Spider-man Sounds…I Don’t Know.

Michael Riedel saw a preview thingy.

I have absolutely no idea how I feel about any of this.

Spider-man.

I’m watching this very cautiously.

It seems like there is an easier, more obvious way to do this.

Taymor and them are even going to come up with something way more genius than we can imagine, or…this is going to effing suck.

Broadway: Best of Times, Worst of Times.

Michael Riedel wrote an article today about the grim state of the Broadway stage.  His argument is tied, not surprisingly, to the recently announced closings of Hairspray, Spamalot, and Spring Awakening.  Each of those shows was expected to run a lot longer than it did.  I’ve seen the first two shows, and think they’re great Broadway works, and it’s a shame to lose them prematurely.  (I’ve still got a Hairspray post sitting around someplace — I’ll post it before they close, I promise.)  I haven’t seen Spring Awakening, but I’ll find a way to sneak into it before it’s gone too.  Even so, each of these shows have had respectable runs, if shorter than hoped (although even there, I’d say each of these shows did a bit better than might have been originally expected).

Riedel also cites three shows (13, Boeing Boeing, and A Tale of Two Cities – see what I did with that title?) as being “in the quicksand,” finding themselves in danger of closing soon.  As a point of fact, I’ll just mention that none of those three could have been considered sure things at any point in their runs or development by any stretch of the imagination.  Boeing Boeing might even have overperformed, thanks to its Tony win; it has recouped its investment and is sending out a tour.  The other two shows were each trying to capitalize on existing monster hits (High School Musical and Les Miserables, respectively), at least in terms of perception, and I wouldn’t consider it a shock or an aberration for either to close quickly.

The situation is bad, yes.  Money is tight all around.  Broadway costs are high (I mean the costs of putting a show together, not tickets — although that’s applicable too).  Broadway audiences tend to come from out of town — so what happens when the US economy tanks?  There are lots of concerns, for sure, and we haven’t seen the worst of the crisis.

But.

Riedel says: “New shows will be arriving in the spring – “Hair” will go to the Shubert – but there’s very little on the horizon that looks like a “Wicked”-size smash.”  I’m not so sure.  Take a look at what’s opening this season:

9 to 5 — Certainly not a guaranteed hit, but a Dolly Parton score, a good cast including Allison Janney, and a woman-centric storyline.

American Buffalo — Mamet with stars.  Stars that appeal to different ethnic groups — Leguizamo and Cedric will drive tickets for sure.   Open-ended run, meaning that new stars can slide in and out to keep tickets moving.

Billy Elliot — Juggernaut in London (although I hated it).  Maybe it won’t translate to the US.  Maybe it will.  If it does, it could be a monster.

Shrek — If this isn’t a potential juggernaut, I don’t know what is.  (I resisted the urge to call it a monster hit, but you know.)  Big title, great creative team, big-time Broadway cast.

Vanities — Okay, now this one looks like it could close fast.  No big title, no huge stars, pretty small and low-concept.  Then again…it’s a three character musical (which means it’s a cheap musical), it’s intermissionless (which makes it a fun, quick night at the theater, which should help word of mouth), it’s about women and friendship and nostalgia, and it’s been a hit (in play form) everywhere it’s been before.  If this was an NFL fantasy draft, this would be your sleeper RB pick.

Waiting for Godot: Limited time JUG GER NAUT.  Nathan Lane in Beckett?  This could be the not-for-profit event of the year.  And as I mentioned before, Bill Irwin is the really exciting part of this whole project.  This will be a huge hit for the few months it’s up.

West Side Story — MONSTER.  There’s no guarantee, of course; the last Broadway revival was in 1980 and ran for only 333 performances.  But it’s West Side Story, for god’s sake.  I just hope that it and In The Heights can coexist.

You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush — Will Ferrell on Broadway.  Playing W.  Limited run.  Spamalot will have already closed.  This is THE boy musical of Broadway for those two months.  Anyone who gets me tickets to this wins at life.

And that’s not mentioned Spider-Man, which, truth be told, could be the biggest financial disaster in Broadway history, or could make $300 million and change the way things are done at that scale.  Nor does it take into consideration Godspell, for colored girls…, Brigadoon, or Nice Work If You Can Get It, all of which have technically “postponed” their runs and could pop back onto the radar with open theaters (and an aggressive investor or two).

Nor does it mention any of the Off-Broadway shows that could end up as transfers based on buzz; I’ve heard buzz for Taking Over, Danny Hoch’s genius one-man show (read: Danny Hoch’s genius “cheap” show), and Beau Willimon’s Farragut North (which was originally rumored to open on Broadway with Jake Gyllenhaal.   Who knows what else could pop up?  Last time Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright did a show together at The Public, it moved to Broadway.  They’re working together again on a John Guare play.  Think that’s not a contender?

Nor does it mention the new TKTS booth in Times Square, or the new one in Brooklyn, both of which should help a steady stream of discounters find their ways to the struggling shows.

Yes, I understand that not all of these will hit.  Not all of them will recoup.  Some will flame out spectacularly.  And yes, there’s a lot of star casting involved, and movie remakes, and all the stuff that folks hate about Broadway (although no jukeboxes, interestingly).  And yes, there will be huge financial hits to come, and Broadway will suffer as the rest of the country suffers.  Who knows what will happen to investors?  To audiences?  To the city itself?

But a disaster?  Maybe I’m I’m being a little too Tracy Turnblad enthusiastic/naive, but I don’t see it as a disaster just yet.

(Oh yeah…I forgot Dirty Dancing too.)

This Week in New York Theater.

1.  So they’re casting for the Spider-man musical, and I’ve got say that I’m excited about the potential of the whole project.  If you haven’t heard, Julie Taymor is directing/creating, and U2 (or at least Bono and The Edge) are doing the score.  I’ve heard good things from folks involved.  The casting notice is interesting for a couple of reasons, first of which is the line “all ethnicities are encouraged to audition.”  Now, while my friend Burl would make a perfect Spidey (and I’ve got the pictures to prove it), are we really going to see a Spider-man or even Mary Jane of color?  The fanboys wouldn’t stand for it, I don’t think.  (Although if Stephanie Beatriz was Mary Jane, I’d be there, no questions asked.)

The other weird tidbit from the casting notice is this mysterious “Principal Woman,” described as “Sinead O’Connor with a Middle Eastern/Bulgarian/Greek twist.”  Okay.  I have absolutely no clue what that’s all about–a new villain?  Should they really be adding to the cannon like this?  Maybe a Spidey fan will read this and school me on how this character fits into everything, and I definitely will reserve judgment, but I’m already questioning where they’re taking this.

2.  Whoopi is the new Rosie, as she signs on to join the cast of Xanadu shortly after doing a good job hosting this year’s Tony’s (go back and check out the running diary if you haven’t already).   The difference, of course, is that Whoopi already has a Tony.  I was pretty excited about seeing Xanadu even before this announcement, and I’d like to see it with Whoopi in it, but I’ll probably wait out the crowds and check it out after she leaves.  Xanadu is an interesting case right now–the theater is almost full every night (at least as of the latest Variety charts), but ticket receipts are only about half of what they could be.  Lots of discounted tickets to that show.  So Whoopi would, it would seem, allow them to start selling more full price tickets, hopefully while maintaining that seating capacity.  I hope Xanadu keeps doing well–I didn’t want it to win the Tony (for obvious reasons), but it sounds like a fun little show.

3.  Tickets are still available for Passing Strange’s closing weekend, including the two shows Spike Lee is going to film.  Seriously.  Buy tickets.  See the show.  Be there for the taping and/or the closing.  I’m looking into it myself.  You’re going to be real sad when you watch the filmed version and realize you could have been there.

4.  My boy Rajiv wrote a play about origami.  Yes.  Origami.  It’s called Animals Out of Paper, and it’s pretty damn good.  Full disclosure: I recently wrote a piece about this play for the Brooklyn Rail (should be out soon), and I served as the (super informal) “hip-hop consultant” for the show (I didn’t write the rhymes, just discussed them, and basically just quoted Eminem lyrics at that).  So yeah, I’m biased.  And one of my favorite actors in the world, Utkarsh Ambudkar, is in it–you may remember him as Nelson from The Lark production of Welcome to Arroyo’s.  Either way, this is a play with a lot of heart, some great performances (from what I saw in the first reading), and a deceptive simplicity that pulls back to reveal incredible emotional complexity underneath.  It’s like origami, come to think of it.

5.  Also happening right now in NYC is 12 Ophelias by the wildly prolific Caridad Svich.  If you saw Aya Ogawa’s Oph3lia, you kind of have to see this one, if only to make it a total of 15 Ophelias this summer (plus, of course, Lauren Ambrose, who makes 16–sixteen Ophelias!  *cue Count Von Count’s thunder*).  It happens to be free and site-specific in Williamsburg’s McCarren Park Pool (or as El Puente students would say “MacCarrien Park” — there’s an awfully inside joke for you), and it features bluegrass and a Hamlet with a black eye, so go see it already.  Here’s a blog review of it if you haven’t made up your mind.

I know there’s a lot more, but I’m stopping there–oh wait, no I’m not.

6.  Hair.  It’s in Central Park starting July 22.  I’m a little bummed about only having ten days or so to try to see it (and my birthday is right in there, so that knocks a bunch of nights out of the realm of possibility), but I am going to find a way to make it happen.  It’s Hair, people.  And it’s in Central Park.  Outside.  And there’s a war going on–a war with a “back-door draft.“  I’m not going to tell you about the virtual line, because (a) I’ve already written about it (I think) and (b) I don’t want you beating me to the punch.  I’ll link it all up after I’ve seen it, suckas.

7.  This last one isn’t theater, but it’s the biggest deal in entertainment this summer.  I will be seeing the IMAX.  Somehow.  Possibly at 2am next week.