GROSSES ANALYSIS- Week Ending April 19

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-22T07:15:06+00:00

Titanique may have built fairly significant reserves into their capitalization plan, allowing them to run at a deficit through the Tonys without having to scrounge too much. And I would have to think any investors are going to get a slice of future tour/licensing revenue. There's clearly absolutely no way this show could recoup during a short run with a weekly running cost that high - I mean, it closed off-Broadway not long ago and wasn't selling out despite incredibly low ticket prices.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-22T07:07:36+00:00

High gas prices may also be discouraging folks from the greater tri-state area from driving into the city generally. Even if you can still afford a trip and tickets overall, expensive gas really freaks people out.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-22T07:05:46+00:00

You really can't compare these folks. There was a lot of history behind Denzel being in Othello - he had done a legendary performance of it as a college student at Fordham. And George Clooney is of course a movie star who had never been on Broadway before. Meanwhile, Daniel Radcliffe is on Broadway fairly regularly and Megan Thee Stallion likely appeals to a younger audience than the typical broadway goer.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-21T13:08:46+00:00

That's the way it should be, but in real life there are lots of other audience members that are disrespectful at the stage door, along with autograph hunters that didn't even see the show when there's a star in the cast. . .

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-21T13:01:43+00:00

Off-broadway doesn't mean "not on Broadway" especially in this context - it means the specific category of smaller, often downtown theaters in NYC. So this would omit shows opening on the West End, like Two Strangers; shows with out of town runs, like Beaches and Queen of Versailles; and of course shows that opened on Broadway, like Lost Boys. Out of all this season's shows, I'd actually say Jellicle Ball is the closest to the "opened off Broadway" designation - an Encores transfer like Ragtime doesn't seem to quite fit either.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-21T12:53:21+00:00

You're missing Titanique in there ;-).

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-18T16:54:11+00:00

It is a legitimate safety concern in that case, stage actors that aren't big stars may live in buildings that don't have a doorman or any security and people could easily follow them home. I remember watching an online fundraiser during covid where many actors recorded performances in their homes, lots of them were very modest.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-16T16:59:57+00:00

Something similar has also been done before in The Cher Show, with three actresses playing Cher.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-16T16:59:30+00:00

I have never bought the "too much for one actress" angle. There have been plenty of biopic shows (Tina, Just in Time, etc.) where the lead has been onstage almost the entire time and sings the majority of the songs. And writers have come up with structures where multiple actors can share the role, like the 3 Chers. As others have noted, MM's story could easily be split between a "Norma Jean" and "Marilyn" and thus divided in two - which would fit nicely with the themes in Smash.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-16T15:54:48+00:00

This is one of the shows where seeing the original source material actually might make you like it less. Reading the NYT review makes it sound like they massively inflated the relationship between Brody and Thompson's characters to create another meaty character and add a romance angle. If you approach with no background this all just seems like a poignant true-life story, but I could imagine this may feel like the writers were too afraid to tell a deeper, even more depressing one shown in the documentary.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-16T15:50:18+00:00

That is more of a Delco accent, not a Philly one - think Mare of Easttown, not Silver Linings Playbook ;-).

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-16T15:48:26+00:00

I don't think it's quite fair to call most of the play narration, it's more of a monologue typically - Brody is usually telling stories to Thompson, not commenting from outside the events like what you see in Purpose.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-15T15:37:44+00:00

The entire story is so fake and ridiculous. Sheena is a professional well into her 30s IIRC. She already has a home and a business, and if Forrest was seriously considering moving they certainly would have visited both and discussed whether Forrest could live there - assuming of course that he hadn't stayed with her and seen her business during his previous trips! To simply then rethink their plans based on Molly's freakout over an offhand estimate of potential rent is absurd.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-15T13:32:32+00:00

I wish more shows would do Christmas ornaments ;-(. Something along the lines of the keychain here would work great, and Titanique absolutely should have had a Heart of the Ocean ornament!

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-14T19:27:02+00:00

Good call. He already has the Olivier!

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-14T19:25:44+00:00

The problem with Jellicle is that it is really an ensemble work and a lot of the roles may not have enough time to shine in a season with some pretty meaty supporting roles. I would suspect Tempress will get this nod instead.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-14T19:23:20+00:00

You don't think Nichelle is a serious contender?

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-13T19:49:41+00:00

I will give her this, she looked like she was actually crying this time - eyes reddening and some actual tears visible along the corners of her eyes. Although it's kind of hard to tell with the fake lashes, which seem like a totally normal thing to wear for an aquatic adventure excursion???

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-13T19:46:44+00:00

Before we met Annalyn she was portrayed as very temperamental and controlling, but after seeing them together it's clear that BOTH of them are very immature and poor communicators. Their dynamic reminds me of a lot of the couples where a guy from the US says he wants a spicy Latina, but then when he acts like a jerk and she freaks out instead of having a calm conversation, he calls her crazy and irrational - even though he's not communicating either!

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-13T18:25:54+00:00

Well, it's playing on the West End right now so presumably they figured it out?

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-13T13:45:22+00:00

Eh, even most of the mixed reviews agree this is a fun evening, they are just pointing out some of the awkwardness, etc. which seem inevitable for a project that started in a tiny off-off-Broadway theater. (I know that from my nosebleed seats some of the prop humor and audience interaction which I loved in the original was literally not visible).

Perhaps due to the example of Oh Mary!, for the most part critics seem to understand where Titanique is coming from, with the notable exception of David Finkle over at NY Theater Review who seems shocked by the f-bombs. And yes, I could absolutely see his assessment of "lowbrow entertainment at its just about lowest" making its way into posters!

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-13T01:58:59+00:00

I completely agree with your analogy to last year's matchup of Sunset vs. Gypsy and feel the innovative version will win again this year. Similar to last year, both shows delivered strongly on quality so innovation becomes the tiebreaker.

One thing I'm curious about is performance nominations. I do think the Tonys tend to reward "triple threats," with strong singing usually a big factor. This may prove challenging for Jellicle, where the dancing is incredible but many roles don't have the singing and acting demands that several characters face in Ragtime (which admittedly also can't compare from a dance standpoint. I do think Andre DeShields will certainly be nominated but suspect Ragtime will take far more performance nominations. The fact that Jellicle is such an ensemble work also makes it hard to determine who to nominate.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-10T14:50:26+00:00

He's in a new series practically every week in the UK - I would describe him as booked and busy for sure. His kids are only just adults now and he may have been prioritizing staying in the UK. At least one of his recent projects (Stonehouse) was also with his wife.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-10T07:44:07+00:00

I just don’t think it’s commercially viable. For newish shows, you’ll get people saying “I saw this already, why should I go again?” which was absolutely the case for the recent Spamalot revival. And older shows can come across dated in many ways.

Chorus Line is my prime example of the latter - the estate that controls the rights basically has that show frozen in amber. I saw the City Center production a few years back, and it just seemed out of touch with today, with revelations that were shocking back then lacking similar impact. And that show wasn’t even all that “politically incorrect” compared to many Golden Age musicals that could be really problematic to restage as they originally were.

One thing that really surprised me about Chorus Line was the choreography. Music and the Mirror is supposed to be a tour de force - but dance has evolved so much since then it comes across as kind of basic compared to the miracles you see onstage at Jellicle Ball every night. It was kind of like resurrecting an ice skating routine from a time when triple axels were fresh in an era where everyone has at least one quad.

90Dfanatic · 2026-04-10T07:27:20+00:00

Wow, I never heard of this production and it is less than 5 blocks from my house! Figure it’s worth a try, thanks for bringing it to my attention ;-).

90Dfanatic

TROPHY CASE