January 8: One Show Only at 3:00 P.M.

[Billy Whiz]

I'm only guessing, as I don't think anybody can follow the thinking of the BETM management, but they could be having the last show at 3.00 so that they can throw a party for the fans afterwards

Seriously they could be throwing a party for the cast and crew. An 11.00pm finish would have been very late to start a party when most of the children will have school the next day.

[athadj]

I am so mad at this whole situation!
First of all party or no party, you don't announce the last performance of a huge Broadway show only to cancell that performance a few days later! That's just bad business (and maners if you ask me). It takes a little bit of organization and thinking to decide which is going to be your last show. This looks like someone woke up in the morning and thought: "OK let's finish this thing on Jan 8th 7pm" and then a couple of days later someone else said : "Naaaaah, screw this, we'll do it 3pm instead" A bit of seriousness and consideration of their actions would be nice from these people whoever they are!
Second, the whole ticketing thing. As far as I know the logical thing when you cancell a performance is refund the tickets. Period. No e-mail should be needed, no telephone calls, no letter no nothing! You refund the tickets because the performance was canceled and it was your fault. Especially for people like myself and Billywhiz who have baught the tickets online in PDF format (which I never received btw).
I received the same e-mail today most of you did and I don't get why I have to e-mail them my confirmation number asking for a refund. Is there any possibility at all that I will NOT want a refund??? Seriously people!!! And just in case I did contact my bank today to check if somehow it had been refunded but the answer of course was no.
I am extra mad 'cos by some evil coincidence I am experiencing the exact same thing with a play that was canceled here in Athens and I'm still waiting for them to refund 3 tickets but I was expecting more from a US company customer service as I work for US hotel chain with 60% US customers and all I keep hearing is how much better the customer service is over there. Well, I'm sorry folks but from my experiene in NYC last year and of course from this one I can say it is as much cr*p as it is around here!!!

[ERinVA]

Amen!

[CJ-Rochester]

Seriously they could be throwing a party for the cast and crew. An 11.00pm finish would have been very late to start a party when most of the children will have school the next day.

Another reason could be perhaps they have invited special dignitaries who can only be at a matinee performance. Let's not get our hopes up but would it be unreasonable to expect Stephen Daldry or some of the former Billys to be there? (fingers crossed )

[Brad]

I am so mad at this whole situation!
First of all party or no party, you don't announce the last performance of a huge Broadway show only to cancell that performance a few days later! That's just bad business (and maners if you ask me). It takes a little bit of organization and thinking to decide which is going to be your last show. This looks like someone woke up in the morning and thought: "OK let's finish this thing on Jan 8th 7pm" and then a couple of days later someone else said : "Naaaaah, screw this, we'll do it 3pm instead" A bit of seriousness and consideration of their actions would be nice from these people whoever they are!
Second, the whole ticketing thing. As far as I know the logical thing when you cancell a performance is refund the tickets. Period. No e-mail should be needed, no telephone calls, no letter no nothing! You refund the tickets because the performance was canceled and it was your fault. Especially for people like myself and Billywhiz who have baught the tickets online in PDF format (which I never received btw).
I received the same e-mail today most of you did and I don't get why I have to e-mail them my confirmation number asking for a refund. Is there any possibility at all that I will NOT want a refund??? Seriously people!!! And just in case I did contact my bank today to check if somehow it had been refunded but the answer of course was no.
I am extra mad 'cos by some evil coincidence I am experiencing the exact same thing with a play that was canceled here in Athens and I'm still waiting for them to refund 3 tickets but I was expecting more from a US company customer service as I work for US hotel chain with 60% US customers and all I keep hearing is how much better the customer service is over there. Well, I'm sorry folks but from my experiene in NYC last year and of course from this one I can say it is as much cr*p as it is around here!!!

You go girl. Stick it to 'em and vent all you like

[athadj]

Another reason could be perhaps they have invited special dignitaries who can only be at a matinee performance. Let's not get our hopes up but would it be unreasonable to expect Stephen Daldry or some of the former Billys to be there? (fingers crossed )

That's what I thought too. But still, don't you think they should figure all these details out first and THEN announce the last show??

You go girl. Stick it to 'em and vent all you like

Thanks Brad, feel much better now. Still no money back, though And I'm going into all this trouble for a show I'm not even sure I will attend!!!
Will you be there??

[Mike]

Can someone please tell me when the people in charge of the Broadway production have seemed to make any decision that was thought out before it was made. I agree that it seems like someone woke up one morning and said: WTF let's close this thing down. We're wasting too much money. I'm sorry i may just be dumb, but it's hard for me to understand how they are losing money when they are bringing in $700,000 + per week. Kinda makes u wonder if the rules the union puts on them has anything to do with the cost being so high.

[booth088]

Can someone please tell me when the people in charge of the Broadway production have seemed to make any decision that was thought out before it was made. I agree that it seems like someone woke up one morning and said: WTF let's close this thing down. We're wasting too much money. I'm sorry i may just be dumb, but it's hard for me to understand how they are losing money when they are bringing in $700,000 + per week. Kinda makes u wonder if the rules the union puts on them has anything to do with the cost being so high.

Well the equity regulations are really minimal. Minimum agreed upon under Equity for Broadway is (rounded) 1,700 per week, and much of the (chorus especially) cast makes little more than that. So unless you have a show like How to Succeed with Daniel Radcliff, or Nick Jonas, or it is the rare exception of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick that were reportedly offered, the year after leaving the Producers, 250,000 per week to come back for a limited engagement. And if you have ever lived in NYC or the surrounding area or looked into living there, you realize very quickly that while 1700 will cover your cost of living, it still does not go too far by any means. Given Billy has the special need for having children, which involves some special care, and following state regulations, while also having a cast size that is well above average for a musical, the cast salaries are still a very minimal part of the cost of running a Broadway show.

Big costs would be things like renting the theatre (big bucks!), maintaining the set, lights, sound equipment, etc. General matinence of the house and lobby. Paying royalties to the copyright owners and rights distributors. Accountants, lawyers, house, lobby and stage door staff. Run crew, the design team, publicity, box office. There are a lot of especially up front costs before the show opens, that can take quite some time to break even.

And I really don't know if the show was technically losing money, but the point was it wasn't turning the profit that made the show worth continuing or trying to save. The producers that shell out the big bucks, find it better business to close up shop and move on to their next project.

[booth088]

Lol but I have no clue why they seemed so indecisive over the last couple months. Really in all reality though, I would rather see the show close now while it hasn't completely tanked, so at least everyone can walk away from it with their chins up. It would be really sad to see the show really tank and get down in Marry Poppins numbers (ranging from 60-74% over the last 6 months, much of that is discounted TKTS tickets), and then have to close. If it doesn't die completely, it would help the possibility of seeing a revival at some point down the road (maybe a decade from now or more depending). Always leave them wanting more!

[LiamM]

I understand that union rules forbid reducing the size of the cast of a show. The Broadway show has 10 ballet girls (plus Debbie). Toronto had 8. Perhaps they are closing it so that they can have a revival in the near future with a smaller cast, one designed with running costs more in mind. This could take the form of the tour returning to Broadway once it has completed touring the country.