| It’s a really strange situation and poses tons of questions. | |
| Last Edit: ShowGoer 09:13 am EST 12/28/22 | |
| Posted by: ShowGoer 08:55 am EST 12/28/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And then there was SUGAR ... - NewtonUK 07:47 am EST 12/28/22 | |
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| The thought-experiment, and it’s a fascinating one, is what if Some Like It Hot had opened in 2019 (or, possibly, 2024 or 2025, a few years from now)? Is it not doing well because of something inherent in the property itself - either the title doesn’t excite people (or has little name recognition nowadays), the subject matter seems stale, or mode’s the pity, is just a matter of poor timing coming after the superficially similar Tootsie and Mrs Doubtfire - in which case one could argue the show wouldn’t have done well no matter what…. … or is it just a misfortune of being the first new big splashy tired-businessman’s-type musical to open since the pandemic began? Some have questioned whether the show in fact actually has good word of mouth- but in addition to the critics-aggregate website didtheylikeit ranking it with 9 raves and only one negative review, the audience aggregator Show-Score has it at 85% (closing in on 400 reviews) – which is currently higher than the last two Best Musical winners, “Moulin Rouge” and “A Strange Loop”. For my money, while not quite as good as “The Prom” (which was still doing better than this), it’s more consistent in quality and tone, more targeted for a wider general audience, and just overall superior, to most of the last few Casey Nicholaw shows, “Mean Girls”, “Aladdin”, and even “Something Rotten”. Five years ago I can’t help but think these reviews would have made the show a sell-out for at least a few months on New York theatergoers and Broadway sales groups alone… (and yes, Music Man did well a year ago, but a large number of its sales predated 2020, and Leopoldstadt sold well opening in early fall, but that was before people started worrying about a ‘tripledemic’). So as every major fall and holiday film that isn’t an action or horror movie disappoints at the box office, and without the NYC Broadway tourists back in full force, despite the few relative success stories of the last year this show more than any other has me wondering: are people just not ready to come back en masse to the theater yet? |
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| Previous: | re: SLIH - Ann 02:29 pm EST 12/28/22 |
| Next: | re: It’s a really strange situation and poses tons of questions. - HunterHailey 02:19 pm EST 12/28/22 |
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