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Broadway is suffering, people! This summer attendance was down 9.3%, compared with the same period a year ago. Even with more expensive tickets, box office grosses were down 2.9%, to just under $290.9 million. So producer Ken Davenport isn't just being a drama queen when he tells Crain's, "We have far fewer butts in seats, and that concerns me. This summer wasn't good, and we're on target for a drop at the end of this season." Davenport produced four shows on Broadway last season but this fall he's only doing one—David Mamet's Oleanna, a two-hander starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles. Other producers are hoping celebs like Daniel Craig, Jude Law, and, ugh, Catherine Zeta-Jones can bring the butts back.
Meanwhile, one hit Broadway show has made the unlikely move to open again Off Broadway. After last night's final performance of the popular puppet musical Avenue Q, producer Kevin McCollum took the stage and announced that the show would transfer to New World Stages, where it would begin performances Oct. 9. "It's a smaller theater, so the tickets will be $1000 each," McCollum quipped, ha ha. This is the first time a production's moved from Broadway to Off Broadway, but it's not such a big step; The Playgoer points out that the mainstage of New World, which is located in Times Square, has 499-seats—one seat less than the number that would qualify it as a "Broadway" house.
And in other Times Square news, the creepy owners of the sleazy Box will be taking their X-rated shtick uptown with a Halloween twist. According a press release, from October 15th to October 31st, the former China Club space will become Purgatorio, an "erotic nightmare fantasyland created especially for Halloween season." Open to adults 21+ willing to pay $39.99 to $59.99 each, the multi-level club warns patrons the place will be "dark and damp with low visibility, strobe light effects and actors that may jump out at you. For the safety and comfort of all our guests, you should be in good health, not be prone to motion sickness and be free from heart, breathing, back, knee and neck problems." Also terrifying? That Spider-Man musical is actually happening, and tickets will go on sale on Halloween.
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But, but, the messiah in the White house said he was going to stimulate the economy, how can this be happening?
Maybe because average people live in the real world and tend cut back on discretionary spending like Broadway shows in lean economic times - as opposed to the lunatics in DC who think flushing trillions of dollars down the toilet is the way to bring back economic prosperity.
Sooo...they raised prices and fewer people came. Isn't that pretty much how it works all the time?
Maybe if going out to the theater didn't cost $250, I'd do it more often. I mean, I can go to the freakin' Met Opera, sit in relatively decent seats, and only be out $130 or so. Why would I go see some lame 80's hair-band retrospective and pay twice as much?
Was at Avenue Q closing day. Epic performance. I'm probably going to go see them on opening night again. Hooked!
The thing about Avenue Q moving to a theater that is technically (by one seat) "off-Broadway" is intriguing. Anyone know whether there's a financial reason for them to move to a 800-seat theater to a 500-seat theater? A cost savings associated with the difference between a "Broadway" production and an "off-Broadway" production, maybe?