Slow spring awakening
(Shea Walsh/AP)
As we head toward March, Broadway’s beginning to perk up.
The Duke Studios on West 42nd Street are a hive of activity, with half a dozen shows in various states of rehearsal.
Walk around the Theater District, and you’ll see stagehands loading in new shows. In a month or so, there won’t be an empty theater, and Times Square will fill with tourists looking to see a show.
Yet producers are on edge right now because nothing’s selling all that well.
None of the new musicals has a huge advance, and the plays — even those with big stars such as Kiefer Sutherland (“That Championship Season”), Robin Williams (“Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo”) and Ben Stiller (“The House of Blue Leaves”) — have yet to catch the public’s imagination.
This time last year, the box office was already taking off at “Fences,” starring Denzel Washington.
That Tony-winning revival became the cultural event of the spring, making Broadway seem fun, exciting and newsworthy.
“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has made Broadway seem newsworthy, to be sure. But having suffered through it, I can tell you there’s nothing fun or exciting about it.
Some producers blame it for sucking all the attention away from everybody else.
“Can you please write about something else?” one producer has asked me repeatedly in the past few weeks.
Others think that because none of the other shows has a gold-plated, brand-name title, theatergoers are taking a wait-and-see attitude.
This will be good news to critics, who may have a little resurgence of power in the spring as they sort the winners from the losers.
“I think the plays with stars will be fine once the public gets some reassurance,” says a veteran press agent. “People don’t know these shows — they need to be told they’re good.”
As for musicals, my sense is that in the next couple of weeks, two shows are going to break away from the pack and start generating some much-needed buzz.
Both “The Book of Mormon,” which begins previews tomorrow, and “Catch Me If You Can,” which kicks off March 11, have impressed industry insiders who’ve seen them in rehearsals.
“Mormon” has a cheeky — and potentially controversial — early number called “Hasa Diga Eebowai,” which translates as “F – – k you, God!”
It’s going to be fun to see how that song goes over tomorrow night in front of paying customers at the Eugene O’Neill.
The creators of “Mormon” are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, of “South Park” fame, and Robert Lopez, who co-wrote “Avenue Q.”
A couple of weeks ago, the producers cleverly invited a bunch of “South Park”-obsessed bloggers to see a rehearsal at which “Hasa Diga Eebowai” was performed.
The bloggers loved it, and word’s gotten out that “Mormon” will deliver the kind of outrageous humor “South Park” fans expect.
While “Mormon” is going for a younger crowd that, so far, seems to come to Broadway only when Billie Joe Armstrong is in “American Idiot,” “Catch Me If You Can” is aimed squarely at the traditional (read: older) Broadway crowd.
As Jack O’Brien said at a recent press event for the show: “It’s what a Broadway musical should be — engaging story, great songs and beautiful showgirls.”
Although the score, by “Hairspray” creators Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, is bright and catchy, I’ve had doubts about this show. It’s been kicking around a long time, which is usually a sign that it’s just not good enough.
But a few months ago, Brian Yorkey, who won a Pulitzer for “Next to Normal,” came on board to revise Terrence McNally‘s script.
Production sources say he pulled the show together, and that it’s now much faster and snappier than it was last year during a Seattle tryout.
And, by all accounts, a recent little sneak for the press went over extremely well.
“The numbers really popped out,” says Village Voice columnist Michael Musto. “They were smart and sensationally performed. Norbert Leo Butz had a showstopper. Kerry Butler had a showstopper. Tom Wopat had a showstopper.
“What more can you ask? This ain’t ‘Spider-Man.’ ”
I think the race for media attention, ticket sales and, ultimately, the Tony Award is going to be between “Mormon” and “Catch Me.”
And Broadway always benefits when two potential hits go head to head.
