Can’t Get ‘Book of Mormon’ Tickets? Trey Parker & Matt Stone Say You Can Now Start Waiting For The Movie

It seems like recent Broadway film adaptations haven’t had much luck with either the critics or the box office in the twenty-first century.  The film adaptations of Mamma Mia, The Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Rent, and Nine had varying degrees of box office success, but none seemed to win over critics.

In fact, only Chicago, Sweeny Todd, Dreamgirls, and Hairspray have won over critics and audiences alike, but it seems in a few years we’ll likely be adding The Book of Mormon to that list: Trey Parker and Matt Stone have confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that they intend to make a film version of their smash hit Broadway musical. 

Just don’t expect it anytime soon. 

In case you haven’t noticed, most film adaptations of Broadway shows don’t end up hitting theaters until several years into the Broadway run (or even after the Broadway show closes) simply because a film version would likely cut into the Broadway box office as well as the ticket sales of any touring versions of the play.  With The Book of Mormon opening in Chicago, London, and on the road next year, it wouldn’t be financially wise for The Book of Mormon and South Park creators Parker and Stone to push the film version out too soon.   Read more

Broadway’s ‘The Book of Mormon’ Enjoys Sizeable Profits

Have you seen the line waiting for Book of Mormon lottery rush tickets and standing room only tickets outside the Eugene O’Neill theater on 49th Street?  It is so impossible to score affordable tickets to the show that people are willing to wait just for a chance to buy cheaper tickets to the hugely popular Broadway show. 

But just how successful has the show been?  Thanks to an article from Bloomberg, we can finally see that The Book of Mormon is paying off quite well for not only its creative personnel but also for its investors.

According to the article, The Book of Mormon cost $9.1 million — far cheaper than effect-laden shows like Shrek and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark — and has already recouped thirty percent of its cost for it’s investors and will pay off the investments completely by October.  That’s significant because most Broadway shows take years to break even, if they ever do.  And since the show is still sold out until 2012, the investors can already expect a profit.  Reportedly the show rakes in $1.2 million per week and costs just over $600,000 a week to operate (excluding royalties), so currently the show makes over twice what it spends per week — though that profit gets cut up to by the various royalty deals.  Read more

Audiences Letting Broadway Come to Them

As a recent Reuters article explains, the line between Broadway shows and feature films is beginning to become blurred. Showings of current Broadway productions, musical Memphis and the revival of Oscar Wilde’s classic The Importance of Being Earnest, are now enjoying runs in movie theaters all across the United States.

Now possible due to many theaters’ ability to show high-definition video, these broadcasts also meet a growing demand for alternative content, according to the article.

Memphis will be shown on 600 screens nationwide from April 28 to May 3, with four showings at each. Meanwhile, Earnest will be screened at many theaters internationally from June 2 until June 28.

“We thought it would be a great marketing tool, particularly for the road, and we were enamored of the idea of capturing the original company,” Memphis co-producer Sue Frost is quoted as saying.

“We do feel that when people see it that it will translate well,” said Earnest managing director Harold Wolpert. “That’s very, very important to us. Our bottom line is not just financial, but aesthetic as well.”

When you consider that seeing a Broadway show in a movie theater rather than a repertory theatre allows for close-up footage and costs significantly less, it’s probably a better deal. Plus, how many playhouses sell jumbo popcorn?

You can read Reuters’ article here.

Pictures And Behind The Scenes Video Of The Photo Shoot From ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’

Vogue has a great feature on the upcoming Broadway show Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark.

The article includes the pictures below (shot by Annie Leibovitz) and a behind the scenes video of the photo shoot.

At first I wasn’t to jazzed about these pictures but they’re kind of growing on me. I’m am, however, definitely looking forward to seeing when I see the show in December!

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Tony Nominee Stephen Kunken: “Your career is a marathon”

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If you got a chance to see the Broadway show, Enron you’ll know that Stephen Kunken was well deserved in getting a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Andy Fastow.

I say “got a chance” because the day Stephen found out he was nominated he was also told that the show would be closing later that week.

If that were me, I’d want to jump out a window but Stephen is taking it all in stride.

And why shouldn’t he?  The critics universally praised his work, he and his wife just adopted a baby and he’s such a fantastic actor, the phone is probably already ringing in his agents office.

I got a chance to talk to him while he was sitting in his car about to take a well deserved break.

Congratulations on your nomination.

Thank you so much.

How did you find out about it?

I was watching, because I knew it was important to find out about the longevity of our show – Enron. With how expensive the show was, if it didn’t get nominated, I knew it would probably be a rough road for us. I was curious and watching for a couple of minutes. Then, they let it go and I watched it online. I sort of saw it all happening in rapid succession. They did the 5 big categories first on TV and then they ended it. So I thought that I had missed my category. I was like, “Damn, I can’t believe it!” But then they actually went back to it.

What’s that feeling like, to be one of the top five actors nominated?

It’s crazy. I don’t know that it’s sunk in yet. I was just talking to my wife about it. It’s such an incredible honor and its a thing that you always dream about as an actor, I think. Especially as a New York theatre actor who grew up on the Tony’s and grew up coming to see Broadway shows. I went to Julliard in the city, which is an institution for theatre.

I remember my first Broadway show, right before I went on, saying “Wow, as soon as the first word comes out of my mouth, I’m going to have done a Broadway show.” It was an incredible, huge threshold to walk across. It hasn’t even really sunk in yet to be considered a part of the community in a performance that was noteworthy in this season of incredible actors and performances. It’s kind of mind-boggling. It’s thrilling. It’s such a huge honor. I know these are all the things that everyone always says, but it’s so true. You actually really do feel awed by the attention and awed by people actually caring. There’s nothing that I just said that’s new or exciting, but it’s totally true. It puts all of that work into perspective for a moment. It’s a milestone in your career that you can look back and you can say, ‘Oh, my God, I actually put together a little body of work.’ It’s quite cool.

Is it true that now you can get better seats in a restaurant?

I don’t know. If I won the award, I could walk in with the statue and I still think I would lose instantly to anyone who’s been on a TV show or in a film. Maybe at Angus McIndoe across the street they might say “Hey!” but I think other than that, that’s the beauty of the theatre that unless you saw it, you don’t really know it.

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The Cast of The Addams Family perform the opening number on Letterman

The Addams Family just opened up on Broadway and I’ve been hearing mixed reviews about it – mostly that it’s the Nathan Lane show. But if you like him, that’s not a bad thing, right?

I’m headed to NYC in a couple weeks and I might try and check it out, mostly because I’ve never seen Nathan Lane in a Broadway show and if you like musical theater, it’s something you gotta do.

In this clip, the whole cast performs the opening number on The Late Show With David Letterman. I think it looks pretty good. What do you think?