Which makes the 10 years of sold out performances even more amazing.
<green>Wicked, of course.

Actually, Starrs, in most recent months, Wicked has hit the high 90% capacity mark! (Hey, Starrs, what do expect to hear from an anti-Wicked person!) But, hey, Wicked's statistics are still pretty damned impressive.

PS: The Lion King is even more remarkable at around 16 years of capacity or near-capacity attendance..

"Of course, someone could argue that The Book of Mormon would undoubtedly attract more people if its theater was as large! But, then you might say that's besides the point!"

No, I wouldn't say that's besides the point at all. Of course the total number of seats has much to do with it. By the same token if Spiderman were in a smaller theatre and was selling out fully, it would still be in trouble. It just can't raise enough income to pay its costs.

Poor Spider Man can't seem to be getting any breaks these days. Now we learn that its balloon may not be allowed to fly in the Macy's Parade tomorrow if the predicted wind gusts become a reality.

That's OK, Howard, half the time Spiderman is unable to fly in the show too, so it seems appropriate.

Add us to the list of those who loved A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Marriage. We thought it a sheer delight from beginning to end. Don't miss it! And, if you want to save money on tickets, playbill.com has a discount offer that's good through mid-February. (Note: The offer is NOT available on broadwaybox.com.)

After reading this thread the other day, I ordered discounted tickets to A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. Just got back from the show, liked it a lot. Sparkling dialogue and clever lyrics, lots of great singing, and a terrific performance by Jefferson Mays as eight different characters.

Very well received by the audience. There were still seats available. Hope it finds the audience it deserves.

Mothers and Sons with Tyne Daly IS coming to Broadway with previews beginning Feb 23rd.

My biggest decision is whether to bite the bullet and purchase full price presale tickets now or gamble on a discount in a few weeks or so. Most open-ended plays do get discounted.

Centralparkgirl, yes it is. If you look back in the Broadway posts to something like June you'll see where I raved about that show which premiered at the Bucks County Playhouse and predicted then it would be on Broadway this next season.

Don't get me wrong. The play could use some work since that premier and it remains to be seen how successful it might be on Broadway, and hopefully it is getting some editing. I sat in on an audience feedback with Terrence McNally where much of the audience pointed out some bothersome and confusing issues -- hopefully those are now fixed. But Tyne Daly's performance alone is worth the price of admission. Honestly though, I'd be very surprised if discounts aren't soon available especially for previews. This is not the type of show that will sell out in advance -- I feel pretty certain about that.

Oh, also the production co-starred Bobby Steggert, who unfortunately wasn't going to do the Broadway run due to his major role in Big Fish, but this week it's been unofficially announced he will do Mothers and Sons, as Big Fish is closing.

NP - Yes. I remember what you wrote. That's why I posted the announcement. Good to hear about Bobby Steggert. I had only read about Tyne Daly. I looked up two reviews last night from New Hope. One was absolutely stellar and one was so-so. I still really want to see it with her. I agree that there will be discounted tickets and am going to wait. $137 ticket for a 90 minute play is crazy.

I recently saw And Away We Go by Terrence McNally and far from loved it. It needs a lot of work.

cpg, I agree with Patrick about waiting for discount offers. I think the chances are very good there'll be offers.

For those of you who have seen or are interested in seeing A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, you might be happy to learn that Kind Hearts and Coronets is being show on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) tonight (8 p.m. eastern time). Both are based on the same book.

Yesterday I saw After Midnight. It's a terrific "review" of CottonClub like classics. Amazing dance, particularly some of the best tap I've seen since Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk. And American Idol Fantasia is really an amazing featured soloist with such classics as "I can't Give You Anything But Love" and "Stormy Weather" (or as she sings in "Schtormy Weather".
I'm usually not a big fan of reviews or jukebox musicals (those featuring older songs rather than a score written for it) but this one I really loved.

HI Neo, I just bought a ticket to After Midnight this eve for March, before finding this thread. booked a ticket for a show on my birthday in March. How was Dule Hill? I didn't get to see him in Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, but I am a BIG fan of Psych, and they sometimes work his singing and tap skills into a storyline.

Also want to recommend "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder". Saw it over Thanksgiving weekend. Really no takeaway song, & 1sounds a LOT like "I Want to be a Producer" from The Producers. BUT I think I laughed from the first scene to the last. And the sets are very clever. Walter Kerr Theatre. I sat in a back Mezzanine row, and I could see every facial expression.

Glad to hear you are all enjoying A Gentleman's Guide. Saw a good off Broadway one woman show last night called Love Linda about Cole Porter's wife Linda. It's at the York theater and is very good.

wow, ninasdream, you must have great eyes. I could never see actual expressions from the back row of the mezzanine even in a smaller theatre like Gentleman's Guide.

Dule Hill was great. In fact the entire production and cast are just wonderful. Note that k.d. Lang is taking over for Fantasia in January. These are not actual characters, but rather songs as if presented by a guest artist at the Cotton Club, so the singer could easily be white instead of black. Just kind of funny to think of k.d.Lang replacing Fantasia -- it will certainly become far different. I'm even assuming rather than those gorgeous costumes Fantasia wears, we'll be seeing something more like a tuxedo. Just a guess.

OMG!!!

I'm going!

Thanks Neo!

As the year winds up, I was thinking what a good year it was for my wife and me theater-wise. It's not often in recent years that five of the shows we saw were truly outstanding. Listed in chronological order, they were The Assembled Parties, Matilda, Buyer & Cellar, The Glass Menagerie and The Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. The first one has closed, the other are still running and I highly recommend all four. As an incentive, discount tickets are available for all but Matilda currently.

But Matilda has been available at TKTS often. I got a half price ticket center orchestra -- actually way less than half price as that should be premium pricing!
Yes, it's been a good year for theatre.

Patrick, I suppose that's good and bad news for Matilda.......good for people who want to see it, but not so good for the backers of the show!
Of course, with the busiest Broadway season coming up, I assume that Matilda (and many other shows) will not have tickets available at TKTS during the holiday period.
And once again, I remind theatergoers to check BOTH broadwaybox.com AND playbill.com for offers, as sometimes the discount is available on one of the sites but not the other.