The Music Man is up on the Marquee!!

[Call_me_jorge]

The Music Man has started making The Winter Garden it’s home.

Hope we get to see this open sooner than later...

[Jordan Levinson]

Yeah, we got trouble right here in New York City... that's trouble with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for postponement. 

Anyway... the marquee looks beautiful; I love the lyric inscriptions. Similar style overall to the recent Hello, Dolly! revival (makes sense given the creative team and similar appeal/target audiences). This should get lots of hype whenever it opens.

[Sutton Ross]

Oh boy! Only 8 (or more) months to go!!!!!

[jo]

 

Sometime in 2021!


The Music Man IS coming to Broadway ... and he's selling a million dreams!

 

 

[Lisalemann]

THIS makes me very happy today!  We were originally going in December - but moved our tickets to November 2021 - and I really hope this nightmare which is our existence right now is but a memory...

[HogansHero]

Lisalemann said: "THIS makes me very happy today! We were originally going in December - but moved our tickets to November 2021 - and I really hope this nightmare which is our existence right now is but a memory..."

It will be a memory. Hopefully in November of 2021 but certainly not in April 2021. Whenever it is, this will be a great tonic.

[Wick3]

I walked by this afternoon and saw it! Interesting though that the 7th ave side still has the Beetlejuice sign. 

[Jarethan]

I have 'assigned' tickets for mid-April and am expecting (and hoping, since the assigned date is too early for comfort, and I will not be in the NY area in any scenario) that they will postpone another 6 months. I have to assume that it will depend on Jackman's availability if they postpone again.  My selfish hope is that they start previews essentially a year after originally planned and that I am assigned tickets for October 21 instead of 20.

[jo]

Interesting to re-read the Hollywood Reporter June 2020 report on the postponement of The Music Man and Rudin's ( and his producers)rationale and strategy for the opening of the new show and the reopening of his other currently "resting" shows.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hugh-jackman-broadways-music-man-back-track-spring-2021-1300086

Excerpts --
"We're obviously profoundly disappointed to be unable to start rehearsals for The Music Man as scheduled," added Rudin. "But safety is safety, and it has to take precedence over every other consideration — for both our audience and for our company. Despite the postponement, we are sticking together as a company, and we are grateful to be able to do so. And so we look forward to arriving at the Winter Garden — with a beautiful, heartening Music Man in tow — at the beginning of April, and to being just one part of what we expect will once again be a vibrant and exciting Broadway."

New York has now entered Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan, including restaurants with outdoor dining and some retail stores. Indoor dining establishments and other nonessential businesses are due to follow in Phase 3, the timeline for which has not yet been set for the metropolitan area. Broadway theaters are included in Phase 4, along with other arts, entertainment and recreation enterprises, placing them in the final stage of the city's reopening.

"The plan of course is to follow the New York State health and safety protocols being developed right now, which will be the baseline of how shows will return," Rudin told The Hollywood Reporter.

Projections for reopening are being based on increased testing and lower infection rates — not on the expectation of a vaccine. Rudin has high praise for the leadership of Cuomo and his task force — which includes top scientists, health care and infectious disease experts and industrial hygienists — calling them "astonishingly forward-thinking and cooperative" in working with Broadway industry leaders to map a path forward. 


The Broadway economic model is not conducive to theaters making allowances for social distancing. While Rudin speaks only for his own productions, he said those shows will be sold at full capacity, albeit with the expectation of a slow start before business gets back even close to where it was before.

"It's going to take a lot of grit and fortitude to hang in until it's back, because I don't think it's going to come back that quickly," said Rudin. "I think we'll play to low grosses for a while and we have to be prepared to withstand it. And then as people understand that it's safe, more people will come back. It was also true after 9/11. Now 9/11 came back fairly quickly, but it didn't come back at capacity or anything like it right away."

 

[hearthemsing22]

I really, really wish people on social media would just shut up about Beetlejuice in that theater and mentioning it in conjunction with TMM.

Was the way BTJ closed less than ideal for fans? Probably. But shows would have closed either way. Stop being so darn immature and rude. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

[MollyJeanneMusic]

I feel like the show's setting itself up for a really great year, year and a a half, and then an instant decline the second the leads leave.  The marquee itself doesn't even have the name of the show on it - that's just on the  hanging poster above the marquee.  This will very quickly become the "Hugh and Sutton" show, and the second either of them leave, the show's going to have a rude awakening.

And you know why people are still upset about Beetlejuice?  Because Scott Rudin's greed and absolute control has been displayed time and time again, from the insane West Side Story casting to the advertising lawsuit.  He's also made it very clear he doesn't care about BIPOC in his shows and has relegated them to ensemble and understudy roles, if they're present at all - or, with shows like WSS, he's overdone it with performative activism and ruined the purpose of the plot.  (Diep Tran has a fascinating article about this.)  Beetlejuice wasn't perfect with this, but at least they were trying - including cast members like Kelvin Moon Loh as Otho and Leslie Kritzer as Delia/Miss Argentina.  And yeah, the way they were closed was less than ideal for fans.  You know who else complained about it?  Brittain Ashford.  John Mulaney.  Broadway actors and writers who saw right through the BS.  I don't think it hurt that there was a NYT profile about why the show was closing in the way it was.  (It also casts one of Mulaney's lines from Oh, Hello in a new light - when Kroll's character said that he thought the duo had gotten the Winter Garden Theatre, Mulaney's character says, "Have you tried f*cking dealing with the Shubert Organization?" )  Whether BTJ comes back or not, there was already a lot of anger building against Scott Rudin, from both the Broadway community and its fans, and it was only a matter of time before a show people liked was hurt because of his greed.  And people are furious that he forced a show that was making millions a week to close for a show without any actors/creatives of color that, because of his marketing, will be closed in a few years anyway because he didn't learn the lesson from Hello Dolly that you have to get people to recognize the brand of the show before relying on the brand of the famous people that happen to be in the show.

And this is coming from someone who, for the record, DOESN'T LIKE BEETLEJUICE.

[ACL2006]

Did Beetlejuice ever load-out?

[jo]

Thanks for the great photos, BWW!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Up-on-the-Marquee-THE-MUSIC-MAN-Prepares-for-Broadways-Return-at-the-Winter-Garden-Theatere-20200918

You've added a true sense of excitement! Seeing those early signs that Broadway may awaken in the not too distant future is already a gift for many us !

[jonah3500]

jo said: "Thanks for the great photos, BWW!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Up-on-the-Marquee-THE-MUSIC-MAN-Prepares-for-Broadways-Return-at-the-Winter-Garden-Theatere-20200918

You've added a true sense of excitement! Seeing those early signs that Broadway may awaken in the not too distant future is already a gift formany us !"

Hi Scott!

[jo]

Hi Jonah!

Call my office --

I'll send you free tickets to .... .Hello, Dolly!

 

[hearthemsing22]

MollyJeanneMusic said: "I feel like the show's setting itself up for a really great year, year and a a half, and then an instant decline the second the leads leave. The marquee itself doesn't even have the name of the show on it - that's just on the hanging poster above the marquee. This will very quickly become the "Hugh and Sutton" show, and the second either of them leave, the show's going to have a rude awakening.

And you know why people are still upset about Beetlejuice? Because Scott Rudin's greed and absolute control has been displayed time and time again, from the insane West Side Story casting to the advertising lawsuit. He's also made it very clear he doesn't care about BIPOC in his shows and has relegated them to ensemble and understudy roles, if they're present at all - or, with shows like WSS, he's overdone it with performative activism and ruined the purpose of the plot. (Diep Tran has a fascinating article about this.) Beetlejuice wasn't perfect with this, but at least they weretrying -including cast members like Kelvin Moon Loh as Otho and Leslie Kritzer as Delia/Miss Argentina. And yeah, the way they were closed was less than ideal for fans. You know who else complained about it? Brittain Ashford. John Mulaney. Broadway actors and writers who saw right through the BS. I don't think it hurt that there was a NYT profile about why the show was closing in the way it was. (It also casts one of Mulaney's lines fromOh, Helloin a new light - when Kroll's character said that he thought the duo had gotten the Winter Garden Theatre, Mulaney's character says, "Have you tried f*cking dealing with the Shubert Organization?" ) Whether BTJ comes back or not, there was already a lot of anger building against Scott Rudin, from both the Broadway community and its fans, and it was only a matter of time before a show people liked was hurt because of his greed. And people are furious that he forced a show that was making millions a week to close for a show without any actors/creatives of colorthat, because of his marketing, will be closed in a few years anyway because he didn't learn the lesson from Hello Dolly that you have to get people to recognize the brand of the show before relying on the brand of the famous people that happen to be in the show.

And this is coming from someone who, for the record, DOESN'T LIKE BEETLEJUICE."

Then how about people put their energy into the diversity of Broadway instead of attacking a new show coming in? Yes, Beetlejuice was making money-but that was only after the Tonys and TIKTOK boost. How much longer could they coast on that? You think producers wanted to gamble on maybe it would do well, maybe it wouldn’t? 
Move. On. Choose a different battle than putting down TMM every chance you get. It’s enough. 

[hearthemsing22]

And yes I’m aware that shows are always a gamble. But the show closed. It’s done. There can be a tour. UK transfer. Move. On.

[LizzieCurry]

Just here to say Will Blum's instagram story is quite good.

[SweetLips22]

I realise that that art work, type, colours etc all scream period country USA but by day it certainly looks very drab--probably looks better when lit at night.

No way TMM will open in April. Renewed international travel is years away so full theatres[back to normal] is a loooong way off[all my observations, based on just that].

Hugh will have aged out and Sutton will be still searching for her lyrical soprano.

Just film it and sell it and watch safely at home.

There is no way that I would be subjected to all that will be required to get a seat in any theatre like the 'old normal'.

I praise all those working so hard so everyone can revert back to December 2019 but this Covid is just the start of a New Series 1/2/3/4 etc

Accept/adjust/adapt---I love kissing with my lips up against a plastic mask.

Stay safe and healthy.

[Highland Guy]

SweetLips22 said: "Accept/adjust/adapt---I love kissing with my lips up against a plastic mask."

 

Your "Sweet Lips"



 

[blaxx]

The artwork sure makes me want to stay six feet away from the theater.

[sparksatmidnight]

Indeed. Not a fan at all.

[Robbie2]

[darquegk]

I love the Cracker Barrel aesthetic. Does my ticket come with meatloaf or Uncle Herschel’s Catfish?

[Jordan Levinson]

blaxx said: "The artwork sure makes me want to stay six feet away from the theater."

Or rather, seventy-six feet away???