar”).
The Broadway production will cost about $7.5 million, according to three Broadway producers who have seen the show’s investment papers – a fairly typical amount for a musical the size of “Side Show.” The revival’s weekly running costs are expected to be about $570,000, not including royalty payments, according to the three producers, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose confidential information.
A spokesman for the “Side Show” producers did not immediately reply for a request for comment about the financial figures. A request to the Kennedy Center about its involvement in the Broadway run was also pending on Wednesday afternoon.
Whether ticket sales will be enough to cover weekly running costs is a major challenge for every Broadway show, and the big question for “Side Show” is whether it will fare better than the original production, which ran for only three-and-a-half months and closed at a financial loss.
That production struggled to attract audience members for its early 20th century tale of the grim lives of the Hilton sisters, who became a popular circus act that was a spectacle for gawkers. The production also faced stiff competition from other musicals that opened that fall and winter, like “The Lion King,” “Ragtime,” and “1776”; this fall’s revival will face the new musicals “The Last Ship” (with songs by Sting) and “Honeymoon in Vegas” and another revival, “On the Town.”
While “Side Show” has undergone extensive changes since 1997 – with the addition and subtraction of several songs, and substantial rewrites to the book – the story is still darker than the latest popular draws on Broadway, such as “Aladdin” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” But “Side Show” remains admired by critics and long-time fans, and the producers are counting on strong reviews to help generate ticket sales. The musical’s score is by Henry Krieger (music) and Bill Russell (lyrics), with the book by Mr. Russell and additional material by Bill Condon, who is also the revival’s director.
Bullets is closing (granted its capitalization is different) where it's revenues exceeded 600k every week, but one and averaged 52.5% of gross potential. It's just a data point. Bullets at St. James numbers
Very exciting, although I wish it weren't playing the St. James.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
The Broadway production will cost about $7.5 million, according to three Broadway producers who have seen the show’s investment papers – a fairly typical amount for a musical the size of “Side Show.” The revival’s weekly running costs are expected to be about $570,000, not including royalty payments, according to the three producers, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose confidential information
Sounds like they spent a lot on a big bag of Vulture Chow as well. Whether it's a success or not, this is going to be an interesting run.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
I have been eagerly anticipating this announcement, but am disappointed that it starts previews after my planned trip to NY this fall. I think this is a great show that has the potential to do well in its revival. When Chicago was revived in the late 90's did anyone think it would do well? I wish all involved a lot of success and a long run.
Not sure how well this is going to sell, and why has the St James become the place for a show to die?
On a side note, did Riedel just regurgitated this article from the archives or was his tongue firmly in his cheek when he put in that last bit about Side Show beating out Lion King for Best Musical?
Not sure how anyone else feels about it, but the "show queens" quote was really unnecessary. BTW "industry experts" - I PAY FOR ALL OF MY TICKETS TO SHOWS and I could choose not to pay for YOURS (if I knew who you were). Or is that just a self-loathing quote from Riedel himself (who I am sure does not pay for his tickets - must be nice)?
Let's just get some stuff cleared up as to why the show is opening this Fall at the St James. Bill Condon, who is a very successful and busy motion picture director, has a very limited schedule and right now is likely the only window he has open to actually work on transferring the show to NY. In addition, a transfer right now also means they dont need to recast the show. Most importantly, the money to transfer the show is available now and one of the main supporters of the show is Jordan Roth, the head of Jujamcyn Theatres (as had been noted in the NY Times) and he wanted the show for his theatres...the only open Jujamcyn house right now is the St James as the other 4 theatres are housing successful shows. Is it an ideal situation? No, but if the show is going to transfer it has to happen right now due to time contraints, availability of $$$ and an open theatre with an enthusiastic landlord.
Sutton Ross, it's a spectacular production. I saw it 8 times at the Kennedy Center. I knew very little about the show before I saw it except that it was about the Hilton sisters. I left the performance thinking, I want to see it again!