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#121 lanforod

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Posted 09 March 2023 - 11:50 AM

Victoria is starved for Broadway quality plays. Really should have more than 1 a year or so.


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#122 Blair M.

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Posted 01 April 2023 - 07:11 AM

Victoria is starved for Broadway quality plays. Really should have more than 1 a year or so.

I think there'd be more shows in Victoria if it was possible to get them here.

There are a lot of boxes to tick before a Broadway tour winds up at the Royal Theatre.

 

First the Royal Theatre has to be unbooked and available for a straight week or two, and that's not often possible.

2nd, the touring Broadway show has to be somewhere on the pacific coast, with a large enough empty space in their performance schedule.

3rd, Broadway shows have to actually be out on tour, there are a very limited number of touring Broadway shows out in any given year.

4th, the proposed dates have to be able to be set up far enough in advance for the promoter to promote the show effectively, in the case of Come From Away, it was initially advanced almost a year ago.

 

Henry Kolenko, the promoter (and owner of Broadway Victoria) has done a fantastic job of bringing the last 5 or 6 big Broadway shows to the Royal Theatre, and he has plans to bring many more in the months and years ahead.


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#123 lanforod

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Posted 01 April 2023 - 07:19 AM

Those same factors apply to every city. I’m glad to hear there are more coming but ignoring covid, there have not been many. Last one was the King and I, right? I don’t even recall what was before that.

#124 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 01 April 2023 - 07:21 AM

Those same factors apply to every city. I’m glad to hear there are more coming but ignoring covid, there have not been many. Last one was the King and I, right? I don’t even recall what was before that.

 

They do, but larger centres might have more venues.  The Royal I presume has to give most priority to its key tenants, the symphony etc.  Some theatres in other cities do not have regular tenants like that. 



#125 Blair M.

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Posted 01 April 2023 - 07:51 AM

Those same factors apply to every city. I’m glad to hear there are more coming but ignoring covid, there have not been many. Last one was the King and I, right? I don’t even recall what was before that.

Mama Mia, Stomp, Chicago, The King and I, Beautiful, Jersey Boys. 
They were Broadway touring companies presented by Broadway in Victoria at the Royal. 


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#126 Blair M.

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Posted 01 April 2023 - 07:56 AM

They do, but larger centres might have more venues.  The Royal I presume has to give most priority to its key tenants, the symphony etc.  Some theatres in other cities do not have regular tenants like that. 

You’re absolutely right.

The Opera, Symphony, Dance Victoria and a few others book the Royal Theatre years in advance. 
The Royal functions as a combination road-house and as a venue with resident companies. 



#127 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 10 May 2023 - 05:06 AM

Come From Away opens tonight and I see they are spending another boatload of cash at the TC to sell tickets.


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#128 Blair M.

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Posted 10 May 2023 - 05:39 AM

The first two weeks are essentially sold out, but as always there are a few single tickets available for some of those shows.

The promoter then added four new dates, and some good seats remain for those added shows, and sales are brisk each day leading up to opening night.

If the local buzz is good during the first week of performances, the remaining tickets for those four added shows could vanish this coming week.

 

Compared to the cost of putting putting this show on deck at the Royal, the cost of advertising in the TC is incidental.

The intent of course, is to sell out every show, as was the case for many other dates in North America, and each night on Broadway.



#129 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 10 May 2023 - 05:50 AM

 

If the local buzz is good during the first week of performances, the remaining tickets for those four added shows could vanish this coming week.

 

True.  I've never met anyone that didn't love this show.



#130 spanky123

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Posted 10 May 2023 - 02:46 PM

Come From Away opens tonight and I see they are spending another boatload of cash at the TC to sell tickets.

 

They probably traded some tickets. That is how a lot of media sponsorship works with events.


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#131 todd

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Posted 10 May 2023 - 03:26 PM

True.  I've never met anyone that didn't love this show.

How many people is that? In person or the streaming version?

#132 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 10 May 2023 - 03:32 PM

46.

In person. People have cone from away and on vacation seen it.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 10 May 2023 - 03:32 PM.

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#133 todd

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Posted 10 May 2023 - 03:36 PM

I am still pondering tickets but the whole things just seems like an airline delay to me. If it was a movie based in New York at the time.


I am still pondering tickets but the whole things just seems like an airline delay to me. If it was based in New York at the time.

Edited by todd, 10 May 2023 - 03:36 PM.


#134 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 12 May 2023 - 06:52 AM

It was a history-making party for 1,400-plus Wednesday night when the musical Come From Away played to a packed house at the Royal Theatre.

 

Why was the atmosphere so rollicking, so celebratory? Well, for starters, Come From Away has emerged as the hottest ticket of the season. The touring Broadway musical, running at the Royal to May 24, has so far attracted more than 24,000 ticket-buyers — the most for a single show in the 110-year-old Royal Theatre’s history.

 

https://www.timescol...tedness-6989653


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 May 2023 - 06:52 AM.

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#135 Blair M.

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Posted 12 May 2023 - 10:07 AM

CFA was a massive hit on opening night at the Royal.

The entire 1450 folks in attendance were on their feet immediately, well before the bow lights came back up. 

 

The same over the top reception for yesterdays matinee performance, as well as yesterdays evening performance.

After three in a row, it's probably safe at this point to note that every show will receive an immediate standing ovation from the entire audience, which isn't something that happens too frequently.

 

As the tours overall Producer said at the opening night reception, "Come From Away isn't about September 11th, it's about September 12th and the people of Gander, Newfoundland".

It seems this is a sentiment that resonates at a deeply emotional level with entire audiences, Victoria included.

 

Grab a ticket quickly if you feel this is something you might want to see. This stand at the Royal Theatre is the end of the Broadway tour. The show leaves the road after this run at the Royal, although it will return somewhere down the road in a vastly reduced form, designed to play much smaller markets and theatres.



#136 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 12 May 2023 - 10:11 AM

CFA was a massive hit on opening night at the Royal.

The entire 1450 folks in attendance were on their feet immediately, well before the bow lights came back up. 

 

The same over the top reception for yesterdays matinee performance, as well as yesterdays evening performance.

After three in a row, it's probably safe at this point to note that every show will receive an immediate standing ovation from the entire audience, which isn't something that happens too frequently.

 

As the tours overall Producer said at the opening night reception, "Come From Away isn't about September 11th, it's about September 12th and the people of Gander, Newfoundland".

It seems this is a sentiment that resonates at a deeply emotional level with entire audiences, Victoria included.

 

Grab a ticket quickly if you feel this is something you might want to see. This stand at the Royal Theatre is the end of the Broadway tour. The show leaves the road after this run at the Royal, although it will return somewhere down the road in a vastly reduced form, designed to play much smaller markets and theatres.

 

Whoever wrote this thing must be wealthy and in serious demand now.

 

EDIT:  husband and wife team  https://en.wikipedia.../Come_from_Away

 

There is a film version (Apple TV):  https://en.wikipedia...rom_Away_(film)


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 May 2023 - 10:14 AM.


#137 Blair M.

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Posted 25 May 2023 - 09:07 PM

Come From Away has rewritten the record books in Victoria, as the most successful performance run in Victorias long live theatre history. 

Over 25,000 patrons attending, with millions of dollars in ticket revenue, with additional hundreds of thousands in hotel, food,beverage and handsome wages for touring and local stagehands, performers, and associated show and theatre personnel.

 

This Victoria run was the final Broadway tour performance of all time, in that what you saw on the Royal Theatre stage was identical to what you would see on the Broadway stage (six semi trailers full of scenery, equipment, costumes, etc, never to be seen in this form again).

The tour will live on later in 2023 in a vastly reduced size in order to service additional audiences in much, much smaller markets.

 

The record to date for a single show in Victoria was held by Reveen the Impossibilist at the Royal Theatre back in the early '70's, when he almost sold out the Royal Theatre for two weeks straight.

 

Come From Away has exceeded that early '70's Reveen ticket revenue by additional millions of dollars, but also brought more patrons into the Royal Theatre in a shorter timeframe.

 

An interesting aside is that a huge majority of patrons of Come From Away performances in Victoria weren't regular theatre attendees, and had very likely not been in the Royal Theatre (or any live theatre) anytime in the past few decades, if ever. 

In other words, they didn't come to see the show because they loved attending live theatre, they came to see the show because they absolutely had to see Come From Away.


Edited by Blair M., 25 May 2023 - 09:08 PM.


#138 lanforod

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Posted 25 May 2023 - 09:32 PM

I'm sad I missed it, had to give up my tickets unfortunately.


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#139 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 25 May 2023 - 09:34 PM

Reveen never would have predicted such a success.
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#140 UDeMan

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Posted 25 May 2023 - 09:59 PM

I remember seeing Reveen in the 80s. He was still packing theatres then.
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