an early look @ Lord of the rings...by me :)

[building babel]

Re: flop

The same American tourists who didn't bother to see it in Toronto, maybe.

Or the powerful, public opinion manipulating, theatre critics ... again.

 

[Canuck 36]

Re: flop

Why are people so keen on continued failure?

Here's hoping the producers get it right in London, and we can be treated to a great touring production of LOTR a few years from now.

 

[SD2]

Re: flop

Why are people so keen on continued failure?

Here's hoping the producers get it right in London, and we can be treated to a great touring production of LOTR a few years from now.

I don't think they're really keen on it, it's just expected if you've seen the play.

I read in the paper that the show is going to be reworked quite a bit for London...apparently they're going to have more music, etc. which they could've actually done with less of (or at least less of the useless songs that didnt' do much for the story).

 

[lcohen999]

Re: flop

Because I payed $200 for "unknowingly" getting a Preview show (see the first post) for an over hyped, unorganized play.

It is not that I am bitter though...

 

[building babel]

Re: flop

You could have bought a four opera COC subscription for that amount. Sure, most of the stories are equally ridiculous, but the music and voices are sublime.

 

[building babel]

Re: flop

And another calamity has befallen us. The Blue Men are putting the lids back on their tins of paint and leaving us in January.

 

[tudararms]

Re: flop

Not enough tourists to keep "bums" in seats, I guess. As in NY or Chicago, it is mainly the bus tours and package deals that keep these shows going.

 

[building babel]

Re: flop

The West End too - saturated with musicals for American tourists.

The hiring practices of the Blue Men didn't endear them to many Torontonians either.

 

[andreapalladio]

Re: flop

And hadn't anyone who wanted to see it seen in at one of its other stops in the last decade?

 

[building babel]

Re: flop

Ours is the only Blue Man franchise that ever failed.

Good for us.

I'm willing to bet that Toronto theatregoers are exposed to a higher level of good original productions vs. commercial crap than Londoners or New Yorkers are in their cities. Glance at the West End listings, for instance, and it's full of remounts of musicals - with LOTR soon to be added.

 

[tudararms]

Re: flop

True, and when you factor in the nearness of Stratford and Shaw the options are truly amazing for extraordinary theatre.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Re: flop

Toronto is a sports town- Mama Mia is as cultured as it gets

Err.. or maybe the city isn't quite large enough to sustain most major theatrical productions for long periods.

 

[adma]

Re: flop

Then again, if one interprets the term "major theatrical productions" as a euphemism for "world class schlock", maybe it's just as well. (Babel's point, too.)

 

[ganjavih]

Re: flop

I'd like to think it flopped because the Toronto crowd is more sophisticated, but something tells me that's not the reason. The following article doesn't paint a rosy picture:

'Blue Man Group' Show to Close in Toronto
"Bit by bit, Toronto is losing its reputation as a legitimate stop for the theatre set..."

 

[adma]

Re: flop

But, er, again, what kind of "theatre set"? If it's all about the likes of BMG and LOTR (significantly, the only reference points in that link you provide), methinks that answers your question. Toronto *is* more sophisticated.

If I think of an indigenous "theatre set" of some sophistication, I think of anything from Soulpepper to Mammalian Diving Reflex, which has nothing to do with catering to illusory hordes of yokel tourists...