If the Henry Miller was still standing...............

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 9:51pm

........do you think Urinetown would still be around? I've recently fallen in love with the show and, from my understanding, the only reason it closed was because the Henry Miller theatre was being torn down to make room for a skyscraper. Do you think it would still be running today if it hadn't been torn down?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 9:53pm

Well the front of the theatre is still standing.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 9:56pm

Hey, I finally get that joke from "The Drowsy Chaperone!"

[thtrbear]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:01pm

What joke is it again?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:16pm

To answer the question... Urinetown would have been in its sixth year at this point. Much as I loved it, I don't think it would still be running, but I think it might have run another year or so, if they hadn't had to vacate the theatre.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:25pm

Were. WERE still standing.

And yeah, I don't think it could have run six years. Longer than it did, yes, but not THAT long.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:29pm

Sorry for my ignorance, but did Urinetown close BECAUSE of the whole skyscraper project?

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:32pm

Yes. The option was thrown around to move the show to a different theatre, but the producers felt it would have lost something anywhere else so they closed while they were still on top.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 10:34pm

A Theater Closing, A Hit Show In the Cold

By BRUCE WEBER
Published: October 29, 2003
THE NEW YORK TIMES

'Urinetown,' the unlikely musical hit that has been occupying Henry Miller's Theater on West 43rd Street for more than two years under the threat of eviction, has finally gotten the bad news. The producers were told on Monday that the show would have to leave the theater by Feb. 15 because a 57-story skyscraper was about to be built on the Avenue of the Americas between 42nd and 43rd Streets, a site that includes the theater.

The show's future is unclear. Two of its producers, Michael Rego, of the Araca Group, and Michael David, of Dodger Stage Holding, said 'Urinetown' could possibly move to another theater but that there were complications, among them that no other Broadway houses were currently available.

A move to Off Broadway is not out of the question, but economic factors, including union contracts, make this possibility 'a long shot,' Mr. David said.

Mr. Rego added: 'We always knew this would be happening. We knew that the building would be coming down. And now it's coming down for real.'

The news adds just one more peculiar chapter to an anomalous theater story. A faux-Brechtian comedy and political satire about a futuristic world in which certain bodily functions are taxed, 'Urinetown' was written by two relatively unknown Chicagoans, Greg Kotis and Mark Hollman.

It began life at the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and climbed the theatrical food chain to Off Broadway and, finally, Broadway, where its opening was delayed by the 9/11 attacks. More than two years later, it is still going strong. In fact, the producers, who said they were expecting 'Urinetown' to last perhaps another year, were about to announce that the show had recouped its $3.7 million capital investment when they learned that it would have to leave the theater.

'The little show that could actually did,' Mr. Rego said, adding that a full American tour was now traveling and that the musical, which has already been produced twice in South Korea, was expected to open new productions next year in London, Toronto, Tokyo and Melbourne.

The producers emphasized that their relations with the Durst Organization -- the developer of the site and the owner of the theater -- and in particular with Douglas Durst, its president, were amicable, and that they had received the news without rancor. When they first took over the theater, they said, they were promised only six months, which seemed like plenty, given the nature of the show and the crapshoot of producing musicals on Broadway.

'Who knew it was going to last two years?' Mr. David said. 'Douglas Durst was kind enough to let us make his life miserable for this long. The organization has been unbelievably supportive and generous, and we couldn't be more grateful. It's just that we got to like it there.'

For his part, Mr. Durst, interviewed by phone yesterday, expressed admiration for the producers and their show.

Henry Miller's Theater, now a roomy, suggestively squalid auditorium, was named for an English-born actor and producer who had it built for his own performances and productions. It opened in 1918, and has had a motley history since. Major productions that have had their premieres there include Thornton Wilder's 'Our Town' 1938; T. S. Eliot's 'Cocktail Party' (1950) and 'Agatha Christie's 'Witness for the Prosecution' (1954).

In 1997 the theater was the first home of the current Broadway revival of 'Cabaret.' In the 1970's and 80's, it was, among other things, a pornographic movie house and a nightclub. Some 55 performances from now, 'Urinetown' will become the theater's longest-running tenant, surpassing 'The Moon Is Blue,' which ran for 924 performances in the early 50's.

The facade has landmark status, and Mr. Durst said the theater itself would be rebuilt as part of the new building, which is scheduled to open in 2008. The original theater, he said, had 950 seats in 12,000 square feet. When it is rebuilt, he added, its original seating capacity will be restored. (It currently holds 631.) To accommodate an audience of that size today, he said, will require 35,000 square feet.

'The theater we intend to build will be the finest playhouse on Broadway,' Mr. Durst said.

One reason 'Urinetown' had been allowed to remain in the theater so long was that construction of the new skyscraper, which is to be the New York headquarters of Bank of America, had been delayed by the refusal of two property owners on the block to sell their space. Now, Mr. Durst said, he is confident that the state will condemn those properties, allowing the developers to buy or lease them for a nominal sum. Mr. Durst said he expected demolition to begin in March.

'This building is being held together with Scotch tape and rubber bands,' he said. 'We've really been pushing it by letting them stay in as long as they have.'

Updated On: 8/10/07 at 10:34 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 8/10/07 at 11:02pm

Progress (not)

[Fanadu_Xtreme]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 1:51am

What theaters was this near?

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 2:00am

The Henry Miller was on 43rd st between 6th Av and Bway. I guess the closest theater would be the Belasco, on 44th in the same block.

If that's what you were asking.

[Fanadu_Xtreme]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 2:45am

Ya, that was what I was asking.

Was the theater across the street from the Belasco?

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 2:57am

The Henry Miller was on west 43rd st, one block south (downtown) from the Belasco, which is on west 44th. They are/were both between Broadway and sixth ave (also known as "the wrong side of Broadway"), but since they are on different streets, can't be across the street from each other.

Other theaters on the wrong side of Broadway are the Lyceum and the Cort.

[Fanadu_Xtreme]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 3:01am

I have always disliked theaters on that side of Broadway. That is funny I never knew it was called "the wrong side".

[Boq101]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 3:13am

It's horrible that now with the lack of available theatres we still insist on tearing more of them down.

[Fanadu_Xtreme]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 3:24am

Well they are building a new theater in its place.

[wheelsinmotion]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 5:45am

Actually, they are remodeling the original theatre and Roundabout will be acquiring it for the purpose of entertaining shows with a long potential run.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 7:22am

I would have liked the original house to have been preserved. It was a great little playhouse. But when Douglas Durst says at the end of that article that the theatre was being held together with scotch tape and rubber bands, he's only partially kidding. Because of its years of dereliction, the theatre was in very poor shape, in its public areas (including a peculiar smell in the downstairs corridor that could never be identified or eradicated), backstage, and particularly the roof. It was the perfect home for Urinetown, of course, but really couldn't have continued as a Broadway venue. In this case, the building of a new facility, using some architectural details from the original house, was the only way to go.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 10:30am

What smaxie said, wheelsinmotion. You can't remodel something that doesn't exist. The entirety of the Henry Miller was destroyed (save the facade). While I wish the Morosco, the old Helen Hayes, and the Bijoux were still around instead of that monster of a theater, the Marquis (hence the Drowsey Chaperone joke), the Henry Miller had been allowed to deteriorate so much that it was simply hazardous, probably beyond repair.

It even had a partial ceiling collapse, over the audience, during a show (Urinetown), which necessitated cancelling at least one show, maybe more (there were fortunately no injuries, IIRC).

I love the "wrong side" of Broadway theaters. The Belasco, while in poor repair, is a lovely small house with Tiffany glass everywhere you look. The Lyceum was designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. And the Cort...well, the Cort's nice, too.

The "wrong side of Broadway" refers to the fact that very seldom will a show run for long in any of those theaters.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 11:30am

I do recall reading that some elements of the Henry Miller's interior were preserved, to be incorporated into the new Henry Miller's, so it's not a total loss. But yes, the building was just too far gone to be saved.

As to the Belasco, I'm hoping that it will get a full-scale restoration. The Shubert Organization is doing a total make-over on the Longacre right now, so I hope the Belasco is next on their list.

And as far as the east of Broadway houses, the real jewel is the Hudson on West 44th, which is part of the Millenium Hotel. It's a gorgeous theatre, with a spacious, well appointed lobby, and Tiffany glass mosaics, that were discovered in a recent restoration. I keep hoping it will return to the legit fold, as well as the desperately needed Mark Hellinger.

[Jon]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:15pm

Urinetown might have run another year, with some stunt casting. Face it, it's really a show that belonged OFF - Broadway.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:21pm

Maybe the Off-Broadway of 20 years ago. But the commercial model of Off-Broadway is broken, and there was no way that a show of Urinetown's size could have been financially viable Off-Broadway. Urinetown also demonstrated that a risky show that might be considered Off-Broadway fare can pay off on Broadway. And thus beget Avenue Q, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Spring Awakening...

[brooklynbecca]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:41pm

Everytime I think of Urinetown it just reminds me off how much I wish Bat Boy had transferred to Broadway.

I do agree with Jon though. I think Urinetown was so intimate that it was more fun to see off-Broadway, but I realize the whole fiscal element came into play making the Broadway move logical.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:42pm

..... we would not have to look at another ugly skyscraper. As it is, another piece of history demolished in the name of progress.