FROZEN closes on Broadway- Page 4

[klinnerz]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 1:34am

KKeller6 said: "I feel like whenever Broadway does reopen, will we have 30+shows running at a time for awhile? Or will we have, say 15 or so for maybe years? Just a feeling."

I feel either won't matter much if attendance is low. Although I could be wrong. Shows could be packed if they reopened in Sept, but who knows. 

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 1:57am

I feel it will be longer than 'we' think that all will be back the way it was.

So putting tourist priorities, confidence, ability to travel, renewing interest, motivation then shows redoing publicity to re-generate interest, ticket prices, virus testing and social distancing etc etc I think it's like the little engine that could, it will be like pushing shxt uphill and not getting there.

Pessimistic I know but realistic. I hope I am wrong but what was before will never be the same, just different.

Different is good as long as what has been learnt is remembered.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 2:16am

Broadway Buddy said: "Don’t see American Buffalo, Diana, or Take Me Out surviving either."

Why wouldn't Take Me Out survive? They may not be able to retain the whole cast (especially the bigger names), but it's being staged by a nonprofit, and there's enough interest (for...reasons ) that it's one show that might get people to risk coming out for, more so than a lot of shows (or just about anything Second Stage could replace it with).

 

Updated On: 5/15/20 at 02:16 AM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 9:30am

While it's easy to point to things like disappointing box office, I think the closing of FROZEN is a more sobering glimpse into the realities Disney is going to be facing in the wake of COVID.  As far as entertainment goes, Broadway theatres are going to be one of the last things to re-open - second perhaps only to theme parks. Aside from caution about travel going to be a major blow to tourism, the economic blow to many Americans means that even when these things do reopen, most people aren't going to be looking to spend the money to take a family of four to a Broadway musical.  There is also some real concern at the moment about cases of young children being hit with a kind of inflammatory condition that might be COVID related. There is huge uncertainty at the moment - and that is going to impact the re-opening of schools and daycares and obviously is going to impact the decision to bring young kids to a theatre with thousands of other people.


Disney is going to have to recalibrate big time. I wouldn't be surprised to see them temporarily suspend all live entertainment for a year or more.

 

Updated On: 5/15/20 at 09:30 AM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 10:35am

QueenAlice said: "While it's easy to point to things like disappointing box office, I think the closing of FROZEN is a more sobering glimpse into the realities Disney is going to be facing in the wake of COVID. As far as entertainment goes, Broadway theatres are going to be one of the last things to re-open - second perhaps only to theme parks. 
"

Theme parks will open before Broadway. They can enforce social distancing.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 10:41am

Six Flags has already announced their procedures.

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 10:41am

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out for Disney.

I don't have the same love for Disney that I used to have since its paradigm shift to a corporate mentality.

I worked for the park as a CM from the early 80s to early 90s and was there to see the transition up close and personal.

When Disney moved into Broadway I knew it would be a genius move though.  Tap in to the youth market with products that were already ready-made.  You already had the story because the movie had already been made.  You already had the music.   Everything was already in play.  All you had to do was take the mini-productions that were playing at the theme parks and plus them to Broadway standards.  You have the billions of dollars it takes to have the best costumes and sets, as well as the connections to make great strides in stage tech and effects.  Voila.  A no-brainer.

While I'm still a Disney fan at the core (at least in the "philosophy of Walt" camp), I don't go overly crazy for Disney on  Broadway.  With all the oohs and aahs their shows get.....well, they should.  They have the billions of dollars to buy those oohs and aahs.  So for me their success is neither a surprise nor does it engage this wow factor for me when I see one of their shows that it does for others.

I've now seen The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, and Frozen.  Largely because I was either being taken to the show for my birthday or a friend wanted to see the show so I went with.  Were they good?  Absolutely.  But having seen Aladdin and Frozen at the Disney parks, they were really good too.  What I was seeing on Broadway was just the heavily plussed versions that Disney has the billions to produce.

Being of the Walt camp, I'm glad that Disney's ventures onto Broadway have created some real theater lovers in our youth. I've heard some well-known Broadway performers say such things as the first Broadway show they saw was BATB or TLK.   So, good to that.

As to the leaders of Disney corporate who made that happen....part of me says, kudos to them....since they were the ones to make it happen.  But the other side know that it was strictly a $$$ decision, and not just some nice attempt to bring theater to kids.  The latter would have been Walt's reasoning.  The former, not so much.  I saw that paradigm shift in the changing of the guard in the mid 80s.

Now, was Walt against making money? No.  But he saw it as a means to an end. It allowed him to do the things he wanted with his parks, and with his TV/movie product.  I never saw it as being a "control the entertainment world" venture when it came to Walt.  Which is what present Disney is about.  

Regardless of the motivating factors though, it has brought kids to Broadway and has allowed them an outlet to see live theater.  And this is good.  I will still continue to have my opinions of the new "Disney" though.  

One thing is for certain, I have no doubt that the latest news on COVID, and its relationship to kids, wasn't what BI wanted to wake up to read.   Disney has the deepest pockets on Broadway, but even the deepest pockets will be impacted by something of this pandemic nature. That's to be sure.  Especially when your entire product is based on entertainment, be it a theme park, a movie or a Broadway show.  And if our kids are sadly being impacted by some new strain, or whatever, this means that the doors of theme parks, movie houses and theaters will have to stay closed even longer than expected.

And that's not good for Disney.  Even with their deep pockets.

Frozen is closing?  That's a shame.  It puts actors and others related to the production out work. And that is never a good thing.  I feel for them.  

But corporate at Disney knows what they're doing.

[JennH]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 11:00am

^^^ SIR...you said EVERYTHING I ever wanted to say about the House of Mouse as of late, but could never properly find the verbiage to do so. I've seen most of the Disney musical on Broadway or on tour, and LK and BntB are still to this day, the two best ones. Were they financial runaway hits? Yes. Were they also artistically well done? ALSO YES. The only show of theirs that has come close to being as artistic as its' source was MP. Different in most ways but still was well thought out and it worked. NONE of the others have come close at all. 

Iger had the artistic integrity of wet cardboard. What Chapek will do, who's to say. What I DO know is that Eisner may have been a hard case to work with generally, and yes finances will still always be the precedence in the corporate world, but at least Eisner had a good many shreds of artistic integrity. The company rebounded time big time under him after that Dark Ages of the 70s and 80s which you can't really do without actually doing actual good work. I will still tout the 90's as Disney's best films because of it. Amazing and meaningful stories AND financial hits as the icing on the cake. 

[matt1982]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 11:14am

MemorableUserName said: "Broadway Buddy said: "Don’t see American Buffalo, Diana, or Take Me Out surviving either."

Why wouldn't Take Me Out survive? They may not be able to retain the whole cast (especially the bigger names), but it's being staged by a nonprofit, and there's enough interest (for...reasons ) that it's one show that might get people to risk coming out for, more so than a lot of shows (or just about anything Second Stage could replace it with).

I agree that Take Me Out will still be produced by Second Stage, even if it's not until Spring 2021.
"

 

[Broadway Buddy]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 12:05pm

matt1982 said: "MemorableUserName said: "Broadway Buddy said: "Don’t see American Buffalo, Diana, or Take Me Out surviving either."

Why wouldn't Take Me Out survive? They may not be able to retain the whole cast (especially the bigger names), but it's being staged by a nonprofit, and there's enough interest (for...reasons ) that it's one show that might get people to risk coming out for, more so than a lot of shows (or just about anything Second Stage could replace it with).

I agree that Take Me Out will still be produced by Second Stage, even if it's not until Spring 2021.
"

Okay sorry  I guess I misinterpreted the show. It was probably just me judging it based on what I’ve heard of it or because of the hype, but you do make a point of it being nonprofit. Sorry if there was a minunderstanding from me 🙂

 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 12:40pm

I do wonder if Disney was planning to close this by Labor Day? It's grosses haven't been good and I didn't really see it sticking around another year.

[roadmixer]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 8:27pm

This article nails it on the head in terms of audience for a show like FROZEN. I am certain that the board at Disney has enacted cuts throughout their portfolio. They have been hit really hard. 1+2?

https://www-vulture-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.vulture.com/amp/2020/04/how-can-broadway-recover-from-this-pandemic.html

[sparksatmidnight]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 1:43pm

Did anyone catch a copy of the full Thomas Schumacher letter?

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 2:06pm

Part of me wonders if they hadn't spent $75M on the filmed version of a stage show, they might have a couple of extra bucks to reopen Frozen, at least as a for a few months to give it a proper goodbye.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 2:28pm

everythingtaboo said: "Part of me wonders if they hadn't spent $75M on the filmed version of a stage show, they might have a couple of extra bucks to reopen Frozen, at least as a for a few months to give it a proper goodbye."

Because there’s truly no point. I don’t think it’s fair to compare acquiring the most successful musical (ever?) to bleed millions of dollars just to say a “proper goodbye” to a failing show of their own. 
 

Not trying to be rude, but lots of shows aren’t going to get proper goodbyes. It’s just the facts. 

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 4:55pm

roadmixer said: "I am certain that the board at Disney has enacted cuts throughout their portfolio. They have been hit really hard. 1+2?

https://www-vulture-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.vulture.com/amp/2020/04/how-can-broadway-recover-from-this-pandemic.html"

Hence, our AIDA productions getting cancelled/postponed. So disappointing.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 5:06pm

everythingtaboo said: "Part of me wonders if they hadn't spent $75M on the filmed version of a stage show, they might have a couple of extra bucks to reopen Frozen, at least as a for a few months to give it a proper goodbye."

They’re different envelopes of cash. 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 6:26pm

BizBuzz said: "Depends on time... but immediately springs to mind isMean Girls. Also Harry Potter, it’s been struggling to land. It’s gross has not been in the mega league for such a title and size house. Struggle to get an audience to visit a show? You’ve got double struggle to get them to spend a whole day or two repeated nights."

Harry Potter had not been "struggling to land." It's only been struggling to sell tickets at the obscene prices they set. The tickets sell better at the "normal" price point, which only happens closest to the performance date. But it is right to say that the cause is the 2- part nature of the show. 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 6:31pm

RippedMan said: "Are shows still paying rent, etc? If the cast members are still rehearsing for Doubtfire is that just on them or are they getting paid stll?"

Probably not. The rent is usually a percentage of the box office. There is probably a small fixed-rate that it's negligible, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was waived,  or if they are only charging to cover minimal expenses like utilities. 

[rkade21]

Posted: 5/19/20 at 2:20pm

BroadwayGuy12 said: "rkade21 said: "Jordan Catalano said: "FROZEN is still scheduled to open on the West End later this year."

I was trying to figure that out, the NYT article suggested it will not be, but might've only been referring to currently running productions:

Schumacher said the company remains committed to “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” on Broadway, to “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins” in London’s West End, and to touring productions of “The Lion King” and “Frozen” in North America and “The Lion King” in Britain."

If you read further in the Timesarticle, it does actually mention the planned upcoming London production: "Not only does Disney plan to resume the North American tour of “Frozen” once theaters open, but Schumacher also said he plans to open additional “Frozen” productions over the next year in London, Sydney, Hamburg and Tokyo.""

 

a ha, didn't see that part - thanks!

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 5/19/20 at 3:15pm

 

 

Interesting re: the tour  We were just notified that our tour stop in Charlotte in mid-October has been canceled. 

[OMG U Guyz]

Posted: 5/19/20 at 4:54pm

I don't think JLP will be back since it was struggling even after opening. And any show that was contemplating closing after the holidays will probably cut their losses as well. 

As for Frozen - Disney wanted it to be their Wicked but for families it was an expensive prospect when they can watch the films at home anytime they want. And most kids i know who love Frozen are VERY young (2 to 4 year olds) and aren't the target Broadway theatergoer.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/19/20 at 5:13pm

That list of new rules for Six Flags makes going to a theme park sound as relaxing as scheduling a root canal during war time. HAVE FUN EVERYBODY!!!