Most Unexpected Closing Announcement- Page 3

[KathyGriffinLovesYou]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 8:05pm

RENT.

Posted: 10/17/08 at 11:10pm

High Fidelity
Glory Day
Grey Gardens
Xanadu
Spamalot
Tarzan

Edit: and I forgot Lone Star Love,
the hot mess that never came in. Updated On: 10/17/08 at 11:10 PM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 11:34pm

For me it was Xanadu and Legally Blonde. Not so much the fact that they were closing but when they were closing. I'd have thought they would have, at least, lasted through the money-making holiday season.

And then the whole switcharoo with Xanadu was even more shocking.

Updated On: 10/18/08 at 11:34 PM

[willep]

Posted: 10/18/08 at 12:09am

i have to agree with tobiasragg on this one...spamalot!?!?

[SillySara]

Posted: 10/18/08 at 9:43am

I thought Spamalot would last a little longer, what with Clay Aiken coming back and the holidays right around the corner. Their numbers aren't what they used to be and there have been some rumblings about it closing, but I certainly thought it had a little bit of life left in it. I wonder what will be going in that theatre?

[StarUsher]

Posted: 10/18/08 at 9:54am

To answer the previous questions about Normal Heart...It did certainly would not have been a shock to anyone looking at the ticket stubs. There were performances were 5 to 7 people out of a house of over 100 actually paid full price and the discounts were not just a few dollars off. A good deal of them were paying like $10 a ticket if they were paying at all. The production company was a nightmare. They put this show up with NO advertising. They expected the word of mouth to boost sales and then they were going to do advertising. Um...so clearly business 101 was the class they skipped in school, right? Knowing this the closing itself was not unexpected. The notice and how they handled it was. The notice...oh wait, there was none... I was the last one called at 3pm that afternoon. Producers can actually close ANY time they want. All it means is that they have to pay the actor out based on whatever the terms of their contract are. I think standard is for two weeks. And I'll let you all in another secret. If a house staff or crew is not union, they don't have to give you ANYTHING and the producers of Normal Heart didn't. No compensation for the fact that we were supposed to have steady work (with almost guaranteed overtime in my case) till Sept and they closed in July. I would never work with them again...

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/18/08 at 11:25am

I'm not generally anal about these things but guys come up and check your English books. "It was doing bad" is not correct grammar.

Very few closing notices I think are unexpected. With most, the writing is on the wall financially. And I actually think its an unhealthy sign of the times when people are shocked that a show closes after a 5 or 10 year run. Thirty years ago, it was pretty much unheard of for a show to run on Broadway that long; and I'm frankly from that old school of thought that says NO show should run more than 5 years. Make your money back - a few bucks extra and close - let new productions come in!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 10/18/08 at 11:28am

Tho not entirely unexpected, the one closure announcement that made me mad and sad was for 'Side Show' - still sorely missed!
Updated On: 10/18/08 at 11:28 AM

[broadway122]

Posted: 10/18/08 at 12:08pm

This is just my opinion, but when broadway brings in a replacement who is a Hollywood star that is a HUGE sign the show is going to close soon. Xanadu-Whoopi, A Chorus Line-Mario Lopez, Legally Bonde-The whole search on Mtv, Beauty and the Beast- Anneliese van der Pol i could go on for days.


Does anyone else believe in the Hollywood Celebrity REplacement Curse

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 10/18/08 at 12:18pm

i for one am not shocked at all by spamalot closing. It had a nice run, it doesnt sell like it used to and this way something new can go into the shubert.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 10/18/08 at 12:31pm

Anneliese van der Pol is a big star now? I'd never heard of her until she did BatB.

Rent brought in Joey Fatone, Drew Lachey, and Melanie Brown (Mel B. of the Spice Girls) and ran for many years afterward. Hairspray brought in a LOT of star replacements as well and just recently announced a closing but with no "star" in the cast. No matter who stars in Chicago, it continues to run. The 1994 revival of Grease welcome many big stars without posting a closing notice right after.

So sometimes it does spell out danger for a show, but there are plenty of examples of when it has not.

Posted: 10/19/08 at 2:59am

I saw Legally Blonde back in May at a saturday afternoon matinee and it was maybe half full if that. I thought at the time that it wasn't long for this world so I was surprised when the did the MTV Elle Woods search. Of course, as it turned out it didn't run that much longer which wasn't a surprise. So, for me, it wasn't terribly surprising. Neither was Passing Strange and Title of Show closing but I think those shows closed because they were playing at theaters east of Bway. Seems that shows that play east of Bway tend to die a quick death (with a couple of exceptions, of course.)

[Kevn520]

Posted: 10/19/08 at 5:41pm

39 Steps is moving to the Helen Hayes Theater, and the show resumes January 20, 2009.

[broadway122]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 7:49am

Anneliese van der Pol was Raven's best friend in That's So Raven. So she is kind of a big star(ish) and in every episode.

[BroadwayBaby19]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 7:52am

"I thought Spamalot would last a little longer, what with Clay Aiken coming back and the holidays right around the corner. Their numbers aren't what they used to be and there have been some rumblings about it closing, but I certainly thought it had a little bit of life left in it."

They've still got a lot of advance sales during Clay's run & also the holiday sales coming up, so it is not closing until Jan. 18. I think it was pretty obvious from the summer numbers that it would close soon after Clay left. Four years is a very impressive run & $175,000,000 a good chunk of pocket change.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 7:58am

So being Raven's best friend makes you "Big Star(ish)?"

[James885]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 8:04am

Anneliese van der Pol was Raven's best friend in That's So Raven. So she is kind of a big star(ish) and in every episode.

That makes absolutely no sense. By that logic the people who played Raven's parents and her brother are also "big star(ish)"

Updated On: 10/20/08 at 08:04 AM

[Marianne2]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 8:08am

I agree about being on "That's So Raven" or whatever that show is. Heck, I never got the Disney channel until very recently, so most shows that come from there I don't know as well or at all. I still don't watch it ever.

[Broadwaylady]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 3:52pm

i loved Grey Gardens and was surprised it closed so fast. The same with Dracula, that was only playing a few months. Spamalot I never liked and did care if it closed. HairSpray was great. I saw it twice with the original cast. I never thought that would close either.

[mc1227]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 4:57pm

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels....I truly feel this should have run longer but had a similar fate as The Producers since the show became identified with it's stars and their chemistry. Once Lithgow left in Jan of 06, it never recovered. If The Producers ran 6 years or so, this show should have at least run 3.

[TTL]

Posted: 10/20/08 at 5:26pm

Well... I can't speak personally of a specific show I was aware of but after watching the documentary entitled SHOW BUSINESS - The Road To Broadway, directed by Dori Berinstein... The documentary made the show TABOO 's closing a very big deal.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 10:05pm

I don't really like Spring Awakening, but I didn't expect it to close. I heard it was doing pretty good. The only thing I don't like about it is some of the music. I am not happy nor sad it is closing. It was totally unexpected but I didn't feel for it if you know what I mean.

[thesondhead]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 10:18pm

"Once Lithgow left in Jan of 06, it never recovered."

Which is a shame, as Pryce was INFINITELY better than Lithgow.

[Steve2]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 10:19pm

Spring Awakening

[fromthecity]

Posted: 10/23/08 at 11:09pm

I think you'd have to be totally delusional to not have seen the imminent closing of Spring Awakening. After six-ish shows have gone before it, any look at its grosses would have told you it was a heartbeat away.

I'm a huge fan of the show, but I'm not an idiot. I think too many people let their love for a show equal the possibility for it to run ten years.