Crazy For You - Chichester / Gillian Lynne Theatre

Ah great, that's good to hear! I have seen kids at shows that really didn't seem suitable and don't want to drag her to something that will put her off theatre/dance for life.

Thank you!

Im pretty sure she can’t win an Olivier for the same choreography that won her the award years ago.

Then again Stephen Mear and Matthew Bourne won twice for Mary Poppins 🫤

I’d say it’s 95% the same?

It’s so wonderful though that I’d stand and cheer if she was nominated and won again. Simply some of the best choreography you will ever see in a musical.

Saw this last night and loved it despite the best efforts of the two well-oiled ladies next to me in Stalls F33 & F34 who would not shut up.

One slight niggle was that the sound mix, while clear, was light on bass I thought and could have been warmer. I'd have said it was the venue accoustics had I not been blown away by what the sound engineers achieved with Cinderella.

Lots of other positive thoughts, but they've all been said by others in this thread already.

Five stars.

Act 1: 19:33-20:49
Act 2: 21:11-22:15

Anyone know how this is selling now?

Drastically papered (no longer just on the day or day before but days in advance) and a huge TodayTix promo probably doing a short term help at best.

Sad to see how many seats are available for tonight but I do wonder if shows priced things realistically from the start they would be doing better?

I also think Gillian Lynne is a big venue to fill - LW Theatre website says capacity is 1,294 seats - that has got be tough to fill 8 times a week. 

42nd Street was a short run in London (and lots of empty seats), Guys and Dolls doesn't have that many seats to fill as smaller venue to begin with plus they removed a load of seats.  They also built a massive buzz (a lot of mainstream coverage plus so many TikToks etc when it first opened about how the audience is "in the show") so their seats are booked up long in advance and the standing/rush tickets get a younger "energetic/immersive" last minute crowd in.     

Oklahoma is smaller venue and also struggling I think? 

As awful as this may sound to some,  I wonder if Crazy For You missed a trick by not making the front stalls area immersive - you could have taken the seats on the revolve out and done quite a bit by having tables cabaret style with pre show dining - start in Follies style then change it into the wild west as the show progresses, sell hot dogs at the interval, give the ushers outfits and have some extra cast walking about pre show and interval etc talking selfies with the audience, getting people to both dress up in the same outfit and take photos etc - "I'm beside myself"  It's in such a good location that it could have bundled tickets with food etc and really stood out as an option. 

At the moment positioning wise it's not as hip/cool/hot tickety as say Guys and Dolls and their marketing doesn't - as far as I can see - speak to families with kids either (which is a shame as there is something for everyone in this show) and again you could have done good marketing eg 4 family tickets with drinks for the adults at half time, hot dogs for the kids etc 

Appreciate may bring a different type of audience in that may fill some with horror but also might make more £££ and open up musical theatre to more people. 

Their only marketing that I can see seems to be targeting the over 65s who watch the One Show etc with an offer and I fear not enough of them will venture up to London to fill all 8 shows. 

I must have missed the bit where Cinderella was immersive?! What are you referring to on that? Just the revolve bit in Act 2?

I'm really not joking - the world changes, old theatre fans die off, you need to get new blood in. Guys & Dolls shows how you can keep an old musical alive but update it and get new people in.

If multiple 5 star reviews aren't selling the place out (spoiler alert: in the case of Crazy for You they aren't!) someone somewhere needs to have a bit of a rethink about how shows like this are put together.

I don't think it would be massively hard to take the front stalls out and have a bit of imagination with that area.

ALSO - and this is a bit of tangent (!) - I do find it crazy that some theatre producers seem to just want to do what they always do and are seemingly fresh out of ideas whereas theatre should be the home of innovation.

One of the key things about the Gillian Lynne is supposedly it's flexibility. So you could do some shows immersive (maybe at the weekend with pre show dining?) and for others dates put the regular seats back in - the theatre was designed to do this! You just need to decide it in advance, educate the audience and market it properly.

I think its great how some shows are now doing autism friendly performances - they could also trial alcohol free shows - (ie no alcohol will be sold at the venue for that show) - that might appeal to some people for all sorts of reasons. Yes, the theatre might moan re their bar take but guess what they also sell non alcoholic things and i'm sure it could be worked out for a trial. If they were clever they'd get the whole night sponsored by one of the alcohol free brands and turn it into a press and marketing opportunity!

Yeah Cinderella wasn't immersive.

I don't think selling food would work like that, and as mentioned I wouldn't want it either..but I think your general points are very valid as to why its not grabbing people's attention.

The show itself makes the point you need to sell tickets and have an audience to survive in show business 😀

Would some round tables and pre-show dining really be such an issue? Does it ruin Cabaret? Themed Nevada dining would also fit in with the show and you could do a lot with it creatively, the two tourists could be fun! Maybe hot dogs would be too smelly but my point is they could do some stuff in this area to create buzz and sell tickets.

None of this is my personal preference but theatre has to reinvent to get the crowds in - and be mass market - or it will just get ever more expensive, boring and safe. Shakespeare and Chaucer catered for the mass market remember!

The show is frozen, there's no chance they'll try and do a Cabaret and Guys and Dolls reinvention during the run.

While some current or possible audiences may have a growing interest in shows that are different in nature and experience, I'm not sure theatre needs to "reinvent itself" to get the crowds in.

I do think theatre needs to honestly consider what subject matter, casts, and ticket price points are the best fit for the current environment. That's nothing new though. It just may need more attention and rethinking.

In addition, some producers/venues need to better respond to the reality that the pandemic broke many individuals routine theatre-going habit (myself included) and it has not necessarily returned to the same level. For many it may not as they started spending entertainment dollars elsewhere, cultivated other interests or hobbies, and/or find today's tickets often too exorbitant.