Sunday, September 09, 2007
Chicago Ends Decade-Long Tour Sept. 9
Playbill News: "'After 10 fabulous years on tour,' a spokesperson previously told Playbill.com, 'the Broadway national tour of Chicago will close in San Diego. Due to casting and scheduling conflicts the last performance will be on Sunday, Sept. 9.' Playbill.com has also learned that the musical's producers are currently working on mounting a tour of the six-time Tony Award winner that will begin in 2008."
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5 comments:
Chicago is one of those shows you just always expect to be on tour. Kind of like Phantom of the Opera. If you missed it when it was here the first time, it'd be back soon enough. The show's not really dying though, since it is going back to broadway. I guess the tour is ending mostly because everyone and their mother has seen Chicago.
I don't think the tour would be ending just because everyone has seen it. Chicago is one of those shows that takes on the same attributes as Phantom. People are STILL buying tickets for these shows because they HAVE seen the show and just can't get enough of it. In other words, Chicago is one of those shows that is obviously acceptable to see more than one time. They'll never die, and they'll never lose a following.
Shows a lot about Broadway Business schemes.....
Chicago nearly died the first time around. It was on its deathbed for 22 years until it finally found its audience in 1997. What boggles the mind is how Chicago found it's audience. A minimalist musical from the 1970's which opened in the same season as the megahit Lion King somehow has managed to run for a decade. Unfortunately, what was once a gem of creativity is now being supported by stunt casting (I don't know who thought that Tom Wopat would draw in the crowds?!) and a film that was made three years ago. It's monetary gains are becoming more and more inconsistent. They hit a high with Sean "Puffy" Combs, but they've been down ever since. I think that Chicago no longer seems as original or edgy as it once did. Broadway is back to embracing minimalistic productions: Spring Awakening, Doyle's Company and Sweeney Todd, Avenue Q, and Spelling be just to name a few. Unfortunately, creativity is not what ultimately determines a show's success. Chicago will not close with grace, it will run, and run, and run...until all of the life has been completely sucked out of it.
ps.
"They'll never die, and they'll never lose a following."
That's what they said about The Producers.
A decade of touring, I really wish there was information in this article about staff and performer longevity. I wonder who has the longest term of that tour and whether or not it is a badge of pride or a point of shame. At ten years the Chicago company had to consider themselves a nomadic people. I know people who have toured for 6 weeks and wanted to kill themselves. So either the cast and crew of that tour get a lot of respect for sticking it out for a long time, or the management does for replacing people a lot.
Yeah, chicago was good.
My problem was that i could never figure out why the show was ever written in the first place? I get it, yeah it's a woman's struggle for equality, blah blah blah. It's about a woman manipulating the legal system to cater to her needs, big momma who helps her out along the way, a seedy lawyer, and a man made of nothing but saran wrap...sorry, cellophane. But why Why WHY? Maybe I'm just naive, or simply ignorant, but i don't get the message, maybe someone can help me out. Therefore, I say: good riddance to the tour, now theatre spaces across the country can be saved for shows that actually convey a message, and maybe, OH MY GOSH, TEACH their audiences something about themselves.
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