Next Show To Fall
Next Show To FallAs I had predicted last week, critical darling Next Fall becomes the first post-Tony Awards casualty in posting its closing notice.
Next Fall walked away from the Tonys with no wins, yet the show was already stumbling and falling at the box office with weeks of very low sales in what is Broadway's tiniest house.
While my prediction came true, I don't relish it for one moment -- even for a show I didn't much care for -- because it means that the play's hard-working actors and crew won't have jobs. But the blow here is particularly hard.
According to The New York Times:
Next Fall cost about $2 million to mount, and one of its lead producers, Richard Willis, said that the show will close at a total loss to its producers and investors.
Among those producers were Elton John and David Furnish, whose names were often included above the title.
Maybe if the show weren't so cliché-ridden or preachy, ironically about how narrow-minded people of faith purportedly are, it could have attracted a much wider audience.
Next Fall will close on July 4 after 26 previews and 132 regular performances.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Closing Notices, David Furnish, Elton John, Next Fall, Play
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, June 23, 2010
5 Comments:
i disagreed with your review of next fall when you originally posted it, and i still disagree with it now. i didn't find next fall to be "cliché-ridden" or "preachy" at all. i think you missed the point if you felt the end message of the show was "people of faith are narrow-minded." i took as "people who judge people who have faith as being narrow-minded are really the narrow-minded ones."
regardless of subject matter, the real reason next fall closed it because it didn't have star power in it's cast. quick, name me one opened-ended play that's lasted on broadway in the past season that didn't have a bankable name? (and don't say august: osage county, because deanna dunagan is a very well-known stage actress, and was replaced by superstar phylicia rashad). in order to draw the tourists, you need a star (especially with plays). subject matter and word-of-mouth helps, but it's not essential (see: race). and no matter how famous your producers are, they can't make a show last (we'll be saying the same thing about fela! in a few weeks).
next fall is closing not because it's a bad show, but because it's using a bad formula. having great writing and great acting simply isn't enough anymore - you need a name. believe me - i'd love for broadway to prove me wrong. but the way things are going these days, it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon. and that's what we should really be sad about.
NineDaves,
I appreciate and respect your point of view, but I strongly disagree on Next Fall message.
I know I'm not alone in walking away from Next Fall thinking the exact opposite of "people who judge people who have faith as being narrow-minded are really the narrow-minded ones."
Now where I think you have a point is that there were no stars in this show. It is hard to keep a show going on Broadway these days without major stars.
And like I said above, regardless of what I thought about this particular show, I am sorry my prediction that it would close shortly after the Tonys proved true.
While I agree more with NineDaves than you this time Steve (just as our reviews were in disagreement over this show), let me pose this to both of you:
Are you sure that is all the play "means"?
That a play can generate any kind of discussion or argument (and trust me, when I saw this play with my friend, we had a MAJOR blow out in a nearby restaurant) makes it a success far more than monetary gain.
That the show is closing at a great loss to its investors is indisputable, but perhaps a less "narrow" view is to celebrate what it did accomplish.
Jeff
good point, jeff. i don't think that's all next fall means. i got a lot more out of it (i clearly liked it more than steve did). and i do think the discussion is the important thing - and next fall brought up big disagreements in my group too.
I've had plenty of discussions with others about this play! I have been surprised by the number of gay friends who absolutely hated this production, perhaps even more than I disliked it.
Post a Comment
<< Home