Sunday, February 22, 2009
It’s the first time the theater company has canceled a show.
YOUNGSTOWN — Because of the poor economy, Easy Street Productions is canceling one of its two remaining productions and rescheduling the other.
“Guys and Dolls,” originally slotted for May 8-10 at Powers Auditorium, is being dropped. It’s the first time in its 20-year history that Easy Street has canceled a production.
“The Music Man,” originally scheduled for March 20-29, is being shifted to May 8-10.
Todd Hancock, Easy Street director, called it a pre-emptive measure.
“Theaters both locally and nationally are canceling shows or closing their doors altogether,” said Hancock.
“The current economic climate is hitting the arts hard. That, coupled with our area’s unpredictable weather in March, made producing a large-scale musical next month a risky proposition at best. We felt as a pre-emptive measure, it was best to move ‘The Music Man’ into our Mother’s Day weekend slot, and forego doing a musical in March entirely.”
Tickets purchased for “The Music Man” will be honored for the May performances.
Those who purchased tickets for “Guys and Dolls” have several options, according to Hancock. They can:
(1) Exchange them for “Music Man” tickets.
(2) Donate the price to the Youngstown Symphony Society and Easy Street. Donors will receive a receipt for this tax-deductible gift and automatically be entered in a drawing for a free 2009-10 Performing Arts Series subscription.
(3) Receive a refund. Letters have been sent to all ticket purchasers, detailing their options and explaining how to get a refund.
“We’re hoping they choose one of the first two options,” said Hancock.
Canceling the March slot doesn’t get Easy Street out of the woods.
“‘The Music Man’ is a very expensive show to produce,” said Hancock.
“We’ve got an amazing set lined up as well as the original Broadway touring costumes. To cover the costs, we’ll need all the support we can get from the general public as well as the local schools for our student performance.”
Hancock will be asking local businesses for corporate sponsorships or to advertise in the playbill.
“Guys and Dolls” hadn’t been cast yet, said Hancock. “I did speak with a few of the people who we were interested in playing the leads, and they were disappointed [to hear the show is canceled], but understood completely,” he said.
Easy Street’s ticket sales this season are much lower than last season.
Hancock blames the economy but also the choice of musicals.
“Last season had ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘High School Musical’,” said Hancock.
“Broadway standards such as ‘Hello Dolly’ [which kicked off the Easy Street season in September] and ‘Music Man’ don’t have anywhere near the kid appeal that the new Disney shows have. We knew that going in. Unfortunately there just aren’t many shows like that. The only other shows I’d put in that category are ‘Annie’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ which we did years ago.
“Until Disney releases ‘Lion King’ and ‘Mary Poppins,’ having a season with two hot titles that appeal to children will be hard to come by.”
Hancock said Easy Street lost money on “Hello Dolly.”
The opening night performance had well under 1,000 paying customers.
“But I’m sure just as many adults saw it as last year’s ‘Beauty’ or ‘High School Musical’,” said Hancock.
“Last year’s record breaking ticket sales were a direct result of the amount of kids that were brought to the shows. We have to convince more parents that their kids would enjoy these shows, as well. Live theater has a mesmerizing effect on kids. I think every child who saw ‘Beauty’ would love ‘The Music Man,’ too.”
“The Music Man” will be performed at 8 p.m. May 8 and May 9 and 2:30 p.m. May 10. There will be a student performance at 10 a.m. May 8.
Easy Street has not made any plans or committed to any titles for next season. “With all of the recent closings on Broadway, we were hoping that some newer titles might be available,” said Hancock.