James J. Claffey Jr.

‘CHICAGO,’ ‘SIX,’ ‘PHANTOM’ LIMIT PERFORMANCES ON REOPENING

May 7, 2021 by Philip Boroff

Some of the first Broadway shows to return in the fall will restart gradually.

Six , the pop concert musical that was poised to open when Broadway shut down in March 2020, is offering tickets for six performances a week after it returns on Sept. 17. Exceptions are its first full week of previews — when it’s scheduled for seven performances — and holiday weeks, when it will play seven or eight shows. Its limited performance schedule is through March, according to Ticketmaster, its primary ticket outlet.Continue Reading

PRODUCERS WANT UNION CONCESSIONS BEFORE REOPENING

November 16, 2020 by Philip Boroff

Broadway seeks givebacks from the industry’s unions before performances resume, the head of the trade group that represents commercial producers and theater owners told an online industry conference Monday.

“There have been general conversations [with unions] about what the contracts might look like, what might be changed,” Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin said during the final day of The TheaterMakers Summit. “We’ll have to get to the changes, if any, toward wages and work rules and all of that to get open, because the producers will have to figure out if they can reopen. If you reopen at 50 percent of your previous attendance, nobody even comes close to recouping at 50 percent of the theater being open. So we’ll have to talk about things.”Continue Reading

SECOND STAGE BORROWED $16.5 MILLION FOR HELEN HAYES, BACKED BY PROSPECTIVE ‘FROZEN’ LANDLORD

August 19, 2016 by Philip Boroff

Screen Shot 2016-08-01 at 11.25.45 PM — Proposed Facade of Helen Hayes/Rockwell Group via Landmarks Preservation Commission

EXCLUSIVE: Second Stage Theatre has less than two years to repay a $16.5 million mortgage on its new Broadway home.

In April 2015, the nonprofit completed its long-awaited purchase of the Helen Hayes Theatre. The “amazing moment,” as Artistic Director Carole Rothman put it, should help raise the profile of the 37-year-old company and the contemporary American plays and musicals it produces, which have won three Pulitzer Prizes since 2010. But in buying Broadway’s smallest venue, Second Stage accepted a big burden.Continue Reading