Closing Weekends!

My two favorite shows of the year thus far are both closing this weekend. If you haven't seen them yet, you should.

Tarrell Alvin McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays is closing its lengthy run at Steppenwolf this weekend. It's utterly brilliant, and worth seeing one part or both, in order or out. McCraney's utterly brilliant, and I doubt Tina Landau's production can be bettered. We'll see a lot more of McCraney in the future (he's just joined the Steppenwolf  but don't miss this.

The Hypocrites' production of Cabaret at the Storefront Theatre isn't brilliant because of how it's reconceived (with a female Emcee and a three-act structure and various other changes). Nearly every production of Cabaret does that. It's brilliant because it balances caring about the characters with stylized theatrical moments, and brings home the horror of a country sliding into fascism with visceral (if unsubtle) power. Plus strong design, singing, and acting. It's more that worth a trip.

Sorry, by the way, for my lack of posts--I haven't felt the need. Hopefully it returns soon.

Pasadena Playhouse Closes

I don't think I've seen much on this since it happened, but on Friday Playbill reported that the Pasadena Playhouse will close down this Sunday. It's a large regional theatre with a strong reputation (93 years old, too), and it's rather shocking to see it go just like that. But apparently there was $5 million dollars of debt to be paid, and no way to do it. It may be one of the largest (in budget) companies to close down in this economy, with the possible exceptions of the Studio Arena in Buffalo and the North Shore Music Theatre in Massachusetts. Apparently there are hopes to somehow restructure the debt and reopen the company. Hopefully this will come to pass. It's a sad loss, for now.

Inferior Box Office

As has been widely reported, the producers of Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts have announced that it will be closing on January 3rd. This is not a huge surprise: the week of November 16-22 saw only 43.9% of the seats filled (more detailed information here). While the grosses may have been higher Thanksgiving weekend, and may continue to pick up at the end of the year when everyone's grosses rise, January is historically the worst month for Broadway, and it's unlikely they could have made it until things picked up in the spring. Still, it's quite a shame. One would hope that the success of August: Osage County would have made Tracy Letts into enough of a name to sell a play, but apparently that hasn't quite happened. The show got generally positive reviews, but not the ecstasies that August inspired, and that combined with the lack of stars were probably enough to do it in. It's a real shame. It's a lovely play that was being given an excellent, very well-acted production. Hopefully it will still see a regional afterlife, and the cast and designers will all get career boosts. We can dream.

August Ends In June

As has been reported elsewhere, the Broadway production on August: Osage County will be closing on June 28th. The grosses have been anemic for quite a while--especially since it's not a cheap show to run--and apparently Phylicia Rashad's stepping into the role of Violet a few weeks back wasn't enough to push them into sellout status.

Still, it's a very impressive run--648 performances. The only nonmusical play to run longer in recent years was Proof (900-some), and that had a cast of four and a runtime of 90 minutes--as opposed to August's 13, all of whom had to be paid overtime because the show is over 3 hours in length. The show is leaving on tour next month, which was mentioned as one reason for its closing--now the touring production will be able to use elements of the designs from the Broadway version. Very clever.

So it looks like the local boy made pretty damn good. I wonder if the Broadway run of Superior Donuts, his followup, will manage similar success? The tour of August is heading back to Chicago in February of 2010--I'm very excited to see it again.

Cold Reality

It is not uncommon on Broadway for January and February, traditionally the slowest months, to see their share of closings. Still, this month is particularly brutal. Nine closings today, another four to come, including some major hits like Hairspray, Spamalot, and Spring Awakening. I know that Broadway isn't the center of the theatrical universe, but it's hard not to think of this as simply the most visible sign of the bad times. When you add in companies that are strapped and in danger of closing, I'm a little worried.

Maybe Obama will create a new Federal Theatre Project? I will happily be the new Hallie Flanagan.

Closings

A few unfortunate closings announced in recent days:

The New York Times reports that Spring Awakening will be ending its run in January. It will have run over two years and made back its investment, which is no small feat, but I am among many who hoped that something that audacious and exciting would stay around for a little longer. I saw it over the summer, and was highly impressed. While the play has definite flaws (many with the lyrics), the staging and production are simply dynamite. I've never seen a show so exceptionally good at expressing the itchy, squirmy, inappropriate energy of being 15, while somehow not being as irritating as actual 15-year-olds are. It's an electrifying, brilliant production, and you should really see it before it closes in New York--or at least when it visits Chicago in August of 2009.

Recent days have also seen the announcements of the January closings of Monty Python's Spamalot and Hairspray after lengthy runs. I hope that they are replaced with productions of equal success!

Closer to home, Kris Vire and others have announced the shocking early closing of the Chicago run of Forbidden Broadway. It's particularly strange given the show's great success in its previous engagement here last year and the rave reviews of this year's edition. Apparently a combination of soft grosses, insufficient marketing, and a poor economic environment have caused the producers to bolt. It runs one more week, through November 2nd, so get your tickets now!

Permitted Broadway?

As has been widely reported (well, in the theatre press at least) Forbidden Broadway, Gerard Alessandrini's hilarious revue parodying the best and worst of Broadway, will be closing in January of 2009. (The New York times has  the best article on the subject.)

The series, which will close on the 27th anniversary of the opening of the first edition in 1982, has been an institution in New York since it opened. It has been running, on and off, since before Cats opened. Staggering.

I only have gotten to see it once, when a company opened a run in Cleveland. However, I listened to the CDs constantly, and would frequently remember the parody lyrics better than the originals--because they were better lyrics.

But I guess that the acclaim eventually gets old--long runs, multiple companies around the country, a whole bunch of awards, even a special Tony in 2006. Alessandrini has pointed to a lack of artistic excitement in the next few seasons--nothing to sink ones teeth into. I can see this, but I don't think that  the upcoming seasons are going to be any worse than the low years of the late eighties and the early nineties. Of course, it is 15 years later, so that might have some impact.

Either way, I'm going to be sure to see the company that's coming to Chicago next month, and say a prayer of thanks that we had the genius of this show for as long as we did. Hopefully in a few years he'll feel the itch to get back into the parody business--or someone else almost as brilliant will come to take his place!