Tag: theatre-planning

🎭 Update: Prognostications for the 2023 Pantages/Ahmanson Seasons

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy2 Comments

Back in mid-February 2022, I posted my predictions for Broadway in Hollywood (FB) (Pantages) and the Ahmanson Theatre (FB) seasons. BIH just made their announcement, so how did I do?

For the record, here’s what I wrote for Broadway in Hollywood:

  • Mean Girls. This was postponed from 2020.
  • Six.
  • Beetlejuice.
  • Tina – The Musical.
  • Ain’t Too Proud. This started out at the Ahmanson and went to Broadway. It is likely not to repeat at the Ahmanson — they want to reach a different subscriber base.
  • Wicked. On tour, currently at the Segerstrom. A likely retread that performs well and can do an extended sit-down at the Pantages.
  • Girl from the North Country (although this could end up at the Ahmanson)
  • Aladdin The Musical. This is a “newly imagined” version, and could be a draw.
  • Maybes:
    • The new equity tours of either Annie or Hairspray. Both are older, both done regionally, but both might be crowd draws.
    • The Cher Show. The tour was postponed, but it might come back.
    • The Spongebob Musical. One can always hope.
    • MJ The Musical. This was just announced (3/21) as going on tour in 2023. It is the type of show that would be at the Pantages, but I think the announcement is too late for the 2023 season. But one never knows; it might make it in.

What did we get?

I got the first four right on the button:

In my maybe list, the two retreads ended up being in the season:

  • The new equity tours of either Annie or Hairspray. Both are older, both done regionally, but both might be crowd draws.

Two of the shows I thought for the Ahmanson are coming into BIH instead:

I didn’t see a remounting of The Lion King; I wasn’t even aware they were still on tour. The Playbill article on current and upcoming tours indicates the Lion King tour ends in October 2022, and the BIH announcement indicates it is coming in 2023.

So where does this leave the other traditional touring house: The Ahmanson. There’s a push at CTG for more diversity and there’s a new managing director, so there could be some changes in direction. CTG/Ahmanson also does more local stuff, and stuff moving up. So what will we see from the Ahmanson? Here’s the revised prediction.

Ahmanson Theatre

The Ahmanson Theatre, in Downtown LA,  is a large venue that in the past has programmed both National tours, shows it has locally produced or produced pre-tours, or select touring productions from elsewhere, such as the West End. It has smaller capacity than the Pantages/Dolby, can accommodate mid-size runs but not long sit downs. There has been a recent strong push for diversity and local productions at CTG, and there is new artistic leadership, so I expect to see more diverse playwrights and local productions as opposed to only the tours we’ve seen of late.

My prediction:

    • To Kill a Mockingbird (Tour). This was postponed from 2021.
    • 1776 (Musical). This was postponed from 2021.
    • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This could be a local mounting as a tour hasn’t been announced, but there has been a sister production at the Curran in SF. This isn’t a formal tour, so it would require a local mounting of the show — which means it would require the Ahmanson, as Broadway in Hollywood doesn’t locally mount stuff.
    • Jagged Little Pill. This just seems a bit more like an Ahmanson show.
    • Girl from the North Country
    • MJ: The Musical
    • Diversity author slot.
    • Pre-Broadway or West-End Musical

I still believe that Ain’t Too Proud will NOT come back to the Ahmanson, but I could be wrong. The Ahmanson did bring back both Dear Evan Hansen and Come From Away, which they presented before. Other tours are shows that are retready enough they don’t fit CTG, such as Aladdin The Musical or Wicked, and although a new production of 9 to 5: The Musical is going on tour, I don’t think it would be a sufficient draw for CTG.  I still don’t think Emojiland: The Musical  will end up at the Ahmanson either.

And still no Spongebob Musical. But one can always hope.

Share

🎭 Prognostications for the 2023 Pantages/Ahmanson Seasons

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

It’s that time of year again. I’ve received email from Broadway in Hollywood (FB) (Pantages) that it is time to advance renew our subscriptions and that their season announcement was coming soon; I expect to hear something similar from the Ahmanson Theatre (FB). So I though I would go through the list of shows I know to be setting up tours, and predict what the seasons will look like. Let’s see how close I am once the announcements come out. My basis for show information is the Tours to You site, and the Playbill article on current and upcoming tours.

Ahmanson Theatre

The Ahmanson Theatre, in Downtown LA,  is a large venue that in the past has programmed both National tours, shows it has locally produced or produced pre-tours, or select touring productions from elsewhere, such as the West End. It has smaller capacity than the Pantages/Dolby, can accommodate mid-size runs but not long sit downs. There has been a recent strong push for diversity and local productions at CTG, and there is new artistic leadership, so I expect to see more diverse playwrights and local productions as opposed to only the tours we’ve seen of late.

My prediction:

  • To Kill a Mockingbird (Tour). This was postponed from 2021.
  • 1776 (Musical). This was postponed from 2021.
  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This could be a local mounting as a tour hasn’t been announced, but there has been a sister production at the Curran in SF. This isn’t a formal tour, so it would require a local mounting of the show — which means it would require the Ahmanson, as Broadway in Hollywood doesn’t locally mount stuff.
  • Jagged Little Pill. This just seems a bit more like an Ahmanson show.
  • Diversity author slot.
  • Pre-Broadway or West-End Musical

Broadway In Hollywood

Broadway in Hollywood, booking at the Pantages and the Dolby, has to fill large venues. They book only tours and such; no locally produced or unknown quantitites here. They also bring in a small number of retreads — shows that have done well before that might be worth another sit-down.

My prediction:

  • Mean Girls. This was postponed from 2020.
  • Six.
  • Beetlejuice.
  • Tina – The Musical.
  • Ain’t Too Proud. This started out at the Ahmanson and went to Broadway. It is likely not to repeat at the Ahmanson — they want to reach a different subscriber base.
  • Wicked. On tour, currently at the Segerstrom. A likely retread that performs well and can do an extended sit-down at the Pantages.
  • Girl from the North Country (although this could end up at the Ahmanson)
  • Aladdin The Musical. This is a “newly imagined” version, and could be a draw.
  • Maybes:
    • The new equity tours of either Annie or Hairspray. Both are older, both done regionally, but both might be crowd draws.
    • The Cher Show. The tour was postponed, but it might come back.
    • The Spongebob Musical. One can always hope.
    • MJ The Musical. This was just announced (3/21) as going on tour in 2023. It is the type of show that would be at the Pantages, but I think the announcement is too late for the 2023 season. But one never knows; it might make it in.

Emojiland: The Musical is also going on tour. However, it doesn’t seem like either Pantages or Ahmanson fare, being an off-Broadway production to start with. My guess, if it comes to the LA Area, is that it might end up at Broadway in Thousand Oaks or the Pasadena Playhouse.

So those are my predictions. Your thoughts? I could also see, if the new Music Man announces a tour this early, that it could end up at the Pantages.

Share

🎭 Thoughts on a Theatre Season – Ahmanson Theatre 2020-2021

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

CTG/Ahmanson 2020-2021 SeasonWell, the Ahmanson has announced their 2020-2021 season and… well, it’s better than their 2019-2020 season. That season had a lot of problems, with two one-person shows and a number of shows I had no interest in seeing. For the upcoming season, at least there aren’t any one-person shows. But there are so many encores that I’m still not sure it is worth subscribing, especially with the quality of the Mezzanine seats and the availability of the AmEx Presale (as well as how poorly the Ahmanson treated their subscribers vs. the Pantages/Broadway in Hollywood)*. Here’s the season and my thoughts (🎶 indicates musical; 🎭 indicates a play; and 🔁 indicates “encore performance”):

  • Open Slot. To Be Announced. According to the formal announcement it will be announced this Spring.
  • 🎭 The Lehman Trilogy, Oct. 20–Nov. 28, 2020. Written by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power, directed by Sam Mendes.
  • 🔁 🎶 Dear Evan Hansen. Dec. 1, 2020–Jan. 23, 2021.  Book by Steven Levenson, score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, directed by Michael Greif
  • (🔁) 🎶 Les Misérables. Jan. 26–Feb. 28, 2021. Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell. Note: Les Miz was at the Pantages in May 2019.
  • 🎶 Hadestown. March 2–April 4, 2021. Book, music and lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell, directed by Rachel Chavkin
  • 🎭 Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”. April 29–June 6, 2021. Written by Aaron Sorkin, directed by Bartlett Sher
  • 🔁 🎶 Come From Away. June 9–July 4, 2021. Book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, directed by Christopher Ashley
  • 🎶 The Prom. July 6–Aug. 8, 2021. Book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw
  • 🔁 🎶 Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations. Aug. 11–Sept. 5, 2021. Book by Dominique Morisseau, music and lyrics from the Motown catalog, choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, directed by Des McAnuff

Of these, the ones that I want to see are Hadestown, Mockingbird, and The Prom. Although we saw it the last time we were at the Ahmanson, we’ll want to see Come From Away again, simply because my wife likes that musical so much. But as for the others: We weren’t that impressed with Dear Evan Hansen, despite all the buzz. We saw Les Miz when it was at the Pantages in May. Lastly, we saw Ain’t Too Proud when it had its pre-Broadway run at the Ahmanson, and I don’t have the strong urge (based on that) to see the post-Broadway changes in a jukebox musical.

That leaves The Lehman Trilogy, which is a maybe and depends on scheduling. I’ll note that it is during a period when both the Ahmanson and Dolby are dark.

*: The last time we subscribed to the Ahmanson, for the lowest priced tier, they shuffled us off to a Friday night claiming no subscriptions were available for Saturday nights. Friday nights were a pain to get to. I seem to recall they didn’t have the clearest system for changing seats. For 2020-2021, we’re interested in 4-5 of the 8 announced shows. If they have good prices and dates for the season, and we can get a decent side mezzanine price, subscription is a possibility, although they seem to save those seats for open sales. At that point, we might just as well wait for the Amex Pre-Sale and get the seats when they first go on sale. Their subscription plan, according to their site, is for the six season shows (Lehman, TBA, Les Miz, Hadestown, Mockingbird, and Prom) plus one encore show. That’s a possibility, although I have no desire to see Les Miz again.

ETA: Subscribing is a clear example of how the Pantages knows how to treat subscribers, and the Ahmanson does not. When you subscribe at the Pantages/Broadway in Hollywood, you can pick which week of the run you want and which night, pick your seats, and set it up with a 10 payment plan all from the web. With the Ahmanson, you can only pick the day of the week — no choice on which week of the run. You can’t pick your seat — only the seating area, and there is no seat map made available. And if you want to do something other than pay it all in one lump sum, you have to call Customer Service. Which I will do tomorrow.

Share

🎭 Thoughts on a Theatre Season: Broadway in Hollywood 2020-2021

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Broadway in Hollywood 2020-2021 SeasonThis morning, the Hollywood Pantages (FB), also known as Broadway in Hollywood (FB), announced their 2020-2021 season.  It consists of seven shows, although I’m sure more will be added:

  • Nov 3 – Nov 22, 2020 @ the Dolby: Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma revival.
  • Mar 23 – Apr 11, 2021 @ the Dolby: The Cher Show
  • Apr 13 – May 2, 2021 @ the Dolby: Tootsie
  • May 13 – Jun 5, 2021 @ the Dolby: Aida
  • Jun 8 – Jun 27, 2021 @ the Dolby: Pretty Woman: The Musical
  • Jun 25 – Sep 5, 2021 @ the Pantages: The Lion King
  • Oct 13, 2021 – Jan 2, 2022 @ the Pantages: Moulin Rouge! The Musical

So, here are my thoughts:

First, that’s an awfully long stretch for the Pantages and Dolby to be dark. Hamilton is scheduled to run at the Pantages from March through September November 22. But from September November 22 2020 through June 2021, there’s nothing seemingly planned for the Pantages. Either a refurbishment is in order for The Lion King, or there is more to be announced.

Similarly, the Dolby is quiet from July 26 (end of The Bands Visit) to November 3. Where are the shows that typically come in during September and October 2020. Oddly quiet. There must be more shows in the works. There are also no shows at either theatre for the lucrative Christmas 2020 season. Oklahoma closes, and the Dolby is dark until March, and the Pantages is dark through June. Really odd.

Also notable are the shows that are missing. Hadestown, of course, is going to the Ahmanson Theatre. But there are other significant shows that have announced tours: The Prom; You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Lightning Thief;  Ain’t Too Proud (which started at the Ahmanson, so it is likely to return to the Pantages Going to the Ahmanson); An Officer and a Gentleman (ETA: Going to Broadway in Thousand Oaks). Then there are the musicals that are expected to tour — in particular Beetlejuice. I really expected The Prom (Ahmanson: 20-21), Ain’t Too Proud(Ahmanson: 20-21), and Beetlejuice at the Pantages. Two other tours — although more likely at the Ahmanson — are the Harry Potter play currently at the Curran, and To Kill a Mockingbird (update: Mockingbird has been announced for the Ahmanson). But Broadway in LA doesn’t do plays, although it might make an exception for Harry Potter.

As for what they do have on the season: All are good shows, with only two real retreads. The Lion King hasn’t been around for a while, and it will be nice to see it on stage again. Aida is an interesting choice. Hasn’t been in LA since it was first done at the Ahmanson; we saw it a few years ago in Portland. Hadn’t heard it was being revived and going on tour. The other shows are good, although none bring the big sparks.

Share

🎭 HFF19 Scheduling

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

userpic=fringeThis is my Fringe scheduling post. It will be updated as my Fringe schedule changes, unlike the schedule at the bottom of my theatre writeups, which are a snapshot at the time they were written.

The following are the Fringe shows that I currently have scheduled and ticketed. Note that due to my work schedule and where we live, we can only see shows on the weekend, and cannot do the shows that end super late (i.e., we can’t make start times after 10pm, in general). I also need to allow for meals, and time to get between theatres. Typically, my wife also has to be willing to see the show, and she’s not into things that are too dark, or might touch on triggery areas. Oh why, oh why, can’t someone do a good Fringe scheduler as a Science Fair project:

Key: ⊕: Non-Fringe Show/Event; °: Producer/Publicist Arranged Comp or Discount

The following are the shows that we were interested in, and had blocked out on the schedule, but ended up making everything too expensive and so were later cut. We may ticket these later, especially if comps or discounts come our way.  (OBAS) indicates they were on our schedule, but now have been Overtaken By Another Show, meaning a producer or publicist convinced me to see a show, which has stomped over the time slot I had originally planned. I’m still interested in those shows, if I could figure somewhere else to shoe-horn them in.

The following are the shows that we thought about scheduling, but just couldn’t fit in, given our constraints. Typically that means there were no weekend slots, they were too close to the end or beginning of another show, or there wasn’t adequate transportation time between the theatres:

To give you an idea of most Fringe locations, here’s a handy-dandy map:

HFF19 Theatre Map

 

Share

🎭 Thoughts on a Theatre Season – Pantages 2019-2020 Season / Ahmanson Prognostications

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

No, I haven’t forgotten my Hello Dolly writeup. It should be up in the next day or three — but it is a great show and you should go see it. But first … this morning the Hollywood Pantages (FB) announced their 2019-2020 season, and I thought I should share some thoughts. Here’s the graphic and some thoughts:

  • The Nederlander Organization is expanding to programming two theatres this year: the Hollywood Pantages (FB) and the Dolby Theatre (FB) at Hollywood and Highland. It will be interesting to see how our seats translate to the Dolby; I’ve never been in that facility. They also seem to be returning to the “Broadway in Hollywood” moniker. People forget the history, but the original Pantages programming going back to the days of Joseph and the … back in 1982 merged with what was left of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera (which used to program musicals at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion — in fact, it was one of the original tenants) to create an organization called “Broadway LA“. That name (and the website) was dropped around ten years in favor of only the Pantages name, but it appears to be resurrected in a slightly different form. Here’s the press release.
  • The shows announced are as follows:
  • The split between the theatres is interesting. What this seems to be permitting — at least this year — is a long sit-down engagement for Hamilton starting in March while they can still satisfy the subscription base they have built with new shows at the Dolby. This may work — I’m sure the Dolby will have significantly better acoustics than the Pantages; I don’t know about sight lines from the side. But once the juggernauts are gone, what will happen then? The major long sit-down shows will be things like Wicked, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and such. What others will sustain a long run in this city?
  • This season, I’ve heard the music from all of the shows. Most of the shows in the season I’m excited to see: in particular, The Band’s Visit, Spongebob, and Anastasia. I’ve heard Frozen has some good effects, but at least based on the cast album, the first act is a bit slow. It will be interesting to see on stage. I like the music to Mean Girls, but it comes across as a Heathers-ish show. I’ve heard really good things about the My Fair Lady revival, and supposedly they’ve addressed the tonal problems in the original, but I’m curious to see how. The music in Escape to Margaritaville is good, but it’s a jukebox musical with little substance (much like Buffett’s music). The least interesting of the bunch is Summer — another jukebox, but with disco. Yes, disco, the music of my college years.
  • This year, I’ll likely get the add on: Hamilton is one musical I won’t mind seeing a second time.

So what does this leave for the  Ahmanson Theatre (FB)? We know their first show in the 2019-2020 season will be Once on this Island, as that has been announced. What will join it? Perhaps the Bat Out of Hell tour will finally make it back on the road (supposedly it will in 2019), but I’m not holding my breath. Piecing together the announcements that I’ve seen, plus how the Ahmanson is programmed, here’s my best guess. Note that the Ahmanson differs from the Pantages in that is isn’t exclusively tours: they do produce new musicals, they present plays, and they do dance shows like the upcoming Cinderella. They don’t do many repeat or second-tier revivals, so tours like Hair, JC Superstar, Clue, Percy Jackson, and such are extremely unlikely to go to the Music Center. Here’s what I think will join Once on this Island:

I haven’t heard rumors of Angels in America going on tour, but I could see the Ahmanson adapting that and bringing it in as a one-off. They may also bring in some dance show; I think Harry Potter would suffice for the play. There could be a new musical in the mix; they tend to do that.

There are some other shows that I could see coming in, but they are too new to be highly likely: Pretty Woman, The Prom, or Be More Chill.

Look for my Hello Dolly review by the end of the week. This weekend: Theatrical whiplash, in the form of 1776 and Anna Karenina, both on the same day.

Share

Seeing Your Show at the Hollywood Fringe Festival

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy6 Comments

userpic=fringeThis time of year, I get many request from producers and friends in the theatre industry to see their Fringe shows. I joke that these folks seem to think I’m a critic, when I’m really just a cybersecurity expert and roadgeek who is a professional audience, and who writes up every live performance I go to for my friends. But publicity is publicity, and if they think I’m a critic, oh well….

However, if I’m a critic, I’m not a paid critic. I write up the shows that I choose to see. For Fringe, that means that starting in April or May I start reviewing the shows registered at Fringe, and start building my schedule. About mid-May, I purchase my tickets, always cursing the fact that I can’t afford to see the shows I want to see, and that I can’t fit all the shows I want to see into my schedule. Oh, and about that schedule: I work full time, living in Northridge, commuting to El Segundo. This means that I cannot see shows in Hollywood on weeknights or during the week, and making a Friday evening show is very difficult. I get up for work at 440am, so that also means that I can’t see a show late on Sunday night. Further, I tend to go to shows with my wife, meaning that not only must I find the show and subject matter of interest, but she must as well. As a result, we tend not to see what I would deem “dark” shows — intense subject matter, often triggery. There are occasional times where I might be able to work such shows into my schedule, but it is rare.

So will I see your show, and would I like free tickets to it? Seeing the show depends on whether there is an available slot in my weekend schedule, and whether my wife is interested in seeing it if she is with me. As for free tickets, my real world job imposes ethics rules that limit the ability to provide gifts as they may create the appearance of conflict of interest. So, whereas I might like free tickets, my ethics typically preclude me from accepting them. I will accept what I would pay on Goldstar, that is, half-price or discounted tickets.

So what is my schedule for Fringe. It will be posted and updated in each writeup I do after this one (as I ticketed this week), but for reference:

There were a few shows I thought about working in, but couldn’t due to price, time, or other constraints:

Other shows I thought about seeing, but couldn’t work in due to schedule included: Fort Huachuca at Complex/OMR; Earworm at McCadden Theatre; #METOO at Studio C; A Very Die Hard Christmas at Studio/Stage; Fat Chance at the Hudson; and Rayn: An Electronic Burlesque Experience at Thymele Arts. I was also interested in Doctor Nympho and the Sex Zombies at the Three Clubs because an actress I like is in the cast, but no times worked out (the available weekend times were too late; weeknights didn’t work; and other weekend times had conflicts).

Share

Thoughts on a Theatre Season – Ahmanson 2018-2019

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

As I noted a few days ago, the Ahmanson Theatre (FB)  was on the verge of announcing the rest of their season. Today they did it, and my guess was mostly correct. If you recall, I said: “As for the Ahmanson Theatre (FB), which has two slots to announce, I predict that one will be a show in development, and the other will either be Natasha, Pierre, … , or some form of dance or ballet, like the Matthew Bourne stuff that they’ve done recently.”. Well, I got the Matthew Bourne right, but their other show came out of left field — and I couldn’t be happier, given my daughter is a Yiddish scholar.

So what is the final Ahmanson season, and my thoughts on it? Here goes:

  • “Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of The Temptations”. August 21 through September 30, 2018. This is the usual musical-in-development that the Ahmanson does (and that the Pantages will never do, unless it is already on tour. Should be good.
  • “Dear Evan Hansen” . October 17 – November 25, 2018. The big Tony winner last year. Pasek and Paul. ’nuff said.
  • “Come From Away” . November 28, 2018 – January 6, 2019. I’ve heard the music from this, and it should be spectacular.
  • Matthew Bourne’s “Cinderella”. February 5 – March 10, 2019. The Ahmanson likes the dance stuff from Bourne. I haven’t seen it; it will be an interesting change of pace.
  • “Falsettos”. April 16 – May 19, 2019. The only show I’ve seen before, but that production was in an intimate theatre. Should be good.
  • “Indecent”. June 4 – July 7, 2019. The story of a Yiddish play that had the first lesbian relationship. Wow. I’m surprised by this, and looking forward to it. You normally don’t get two plays out of the Ahmanson.
  • “The Play That Goes Wrong”. July 9 – August 11, 2019. Great comedy. Should be a lot of fun. 

This is one of the best seasons the Ahmanson has had in a while. Suffice it to say that I’m calling tomorrow (so I can split things over 4 payments) to subscribe. Now to figure out how to work things into my calendar….

Share