Topic Gypsy from the General Chit-Chat forum.
Post a reply or begin a new topic.
View other threads or jump to a different forum.
Go to page: Next or 1, 2
|
| Author | Topic: Gypsy |
|---|
jeanmd
Registered User
Registered:
6/4/2001 | posted: 9/6/2002 at 1:40:52 AM ET
From the New York Daily News (Sept.6, Reidel):
"The hunt continues for a New York producer for the spring revival of "Gypsy." After nixing a proposed partnership with Fran and Barry Weissler, British producer Robert Fox has put out feelers to "Rent" boys Jeffrey Seller and Kevin McCollum. They are, though, said to be as concerned as the Weisslers were about the show's staggeringly large $8.5 million budget. "
J
| jeanmd
Registered User
Registered:
6/4/2001 | posted: 9/6/2002 at 2:01:26 AM ET
New York Post, that is.
J
| Jim
Registered User
Registered:
3/14/2002
From:
Arizona | posted: 9/6/2002 at 12:05:20 PM ET
Wow! That's a lot of $$$.
I kinda remember AGYG being in the 2.5 million range to produce and taking almost a year to payoff the backers.
Anybody know if Bill Gates is a Bernadette fan?
I think I also remember Bernadette was getting around $30,000 a week for AGYG. Please feel free to correct me on this, since I don't think about the budget side of the arts very much. I have a hard enough time with my own budget.
Kinda interesting though.
Jim.
|  moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 9/6/2002 at 12:29:41 PM ET
Jim, I remember reading she was making about $50,000 but I think that was including everything like her percentage of the box office, etc. So maybe it was $30,000 straight salary plus everything else equaled about $50K. I sure hope everything gets settled with this production soon. I wouldn't want anything to keep it from coming to Broadway. :-)
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
68.54.89.x | posted: 9/6/2002 at 12:31:25 PM ET
Hi, Jim:
Here is a paragraph from the New York Post about AGYG--the article is from Feb. 2000. I think Bernadette's salary was something like $32,000 against a percentage of the uh, oh, not sure here-gross or net. Also, I assume that everytime she extended, her salary increased, but that's just my assumption. I also think that she got extra money for the cast recording, and who knows how much she got for appearing on the Tony's. I don't think 8.5 mil is a lot for a major musical-aren'nt some of the others even more? Of course I haven't got any idea of the business of show business, either!
"In any industry, a business making money is hardly news. That, after all, is what business are suppose to do. But on Broadway, where the ink flows wide and deep, a show that turns a profit is worth mentioning. In this case, the show is "Annie Get Your Gun" which last week returned it's $6.5 Million investment just under a year on Broadway. "We have one more check to get out to our investors, and they will be made whole" - Barry Weissler, who with wife, Fran, produced the Tony award winning revival. "We are off in record time"."
(Courtesy of Bernadette's official web site.)
J
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
68.54.89.x | posted: 9/6/2002 at 12:35:25 PM ET
Ahh-2 minds, etc., etc....
Completely offtopic to Moljul:
did you get home yesterday? will you ever again ask about where to sit in a theatre?
Enjoyed-and not-the ATC posts!
Jean
|  Christine-NYC
Registered User
Registered:
3/23/2002
From:
New York City
Fav. BP Song: With So Little to be Sure Of
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Marie (insert last name) lol There's a few
Fav. BP CD: Bernadette Peters Loves Rogers and Hammerstein
| posted: 9/6/2002 at 12:42:57 PM ET
I agree with moljul...I would hate to see something like a budget, or a lack of producers (or backers) prevent Gypsy from coming to Broadway. I just wish I had a fortune. I would back any show that Bernadette was a part of.  Especially a show that I love, like Gypsy!
<3CMH<3
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 9/6/2002 at 1:22:30 PM ET
Yes, Jean, I did get home fine. Cops everywhere but had no problem getting me and my groceries home. :-) As for ATC. Funny how I have asked similar questions for other shows and gotten responses regarding good site lines instead of numerous tips on how to see Kathleen Turner naked. Truth be told, I'm buying tickets for my friends not for me but I think they also don't need to see any more of KT than necessary. :-)
|  Jenny_loves_
bernadette
Registered User
Registered:
6/6/2002
From:
London | posted: 9/6/2002 at 2:01:38 PM ET
so is bernadette pretty well off then? my dad always says that she must be rich when he buys me a bernadete video and I respond, "well, i don't think shes like a millionaire".
they say bernadette's wonderful..........and she is
xx Jenny xx
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
68.54.89.x | posted: 9/6/2002 at 2:19:52 PM ET
Don't know a thing about Bernadette's financial worth-but whatever she's got, I'll willingly pay WHATEVER to see/hear her!
Take a look at today's broadway.com, Insider, for a nice long write-up of the upcoming Gypsy.
I can only go this far for the link:
http:/www.broadway.com
then hit on the "Insider"
Jean
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 9/6/2002 at 2:22:10 PM ET
Well I'm sure she isn't in the money class of Julia Roberts or Oprah Winfrey but I'm sure she is pretty well off. And being a millionaire doesn't take too much these days so I would say she is well in that area. Bernadette has had success in a lucrative field and I believe she gets a fairly high price for her concerts. Working on Broadway is definitely a pay cut for her. I even read somewhere that quoted her as saying the money she makes doing her concerts enables her to afford to do Broadway. She lives in a very nice, expensive apartment and a home in Florida which I'm assuming is not a two room shack. :-) She dresses in designer clothes and can probably pay for whatever she needs. And hopefully she has invested well. To give you of a comparison, one of her very good friends, Mary Tyler Moore, is reported to be worth over $125 million and one of the wealthiest women in television. I wouldn't put Bernadette at all in that category but I'm sure she has SEVERAL million.
| Jim
Registered User
Registered:
3/14/2002
From:
Arizona | posted: 9/6/2002 at 3:41:36 PM ET
Damn, I hate it when you guys get me to thinking....it's much to painful. If the Weissler's are balking, and they obviously made money on AGYG, then what's the deal?
Granted economic times are not nearly as good as when AGYG opened, and I am sure that is a factor. I also think that initially they didn't expect AGYG would be as successful as it turned out to be. Remember this is a very risky business.
So here is my question, and probably what the producers are also wondering.
Would Gypsy do as well as AGYG?
Yes, I would love to see BP do the show, but try to put that aside when you think about an answer.
I don't think Gypsy would do as well. For one thing Bernadette has a lesser role, the score is weaker, it has been revived more recently, economic uncertainty, ticket prices will be higher, Bernadette would have to hold herself together for at least 1 1/2 years to break even.
Just taking my own case as an example, I saw AGYG 8 or 9 times and I live in Arizona. I would probably hit Gypsy 1 or 2 times, just because I like AGYG and BPs character in that show much better.
I am sure the producers are pondering these and many other questions before they put their money up.
May need a sugar-daddy out there somewhere to get it into production.
Jim.
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 9/6/2002 at 4:09:16 PM ET
Well Jim, I have a few responses to your comments. Mostly disagreements. I don't think you will find too many people who would agree with you that Gypsy is a weaker score than AGYG. Gyspy is considered to be one of the greatest musicals written with a lot of wonderful songs and one of the best books a musical could have. It's not so much a family type musical like AGYG but definitely a wonderful musical for a lot of people. And I wouldn't say Bernadette has a smaller role. She may have a little less actual physical time on stage because Annie was literally on every minute but Rose is the star and the part is probably the most demanding (and saught after) role for a woman to play on stage.
As for the Weisslers. They are known for being the cheapest producers on Broadway so they would probably balk at anything not to mention one of the reasons they probably didn't take on the project was because of the executive producer's feeling that he would rather eat glass than work with the Weisslers. But musicals get more and more expensive every year and with it being such a well known musical with such a big star, it can't be a cutting corners kind of a production. Though I'm sure they will get the budget down a little.
As for whether Gypsy will do as well as AGYG - that's a good question. I think if it is cast in a similar vain, they will have similar runs. AGYG didn't stay open because of AGYG. It had success because of Bernadette and Reba. It is essentially a star vehicle, much like Gypsy. People know it well and only a small percentage will see it for the sake of seeing the show itself. They'll go to see Bernadette playing Rose and whoever might come after her. When she left AGYG, the show did terribly. The only reason it stayed open was because they knew they had Reba coming in a few months later. After Reba left, the show tanked again. It could not stand on its own. Let's face it, other than the music, AGYG is kind of a cotton candy kind of show with very little substance. And I saw it 14 times!!!!! LOL While I feel Gypsy is a show with much more substance, it is still very well known and has been done enough that it will need strong replacement Roses to stay open.
Just my thoughts!
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 9/6/2002 at 4:15:18 PM ET
I agree that the economy is so much weaker now, and also that people are less willing to travel because of all the hassles, but I still think Gypsy has as good a chance as any to become a hit. I think it's a much greater, more significant and more interesting show than AGYG. Annie was a lot of fun, but I don't think it has the cult following that Gypsy does. I wouldn't exactly say that Rose is lesser-it's certainly one of the juiciest, most challenging roles out there. It's not a family show however, which I suppose could hurt it with some tourists who want something they can take their children to. What I'm saying is that I think it will be a hit but I'm not sure how big a hit. The economics of puting on a Broadway show these days is very mysterious; something will run for a year or more and still you end up reading that it was a failure financially. Also, I didn't take it that the Weisslers balked. I thought that Robert Fox absolutely refused to work with them. After all they do have a pretty tacky image with a lot of people. I can't be objective, but I will say that I'm feeling very optimistic with the combination of Bernadette, Sam Mendes and the material involved. Also, I'm assuming Laurents and Sondheim will be having input as well. For myself, I live in St Louis and managed to see Annie three times. I'm hoping to be able to see Gypsy at least that many times, maybe more. Keeping my fingers crossed for rave reviews and all the awards available.
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 9/6/2002 at 4:20:21 PM ET
Sorry if some of my thoughts intersected with or repeated Moljul, apparently we were writing and posting at the same time. I hadn't read her post until after I submitted mine. We do seem to be in agreement on a lot of points.
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 9/6/2002 at 4:22:45 PM ET
I agree, the element of Sam Mendes being the director is also a huge attraction. He is VERY VERY hot right now.
| Go to page: Next or 1, 2
Other threads: « Next | Previous » |
Do you think this topic is inappropriate? Vote it down. After a thread receives a certain amount of negative votes it will be automatically locked.
Please contact us with any concerns you might have.
|
