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Gothamist always finds it fascinating how some truly non-commercial playwrights will always get their new shows produced on Broadway. It's as if some producers and investors genuinely don't care about making money with some of the works they are essentially subsidizing. One such writer that falls in this category is two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson, whose new play Gem of the Ocean, was scheduled to begin previews Nov. 4, but was delayed when the producers had a big investor pull out and had to suddenly scamper around looking for replacement funds. The Times reports that the $2.1 million project is now back up and open for business, with previews going on now. A very rich angel has come to the rescue in the form of Carole Shorenstein Hays, a San Francisco real estate heiress and Broadway producer, whose previous producing credits include Take Me Out and Caroline, or Change.
Guess she can afford to take the probable loss, being said to own half of San Francisco. Bear in mind that even Puff Daddy was approached to help save this show, and even he passed on making the investment. Mind you, the play actually sounds interesting. The Times reports that it is set in 1904 and stars Phylicia Rashad as "a 287-year-old woman leading a troubled young man through a surreal world." We hope it does well. But either way, we won't worry about Hays - she's also producing Julius Caesar starring Denzel Washington on Broadway in the spring, which should be a box office colossus, to say the least.
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There was/is a rather interesting article in Crains New York Business about the major Broadway Theaters attempting to revolt from the New York Times.
The Major Theater Owners claim that the New York Times has a special special advertising rate for Broadway Theaters that is now even more of a burden; given that theater advertising in the Times doesn't bring in as much business as it once did.
The Theater owners also claim that the New York Times doesn't like "Broadway" anymore because the Times wants to pander to a younger audience. The Owners cite the redesign of the Times Entertaiment Section to de-emphasis all things Broadway in favor of "Hispter Interests". There was also some reference to the Times discontinuing some column dedicated to reviewing broadway plays.
The Crains article carried quotes from a couple of Theater Owners who admitted that they actually advertised in a newspaper OTHER than the New York Times for the first time this year.
Since the Theater Owners (who still have a lot of money to pay for advertising) are looking for a new way to promote their plays, MAYBE Gothamist could come to their rescue (I'll bill you later for the tip).
I looked for the story at crainsny.com, but the site appears to currently be down.