She/Her/Bi THIS BLOG STANDS WITH UKRAINE AND AGAINST TYRANNY! Trump supporters - do not follow. This blog and I are vehemently opposed to Donald Trump, the GOP and the racist, sexist, homophobic and xenophobic policies they support. I am a bisexual woman who is pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-LGBTQ rights and anti-prejudice. You'll still find my fandom stuff and fanfiction here (since it is my favorite form of therapy and stress relief), but you'll also find a lot about politics in the coming weeks and months. This blog will go into a lot of different directions, so hang on tight. I pull no punches, so be warned! Making no claims to being unbiased (because I'm not). Also expect me to say "fuck" a lot.
So it has been announced that CATS: The Jellical Ball will play its last performance on August 8. My sympathy is for the cast and crew connected to this show, who clearly gave it their all. In this time, to have so many actors and dancers wo are LGBTQ+ and POC out of work is a real shame. But as I said many times before, show business is a business first and foremost. There were some issues behind this closing that are specific to CATS, and others that have an industry-wide impact that need to be addressed for the future of live theater on Broadway.
CATS had a number of issues that prevented it from being a box office hit. It has never really done well at the box office. They had a few weeks where they broke the $1 million mark, but most of the run they were not making back their operating costs and the show is going to close with a loss of investment.
It missed out on winning best revival at the Tonys. While it won for best direction of a musical, best choreography and best costuming (the first win in the category for a trans artist), it didn't win for best revival. And unlike Ragtime (which was a box office juggernaut from its opening), CATS very much needed that win to propel them. Without it, their box office prospects fell and never really recovered. The long-term projection was poor and very likely, the theater exercised its force closing clause (where they get to boot a show that fails to reach a box office minimum over a set number of weeks - something built into most rental contracts).
Overcoming CATS's polarizing reputation never really happened despite the fact that it was a real reimagining of the musical (and had more of a cohesive plot than the original). The musical is often seen by the audience as a family-friendly show (despite it often appearing like the cats are about to start mating at any second), and the ballroom prism might have been seen as too adult to fit that niche. And I certainly would argue that the utter failure of the film version of the musical a few years ago didn't help matters.
The use of ballroom as the medium to translate the story likely confused the general audience. Ballroom culture is not well known by a wider audience and those who are familiar with it would have known that it was a part of queer culture. The producers didn't do enough in the way of advertising and educating the audience about the show and the culture it was portraying, and the appearances on television by the cast weren't effective and may have actually confused the public who had a very clear image of what they thought the musical was about.
Transferring to Broadway was a mistake. The show had done extremely well in their off-Broadway venue and developed a very devoted audience. It likely could have run for an extended period there, but there is no denying the prestige of being on Broadway has for a show and the show simply failed to reach the type of audience that frequents Broadway. Seen as the less "family-friendly" version of the show, it was never going to move past its niche appeal and that showed in the box office. And the ballroom experience did not transfer well, as it was more authentic in their original venue.
But what does it tell us about the theater industry in general and Broadway in particular? CATS was not the only new show this season to struggle, and it won't be the last to close early. One thing that is clear is that the economic model is completely broken. It has never been more expensive to put on a show, and without robust ticket sales (and audiences willing to pay top dollar for a prolonged period of time), many shows close without making back their original investment. And it is expensive for theater fans to attend many shows, so they're being more selective than ever.
The basic economics of staging a show are pretty simple. You have the upfront costs (production, paying the writers and composers, casting, etc.) and then the running costs that accumulate weekly (theater rental, pay for cast and crew, insurance, etc.). The upfront costs of developing the show can easily run into the millions of dollars, and paying that back won't start until the ticket revenues are able to cover more than the weekly operating costs. If a show cost $5 million to stage and it's weekly running costs are $850,000, if the show pulls in less than $850,000 a week, it is losing money. If it pulls in $1 million a week, then $150,000 goes to paying off the investors. Ideally, the show will earn enough over a prolonged period to pay off the original investment, and then anything they earn above their weekly operating costs becomes profit. Simple, right?
The problem is that many shows do not run long enough to reach that profitability stage. And the more expensive a show is to run (like The Lost Boys and Maybe Happy Ending), they need to bring in much more money and run longer before they reach that magic point. In the current economic climate, the math isn't mathing anymore for a lot of shows. Cats is hardly the only show to end up in this situation. The West End transfer of Sunset Boulevard won the Tony last year for Best Revival and still ended up closing that July with a big financial loss. Schimigadoon! swept the major awards for new musicals (Best Musical, Best Book, ect.) and did not see a major post-Tony bump in their box office revenue. Winning awards, which used to be critical in keeping shows alive over the long run are now no longer enough.
We then have what is one the single biggest weekly expenses for most shows - theater rental costs. Basically most theaters on Broadway are owned by one of a few large companies (The Shubert Organization, The Nederlander Organization, and the Jujamcyn Organization). That means not a lot of competition and they can dictate their prices. And with the relatively small number of large theaters, that doesn't give productions a lot of room to negotiate better terms.
Rent starts as soon as a show begins performances (and may be charged while the show is in rehearsals) and is a flat weekly fee (usually between $10-20,000) and a percentage of the box office returns. So if the rental fee is 6% of the gross of a show bringing in $1 million, that means that the theater owner gets around $80,000 that week. Most rental contracts have a minimum box office clause that allows them to evict a show that dips below a minimum point. For example, if the same show's box office revenue drops down to $600,000 and their contact demands them earning at least $650,000, the theater has a right to end the rental agreement. This happened with Beetlejuice. They went through a few bad weeks and even though they were able to turn things around and revenue was improving, the Wintergarden Theater still evicted them (in favor of Hugh Jackman in The Music Man).
So the math of the business is really simple, and very unforgiving. That doesn't leave much room for a passion project that has a devoted fanbase but isn't connecting with the larger audience. And there aren't any easy answers to this problem. Everyone involved wants to make a profit, so theater owners are not likely to reduce their fees. Production costs are through the roof, which makes even successful shows with decent runs often closing in the red. Shows that probably shouldn't be on Broadway end up there because for live theater, Broadway is the be all, end all. Audiences will have to try to justify rising ticket prices (and many will seek out discounts of some kind, which will eat into the shows bottom lines). Something is going to have to give because the industry can't survive forever with shows closing before they at least break even on their investment.
It is upsetting because there are so few shows that are so overtly queer that get to this stage, and to have it close prematurely feels especially painful. My hope is that the production will find another venue and continue on, because I think that it would do extremely well in a smaller, more intimate venue that really allows the show to replicate the ballroom experience and give this production the lease on life that it deserves.
Well, first this thing has to get greenlit. And I don't see that happening. I mean there's zero buzz in any media about it. I'm pretty sure it's in the same development stage in which the OTH sequel was for years: Nothing but an idea.
There has been no official announcement by anyone that has the authority to do so. Nothing in any industry outlets. Nothing outside of a verbal fart at a convention by an out of work actor. Could it be in the works behind the scenes to present to Amazon? Sure. But there are many thousands of project proposals that get sent to Amazon on a daily basis. 99% of them never see the light of day.
So the odds that Bridgewater gets "fucked up" by Amazon are pretty damned slim. It is very unlikely that this "project" will ever get beyond the proposal stage (if it even gets that far).
Just saw this week's Broadway grosses and ouch! No one got away unscathed. I thought that holiday weekends usually are good for the shows.
For the most part holidays are pretty good for Broadway's bottom line. This one is a very special case. This wasn't just the usual 4th of July weekend, and besides the 250th anniversary of the country (and all the events connected to that), we also had the World Cup, Taylor Swift's wedding at Madison Square Garden (that required blocking off multiple streets and impacting the Long Island Railroad and NJ Transit), the end of Pride month and an unprecedented heat wave. The Friday night performance for a lot of shows was rescheduled as matinees, which cut into what is normally one of their most profitable nights. So you ended up with a situation where every show lost a lot of money. Even those that managed to fill the theater weren't getting the premiums that they had in the past. It was pretty ugly.
The key will be to watch how this week pans out and how the shows rebound. The shows that were struggling before last week will probably continue to struggle. It is clear that Schmigadoon! did not get a huge post-Tony bumb (and lost that bump last week), and all of the new shows showed some real weakness that doesn't bode well for their long-term survival (with Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Titanique and Two Strangers being in the worst shape). Some longer-running shows (Buena Vista Social Club, Hadestown, Just In Time, Maybe Happy Ending, The Great Gatsby, The Outsiders) should now be watched closely to see if they can bounce back.
Oh guys look, the poor anon is "disgusted" over how we react whenever Jensen brings up Jared. Meanwhile, these people cream their panties when mitshit gets anywhere near jensen. There's something wrong with these freaks. "Jared stans are quite gullible." I mean, you exist, you're one to talk, anon. 😂😂😂
They want it to be PR so badly because they have literally nothing! And I thought we were the ones "freaking out........"😂😂
Jared stans are gullible? Other than posting gifsets and enjoying fan content I don’t know what benefit that is for Jensen. Jared stans didn’t watch any of his shows so what’s their point? why would they? They’re loyal to Jared not Jensen.
They’re the ones thinking he actually cleans his mansion and is making a show with Misha lol.
The reason that Countdown and TW were cancelled after one season is a mystery to these people? How about the simple fact that the shows sucked? There were both critical failures (some of the reviews were both toxic and amusing) and viewership failures. In other words, no one was watching the garbage that Jensen was peddling.
And no... Jared's fans were not "hate watching". We didn't bother watching at all. And this is why TW in particular failed. How can one do a show based on a beloved IP and basically tell at least half of the potential audience to go kick rocks? And I do distinctly remember a lot of AAs basically telling Jared's fans outright that we weren't wanted or needed. So we stayed away and the the show totally bombed.
And now VR is facing a backlash from fans of TB who were angry at how Jensen was given so much focus and that the final season seemed to be more interested in setting up VR than actually creating a satisfying conclusion to the series. Maybe the problem isn't all of us Jared fans and the fact that Jensen keeps picking shitty projects.
In past years I posted excerpts from the Declaration of Independence on July 4. But I’m not feeling it this year.
I am old enough to remember the Bicentennial observations in 1976. There were celebrations and commemorative events around the country, not just in Washington. Most notable was the flotilla of tall ships sailing into New York’s harbor. There were historical programs, “Bicentennial minutes” on TV, and decorations on local public buildings and fixtures, right down to red-white-and-blue fire hydrants. At noon on July 4 we went out on the streets and rang bells.
The mood of the country is different now. There are fewer events for America’s 250th birthday and the crowds are smaller.
That’s not to say things were better in the United States 50 years ago. The divisions of the Vietnam War years had not healed. There were plenty of people who thought that some Americans should be second-class citizens based on the color of their skin or their gender. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people could rarely live their lives publicly. Transsexuals (the term used at the time) were even more oppressed.
But in some important ways things are worse today. There are many who maintain that some Americans shouldn’t be Americans at all, based on where their ancestors came from, how they speak, or how they worship. The gains that racial minorities, women, and LGBT people have made since 1976 are uncertain and under threat. And there are still those who think their wealth buys them more privileges than everyone else.
When I quote from the Declaration, I have to omit the slur against the so-called savage Indians, which decries their cruelty in warfare, when in fact everyone is cruel in war. And I have to talk around the fact that many of the men who signed it were slaveholders and the rest condoned slavery. When they said that all men are created equal, they really meant free white men, primarily landowners. But they used broad, general terms for their stirring rhetoric. Later generations found inspiration in what they wrote that went beyond what they really thought at the time.
So this year I am quoting from a later and much shorter document, the Pledge of Allegiance. Its last line, “with liberty and justice for all,” has never been a true description of what we actually have in America. But it is a plainly stated, unqualified goal that we should strive for.
This Independence Day, I call you to join me in opposing anyone who wants to make liberty and justice available only to some.
So now that the Tonys are done and we're coming into the summer season, what predictions do you have for shows closings before the fall? I know you said that Titanique and Two Strangers are likely to close, but what other shows do you think are likely to announce a closing date?
There are a bunch that I think are either already planning a closing, or will be if they don't have a rapid turnaround during the summer. So let me break out my crystal ball for a look into the near future.
On The Bubble (the ones to keep an eye on):
The Great Gatsby - They've been declining since April and while they've had some very bad weeks, I don't think they're in immediate danger. Yet. But they're not bringing in enough to cover their weekly operating costs and this is an expensive show to run with a big cast.
Maybe Happy Ending - Another show with slipping sales, especially since Darren Criss finished his run. And this is another expensive show to run, even with it's small cast. They need to get a bigger name to take over the lead if they want to turn things around. Again, not in immediate danger but they need to start filling the theaters again.
The Outsiders - This one is currently in the least immediate danger of the group, but it's also seen a real dip in ticket sales since April. They're still doing okay with capacity, but it's another show with a big cast that we need to keep an eye on moving foward.
In the Danger Zone:
Starting with the older shows (closing dates already announced for Death Becomes Her and Moulin Rouge!):
& Juliet - They've been in a steep decline since the beginning of the year and they've had some really bad weeks. They're at the point where they're losing money every week and I'll be surprised if they make it through the summer.
Buena Vista Social Club - Another show that's had ticket sales dip since the beginning of the year and they haven't cracked the $1M mark since February. Its a show with a big cast and is likely starting to reach the later stages of it's life cycle.
Operation Mincemeat - It's a small show in a relatively small theater, but like the others, we're seeing declining sales and declining average ticket prices. Another to keep an eye on to see if they make it through the summer.
Six: The Musical - Along with & Juliet is likely to get a closing notice sooner rather than later. They've had a number of weeks where they've brought in less than $500K, which is pretty dreadful. Even the stunt casting in more recent months hasn't helped and it looks like it's just reaching the end of it's life expectancy.
Stranger Things - I don't know who is still seeing this show since the series ended, but it's another expensive show to run and ticket sales have been very weak the past few weeks. It might have just a little more steam, but this is likely also going to see a potential summer closing.
And now the shows from this season (after the closing of The Queen of Versailles and the announced closing of Chess).
Titanique - Opened in May and never really found it's audience. It does all right with capacity percentage, but the average ticket price has been in steady decline (meaning that more tickets are being purchased at a discount). They very much needed a Tony win and didn't get one.
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - Another show that really struggled to find it's audience for the entirety of it's run (since Nov. 2025). Most weeks, they've been pulling in between $500-600K and even for a small show, that's a very poor showing. I believe that their producers were holding out in hope of a Tony win to turn things around (they way it did for Maybe Happy Ending) but that didn't happen.
Even if some producers want to try to hang on, they may be precluded by their contracts with the theaters. Many of them have a clause that if the box office take declines past a certain point, the theater has the right to end their rental agreement (effectively forcing a closure). So the odds are that we're going to see a number of shows ending before the fall. While that's a sad thing for the fans of the show (along with the cast and crews), it helps keep the theater community alive. A big reason why there were so few new musicals this year is because there were relatively few closures last season. That gave new shows nowhere to go. There are a number of productions looking to open for next season and are waiting on getting theaters lines up. This is the normal cycle for Broadway. And for some of these shows that have been playing to declining audiences, it is simply inevitable. They don't call it "show business" for nothing.
Well, the Tony Awards have been presented and there were the big winners (Ragtime, Schmigadoon!), the ones that picked up a few really big prizes (The Lost Boys, Cats: The Jellicale Ball), and a bunch that left totally empty handed. This has been a difficult season, with a small number of new shows compared to other years, and a number of new shows have struggled to find an audience. So let's take a look at how the Tony results might impact these shows.
New Shows:
Schmigadoon!: Obviously this was the big winner of the night, getting Best New Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score. This will only help a show that has yet to crack the $1M mark at the box office and get butts into seats. It's a crowd pleaser kind of show and I think the tourist crowd will start to fill the theater. The Tonys gave this show credibility and it will be seen as more than just the Apple TV musical.
The Lost Boys: While they missed out on Best Musical and Book, they picked up awards for Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, and most importantly both nominees for featured actor in a musical (Shoshana Bean and Ali Louis Bourzgui). The wins tell an audience that this is a big spectacle show with amazing acting, which will also help pull in an audience. This is a show that very much appeals to younger theater-goers and while the show has done relatively well since opening, it should benefit from its wins.
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York): This is a show that has not been doing great since opening and has been losing steam over the past few months. They very much needed a win at the Tonys and did not get it, so I do think that they are in danger of closing sooner rather than later. The one saving grace it has is that it's running costs are lower than many other shows, but it's not really making money. If that doesn't change, I expect to see a closing notice.
Titanique: This is another show that has been struggling at the box office, and leaving the Tonys with no wins isn't going to help matters. Maybe audiences are starting to tire of jukebox shows, but like Two Strangers, they very much needed a win to start putting butts in seats. They didn't get it and I do expect to see a closing notice shortly.
Revivals:
Ragtime: As the best selling show of the season (new & revival), they certainly didn't need to win but they won big. Best Revival and both acting awards (Joshua Henry & Cassie Levy). With the show selling out nearly every week, this hopefully will lead to an extension past the planned closing on August 2. The wins will make tickets even harder to get. This will certainly help sales for the tour set to start in 2027.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball: They didn't leave empty handed and picked up a big win for Direction, along with Costume Design and Choreography. I don't think that these awards will necessarily help at the box office, but they'll have some benefit of being able to advertise as a Tony winning production. They're doing relatively well at the box office, but not great and did need the boost. I don't think that they're in any immediate danger of closing anytime soon, but how much longevity the production has remains to be seen.
Chess: Totally shut out and closing. Nothing more to be said.
The Rocky Horror Show: They also went home empty handed, but I don't think it's going to hurt them (at least in the short term). They're selling very well currently (breaking the $1M mark every week since May) and they're in no danger of closing anytime soon. How much longevity the show has is an open question, but unless sales really dip, I expect them to remain open at least through the summer.
This was a strange year, with a relatively small number of musical opening. In a stronger year, I don't think shows like Titanique would have gotten a nomination. And even with the small number of musicals, shows like Chess were shut out of must of the big catagories (leading to an early closing notice). And we've seen before that while winning can give a boost to a show struggling to find an audience, there are many long-running shows that missed out on winning Best Musical. I think that this will be the same moving forward. Shows that are selling well will continue to sell well, at least in the immediate future. Show that struggling a bit might get a badly needed boost. And the weaker shows that were holding out to see if they could score a win and didn't will be gone in the near future. So if you're at all interested in seeing either Two Strangers or Titanique, I urge you to get your tickets as soon as possible.
I'm so excited that Ragtime won the Tony for Best Revival, and of course, Joshua and Caissie winning their respective best actor Tony's. I saw the touring company after the 1998 run and I was completely blown away! It's still the best musical I've ever seen! I was so disappointed that the first run was so short due to financial difficulty.
With the revival, do you think it will last longer the first run (which was only about two years)? Do you know how it's currently doing financially? I'm ready to see another touring company if I have to, but I'd also love to make a trip to New York and actually see it on Broadway (even if it takes me a year or two to afford it).
I wasn't surprised that they won for best revival (over Cats: The Jellicale Ball) because of the timeliness of this particular musical. In an era where many feel that our democracy is slipping away from us, a show that focuses on issues like race, class and immigration feels especially important. And the cast is phenomenal, well deserving of their acting win.
Ragtime has doing extremely well at the box office since it opened, selling out (or nearly selling out) every week. I think that there were only two weeks when it didn't gross over $1M at the box office. Of all the shows that opened this Broadway season (new and revivals), it's had the strongest sales. The question is if they producers will give another extension to what is supposed to be a limited run. Currently the show is set to run through August 2, but if sales continue they way they have been, I can certainly see them extending it through the end of the year.
Big shows like Ragtime, with large casts and orchestras, always are in a battle to earn enough at the box office to offset their large running costs. Staging a show like this is expensive and previous productions eventually just weren't able to stay ahead of their running costs, let alone make any kind of profit. This production opened to very strong reviews and very positive audience response, which gives is a good chance to run for an extended period. Whether it will run longer than two years remains to be seen, but I've said it many times... this is a business. So long as it's bringing in the kind of money that it is, the argument for Ragtime to remain open can be made.
I hope that you are able to make it to NY to see this production, because it really is outstanding. Fortunately, it is set to go on tour in 2027, so if you can't come to NY, I hope that Ragtime will be able to come to you.
Hell, I remember when if you missed a show, you had to wait until reruns in the summer to catch it again. I remember staying up late to watch channels go off the air after midnight. And having to fiddle with the rabbit ears on the tv in order to catch certain channels.
The field is ecstatic about the prospect of a targeted therapy meaningfully extending overall survival in pancreatic cancer.
I have to admit that I cried when I saw this news. Most patients, like my mother do not have their pancreatic cancer discovered until it is very advanced and they become symptomatic (pain, jaundice, etc.) and getting a stage IV diagnosis is basically a death sentence. Most patients die within weeks or months of their diagnosis. Less than 5% of stage IV patients survive a year.
This drug can be a game changer, giving these patients precious time to spend with their families. It gives hope when there was precious little hope before. I'm realistic that it is not a cure and does not change the fact that late stage pancreatic cancer is terminal, but it gives more opportunities now for patients to have more time and a better quality of life during that time. We still need much more to fight this horrible disease. We need a screening method that can be done routinely and find the cancer in its early stages (where its more treatable). We need a cure. But for the first time in many years, the outlook isn't so completely bleak.
I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer. I hope that this drug can help other people have the time with their loved ones that I couldn't.
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