May 8, 2008
Broadway's Glory Days Closes After Opening
Glory Days, the new musical written by a pair of twenty-somethings from Virginia, closed after its official opening night last night, joining such Broadway flops as Moose Murders and Teaneck Tanzi in the illustrious "Open/Close Club." The negative reviews proved too much for producers, who chose to pull the plug and eat their $2.5 million investment. In writing his delicate pan, Ben Brantley noted that the producers “have done this little, hopeful show no favors by dragging it into a spotlight that invites close and unforgiving inspection.”
While Glory Days was no great theatrical revelation, the failure does highlight the dumbed-down economics of Broadway, where a phenomenal rock musical like Passing Strange receives widespread critical acclaim but plays at 44.8% capacity. Straight plays have it even harder; Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming, which starred Ian McShane, opened to rave reviews but couldn’t sell enough tickets to break even, while August: Osage County won the Pulitzer but was playing to half-empty houses before moving to a smaller theater.
So what do Broadway producers have to do to not lose their shirts? According to the Broadway League stats, churn out more Jersey Boys and Phantoms, which still perform for packed houses night after night after night and help pump billions into the city's economy.
|
I thought Teaneck Tanzi was going to be a hit for sure.
Maybe the tickets for these shows shouldn't be so f'ing expensive! It's cheaper to go to an opera at the Met than it is to go to one of these shows.
I was going to go see this. Too late. I guess Glory Days passed me by.
empec: Passing Strange sells $25 rush tickets before every performance. You won't have a problem getting great seats for a steal. I can't recommend it enough.
Passing Strange is crazy good. 25 bucks is well, well worth it.
Broadway economics evidently preclude the success of anything but dumb glitz for rich tourists. Perhaps the music so-called of Andrew Lloyd Webber could be permuted by computer so as to provide several new scores. With that and glossy special effects, we won't have to worry about the lyrics. Use the telephone book. That'll rake in the billions, and Theatre can move to... Teaneck.
But if this is an example of Broadway's dumbing down, why did it fail? By your logic, shouldn't its run have been much longer than, like, a night?
From the reviews I've read, this is the ultimate dumbed-down Broadway musical. The fact the Passing Strange is still running and this was shitcanned after a night is proof that Broadway crowds are at least *a little* skeptical of dumbed down trash like this.
Producers turned Broadway into a theme park, turned the economics of the place on its ear, then they complain when they can't sell shows that aren't movie retreads or shallow Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff.
Not sure Glory Days deserved a life on Broadway, but think about this... right now you bring a show into town and the only way it will work is if you can sell it to out-of-towners.
Glory Days failed because it wasn't ready for Broadway. It would have played much better at an off-Broadway house.
The score was mediocre and not memorable, if they had played it off-Broadway and reworked it so it got it's theater legs, done some major rewrites, worked with a mentor, it could have an okay life. But seeing as how the director and producers pushed it out of the nest, into oncoming traffic, it was bound to fail. This show was a jumbled mess of cliched stupid characters and songs.
There's no single statement that can be made about Broadway and commmercial theatre nowadays, except of course to say that no single statement can be made. :)
Perhaps the reason Glory Days closed is because it just wasn't a very good show. Or perhaps it was brilliant, but didn't connect with audiences. Or perhaps there wasn't anything artistic about it. Who knows, except those who saw it.
It's unfair to assume that the only shows that can be successful on Broadway are shows that will pull in an out-of-town audience. Yes, that's a big part of it, but it's not a definitive rule. The shows that do fall into this may be lacking in story (Cats), focus (Mamma Mia), or anything interesting (Phantom, Lion King, etc).
But one thing they do have in common is an artistic viewpoint. This is what sustains them beyond the story, music, or performances. People were fascinated at the idea of actors performing as cats. People are still (somehow) fascinated by the sets and rickety chandelier from Phantom (good thing it hasn't gotten out that they use body doubles in that show, too, else the Miley Cyrus crowd would be in an uproar!). And, as evidenced by what I think is by far the worst Broadway show ever, people are enthralled by the creativity of human-controlled animal puppets on wheels. Highly artistic, yet poorly utilized. Still, audiences flock.
But that doesn't explain why shows that challenge--shows with a point, as I like to call them--still thrive. When it first opened, Rent was not a show for Joe and Suzie Homemaker from Topeka, Kansas. Yet it thrived for 10 years. Spring Awakening, same thing (though how long the run will be remains to be seen). The art of these shows is more in the emotional impact of the story, and is certainly an admirable feat.
Long story short, there's room for all types of shows. Just like there's room for Spiderman and No Country For Old Men on the big screen. Both appealing, yet for completely different reasons.
Broadway is a business, first and foremost. Producers are only doing their jobs when they bring in shows that they feel will sell tickets. And more power to them.
And more power to the two guys who wrote Glory Days. It's fantastic that they were able to have this experience, no matter how short-lived and disappointing it must be. They're part of an elite club that all of us playwrights want to join.
Tickets are much too expensive for many people. $25 rush tickets are great, but being able to buy $25 tickets online instead of having to show up an hour beforehand with no guarantee of getting a seat would be a much improved system. Many theater districts around the world offer less optimal seats at much lower prices to those not willing to spend a day's pay for a play. Most New Yorkers can't afford to outspend bloated tourists.
Not to mention many people would rather spend their evening in a neighborhood where Applebee's and the Ted Turner steakhouse aren't the only after-event options.
TDF. TKTS.
There are alternatives to full-price tickets, even to those not in the industry.