DIANA: THE MUSICAL Closing on December 19th- Page 3

[Dolly80]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 2:37am

I bet the cast are hugely relieved this is finally closing. What a mess of a show. 
 

click flask click click feckity feckity.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 3:54am

To those commenting on how full the house always seemed to be, plenty of peeps have mentioned that the producers were heavily papering. Butts in seats don't always mean money in hand.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 8:54am

Moreski93 said: "Any ideas who is taking the Longacre next? Sing Street hopefully? Or the rumored Merrilly We Roll Along revival?"

What about A Strange Loop?

[Moreski93]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 9:27am

A Strange Loop needs a smaller house. Kinda like Avenue Q at the Golden. I just saw it at the Woolly in D.C. and although I loved every minute of it, the Longacre would be too large for it to handle. 

[Kad]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 9:27am

Strange Loop absolutely deserves to be on Broadway, with its Pulitzer and its rave reviews here and in DC in tow. But even with all of its brilliance, it remains a risky commercial bet. I could see them waiting until next season when things would hopefully improve in terms of economics and COVID. 
 

Or they could quickly transfer in the spring and pretty much cruise to some major Tony award wins and hope that can sustain them. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 9:44am

I would be fearful about Strange Loop and Kimberly Akimbo coming this season. Both are delicate and intimate.

is Larry Owens done with Strange Loop? He made that show for me. But I’ve heard positive things about the DC guy too. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:00am

The usual chorus of “Won’t somebody think of the unemployed” seems to be missing from this thread. 

[Kad]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:00am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I would be fearful about Strange Loop and Kimberly Akimbo coming this season. Both are delicate and intimate.

is Larry Owens done with Strange Loop? He made that show for me. But I’ve heard positive things about the DC guy too."

Yes, Owens is no longer part of Strange Loop, unfortunately. However, Jaquel Spivey has been receiving pretty outstanding reviews in DC. And from what I’ve heard, I can only imagine he’s easier to work with. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:17am

Everything I’d seen on social media had people saying they loved the show-whether or not they paid for their seats. I know social media doesn’t usually make or break a show. It’s just said that these actors were out of work for over a year, came back and had a few months before they closed. Broadway takes itself WAY too seriously, just FUN shows that make people happy don’t last long It’s disappointing. This is sad. 

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:27am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I would be fearful about Strange Loop and Kimberly Akimbo coming this season. Both are delicate and intimate.

is Larry Owens done with Strange Loop? He made that show for me. But I’ve heard positive things about the DC guy too."

FWIW, I had heard some weeks back that A Strange Loop is waiting for next season, though I don't know if that timeline has changed at all. The Booth (post For Colored Girls...) would seem like the best possible place I could imagine for it. 

 

[unclevictor]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:39am

Kad said: "Strange Loop absolutely deserves to be on Broadway, with its Pulitzer and its rave reviews here and in DC in tow. But even with all of its brilliance, it remains a risky commercial bet. I could see them waiting until next season when things would hopefully improve in terms of economics and COVID.


Or they could quickly transfer in the spring and pretty much cruise to some major Tony award wins and hope that can sustain them."

It’s not about what show deserves to be on Broadway - it’s about what show sells tickets. 

[Showhopper2]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:47am

Dolly80 said: "I bet the cast are hugely relieved this is finally closing. ."

Congrats on the stupiest comment of the day!!!!!

 

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:50am

Showhopper2 said: "Dolly80 said: "I bet the cast are hugely relieved this is finally closing.."

Congrats on the stupiest comment of the day!!!!!

Well, 'stupiest' makes yours a contender for that crown as well. 

 

[IronMan]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:53am

As for giving notice on closing: Producers only have to give ONE week's notice.  As it was mentioned earlier,  the Wonderland company was told on a Tuesday before the show that they would be closing that Sunday.  

Regarding Diana, I highly enjoyed it once I started thinking of it as a satire on 1980s Britpop musicals.  If they'd gone that way (Act II started off like that, then the tone changed yet again), it might have worked. 

[Kad]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 11:26am

hearthemsing22 said: "Everything I’d seen on social media had people saying they loved the show-whether or not they paid for their seats. I know social media doesn’t usually make or break a show. It’s just said that these actors were out of work for over a year, came back and had a few months before they closed. Broadway takes itself WAY too seriously, just FUN shows that make people happy don’t last long It’s disappointing. This is sad."

Yes, fun shows don’t run and aren’t well received. Like Wicked, Book of Mormon, Lion King, Six, Moulin Rouge…

The issue is that this production didn't really seem to realize how "fun" it was until it was too late. And then there's the question of whether the pretty tragic life of Diana- a figure who still looms large in culture despite dying over twenty years ago, and certainly would loom large in the mind of the average Broadway ticketbuyer, who is in their forties- is even good fodder for a "fun" musical.

Updated On: 12/11/21 at 11:26 AM

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 12:42pm

Disappointed that "Diana" is closing.  Will keep my happy memories of a terrific show that I thoroughly enjoyed twice in La Jolla.

[David10086]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 2:13pm

'Shocked!',  I tell you. Just shocked at this news. I thought for sure it would run as long as "Phantom", if not longer. 

 

Seriously, why didn't they consider opening this off-Broadway first, give it a test-run, and then see if it was doable for B'way ?  Just wondering...

[gibsons2]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 2:28pm

Dolly80 said: "I bet the cast are hugely relieved this is finally closing. What a mess of a show.


click flask click click feckity feckity."

Cast and crew who were out of work for 18 months and will be unemployed by December 20th are relieved? Are you that dense?

[Showhopper2]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 3:10pm

gibsons2 said: "Dolly80 said: "I bet the cast are hugely relieved this is finally closing. What a mess of a show.


click flask click click feckity feckity."

Cast and crew who were out of work for 18 months and will be unemployed by December 20th are relieved? Are you that dense?"

Nothing more to add!

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 4:09pm

Showhopper2 said: "gibsons2 said: "Dolly80 said: "I bet the cast are hugely relieved this is finally closing. What a mess of a show.


click flask click click feckity feckity."

Cast and crew who were out of work for 18 months and will be unemployed by December 20th are relieved? Are you that dense?"

Nothing more to add! "

And the words came pouring out…

[ggersten]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 6:17pm

Meanwhile, the official twitter feed continues to do good work:  "One more week to see a pretty pretty girl in 38 pretty pretty dresses."

https://twitter.com/DianaOnBroadway/status/1469733162662215691?s=20

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 6:44pm

Why are people stanning a business's social channel? Marathon Digital has managed many shows –– some hits and some flops.

That the show tried to position itself as "the people's musical" is kind of funny, since there weren't a sustainable number of people who actually wanted to see this musical.

[JayElle]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:48pm

Hairspray0901 said: "I wonder if the Netflix release hurt the show; being the order things happened due to the pandemic. I know I for one had interest but once I saw the first 30 minutes or so of the Netflix show I said “nope. Not paying to see this.”"

NYTimes, in part:  "After surviving the pandemic, which forced its closure after nine preview performances, and a widely panned filmed version for Netflix, “Diana, the Musical” announced on Friday that it would end its Broadway run on Dec. 19. It originally had an open run.....The reviews for the musical were mostly negative. In his review for The New York Times, Jesse Green wrote, “If you care about Diana as a human being, or dignity as a concept, you will find this treatment of her life both aesthetically and morally mortifying.”  Dec 10, 2021

Apparently, yes Hairspray0901.

 

 

[Andrea1232]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 12:38pm

What's wrong with some people here?

200 people are losing their jobs right before the holidays and you keep on bashing? 
You are real garbage human! 

Updated On: 12/12/21 at 12:38 PM

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 12:58pm

This is a chat board where folks discuss the Previews, openings and closings of Broadway shows. And, yes, when a Broadway show closes the artists lose their jobs. That’s been true since at least the 1800’s.

Meanwhile there’s one element of Diana I didn’t notice the critics comment on. The chorus repeatedly tells the audience that they’re the ones exploiting Diana by watching the show. Most pointedly in a servants quartet in Act Two. That meta-ness suggests a self awareness the show otherwise lacks. And seems to predict it’s own closing.

 

Updated On: 12/12/21 at 12:58 PM