Box Office Results- The Tony Aftermath

Now that the Tony nominations have been announced, it's interesting to take a look and see if there is any correlation to the box office receipts for last week. By and large, the answer is a resounding "no".

Of the 4 nominees for "best musical", only Fela saw a significant bump over the previous week, filling the Eugene O' Neill theater to 93% capacity (a 22% increase), and a $163,000 increase in gross. To me, Fela feels like the Passing Strange of the season in that it's been a far bigger critical hit than a commercial one, so hopefully the Tony buzz translates into business beyond the next few weeks. The producers (including Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith) are trying their best to capitalize on the momentum, announcing plans for a national tour in 2011.

American idiot and Memphis were essentially flat from last week's attendance, although their grosses were up a little (probably more to do with fewer discounts). The surprise nominee, Million Dollar Quartet was actually down 10% after it was nominated for best musical, taking in nearly $40,000 less and playing to only 57% capacity at the Nederlander Theater. Still though, the producers are soldiering on and have announced that they are selling tickets through November. Anyone care to wager as to whether the show actually lasts that long?

Of the two nominated revivals that are still open, only La Cage saw a spike, up $60,000 from last week and filling the Longacre to 88% capacity, which is more impressive when you see the overall anemic attendance across the board last week.

Which of this season's musicals ARE doing big business? The panned Addams Family and Promises, Promises, both topping the million dollar mark once again. Should we be surprised that this season's most negatively reviewed shows are grossing the highest?? Not really. All you have to take a look at last weekend's Hollywood box office, where the widely panned Iron Man 2 took in $133 million dollars to see the disconnect between critics and audiences. By the way, despite the negative buzz on IM2, all I read this weekend on facebook were status updates from moviegoers praising it as being better than the first one.

The bottom line?? Today's audience doesn't want to be told how they should feel about the product. They are happy to judge for themselves.... and isn't that what makes art great???

We saw this coming

Over the last week, I've been playing the new game that's sweeping the nation, called "If I Were Michael Ridel", where we take a guess as to how he will go about buring The Addams Family in his latest column. As predicted, he used the Times Square bomber :

AND the Tony Award for Cowardice goes to Lucy Liu of "God of Carnage," the only
actor on Broadway who refused to go on Saturday night during the bomb scare.

She panicked after talking to police outside the theater. Her understudy
bravely went on with the show's other stars, Jeff Daniels, Janet McTeer and
Dylan Baker.

I'm told she feels "terrible" now about missing the
performance.

Well, Lucy, there's a saying in the theater: The show must
go on.

Take your lead from Nathan Lane, the star of "The Addams Family."

He's in a bomb every night, but he never misses!

Mr. Riedel is a little predictable, but I still love him.

The biggest losers on Tony nomination day....

The Tony committee giveth...and they also taketh away. By now, you have already read about the big winners (Fela, Memphis, etc), but let us take a moment to see who lost the most based on this morning's nominations.

1. Enron- On paper, this seemed like it was going to be a no brainer. The show was enormously successful in the UK, where the West End production is still running. The American cast was strong, the production was slick and stylized, and in the end, it didn't matter. Enron, which was not well received by critics, was playing to about 65 percent capacity at an average ticket price of $35. While it was nominated for 4 awards this morning, it was not included in the all important "Best Play" category, and the closing notice was posted just hours later, a mere 12 days after opening

2- The Addams Family- As I discussed in yesterday's prediction blog, the show has been the target of largely unjustified hatred by theater insiders. Ken Davenport may be the only person I know of to come out and say the show deserved a "Best Musical" nomination. While I figured the backlash would keep TAF of that category, there were enough strong performances by Nathan Lane, Kevin Chamberlain, and Carolee Carmello to merit multiple acting nods. I also figured that such a visually impressive show would be acknowledged in the technical categories. At the end of the day, it was only nominated twice, an acting nod for Chamberlain, and a surprising best score nomination for the heavily panned music from Andrew Lippa. The good news for Addams Family?? It's consistent seven figure weekly gross should keep it going strong for the time being, avoiding the fate that 9 to 5 suffered after last year's Tony snub.

3. Broadway stars- This year, many beloved Broadway performers were passed over in place of their Hollywood counterparts. Noticeably absent from the acting categories this year were Kristen Chenowith, Nathan Lane, and Bebe Neuwirth. In their place were Denzel Washington, Sean Hayes, Scarlett Johannson, and others. The only one of those omissions that I personally have a problem with is the extraordinary Lane, who single-handedly carries Addams on his back 8 shows a week. Broadway fans shouldn't be too upset about this trend as the Denzels and Scarlett's of the world do bring new fans to the theater, and legitimize Broadway to people who might not otherwise care.

The winners will be announced June 13th at Radio City Music Hall.

When stunt casting goes bad....

This summer's production of Rent at the Hollywood Bowl is taking stunt casting to a whole new level, as it may be the first show in recent memory to hire a stunt director. The press release touted Neil Patrick Harris, who played Mark on Broadway, to make his musical directorial debut.

I have no problem with this decision at all. Harris is a smart guy, passionate about the show, and has directing experience from the TV world, so staging this production doesn't seem like a stretch.

However, like many fans, I hopped aboard the "WTF Express" when it was announced that High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens would be playing the role of Mimi. You know you have made a questionable decision when you are already on the defensive in the press release, but here is the official statement:

Harris says "She seems really committed to honoring the somewhat iconic role of Mimi".

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, eh? He might as well have said "Bless her heart, the poor untalented thing. She's trying hard, but holy Christ, this is gonna suuuuuuuuck".

As to make it worse, Wayne Brady has been cast has playing Tom Collins. Yes, THAT Wayne Brady. The one hosting "Let's Make a Deal" right now. The one who has made a career being the likable improv comic. The guy who is about 15 years too old, and way too milquetoast to play this role.

What's next?? RuPaul as Angel?? Snookie as Maureen???

The whole thing sounds like it could be a delicious trainwreck....and I think I need to make the trip to LA to see it.

Now it's time to play my new favorite party game... it's called "IF I WERE MICHAEL RIEDEL".

This is where we guess how he will bury The Addams Family in his next column. Here is another prediction for next week.

"The Broadway community was paralyzed with fear after a Car Bomb was found in Times Square Saturday. Fire trucks and bomb experts were sent to the seen after smoke was billowing from an abandoned Nissan on 45th street. As it turns out, it was just the stench of The Addams Family, which continues to bomb one block away at the Lunt-Fontainne Theater"