Monday, January 31, 2011

POLL RESULTS: Saying Goodbye to January

At last the Great Broadway Bloodbath of 2011 is over!  So many shows gone in just 30 short days...  and so we bid them a fond farewell and look forward to seeing them in regional, touring and community theatre productions for years to come.

These polls were certainly popular!  Here are the shows you wish you had seen (or seen again)... and thanks to those of you who wrote in to explain your votes!

January Poll Question #1: Which play closing in January do you most regret missing?


4.  A Free Man of Color - 7.7%

Several of you, who didn't vote for this one, said you wished you had seen it, but not the MOST.  And all of you said the reviews put it down on your list, but that the cast made it still something you wished you had seen.


3.  Time Stands Still - 23%

This is the one I would have voted for.  I almost saw it.  But the Sunday I was in line for tickets, they announced Laura Linney was out.  So I used my discount to see Lombardi, and I am glad I did.  Still, I wanted to see this play.  Jack M. from Sag Harbor wrote that he saw the original at MTC, but wanted to see it again with Christina Ricci.


2.  Brief Encounter - 30.8%

Having seen this unbelievably wonderful play, I can say that those of you who missed it really missed something special!  Tim McC of Chelsea, Sara L. of Brooklyn and Tara P. of Secaucus all wrote in to say that they were really sorry they missed it, especially since it kept getting extended at Studio 54.


1.  La Bete - 38.5%

My other top choice.  Several of you wrote to say that you HAD seen it and that people really missed out on all three leads, Mark Rylance's monologue, and the really cool staging.


January Poll Question #2: Which musical closing in January do you most regret missing?


5.  West Side Story - 5.7%

This is one I'm so thrilled I got to see more than once!  Jack M. from Sag Harbor says, "I would kick myself every time I'd get to Times Square and see their big billboard.  But I always had tickets for something else."


4.  (tie) Elf: The Musical and Promises, Promises - 8.6% each

It is funny that I got basically the same emails for each of these shows!  Everyone that took time to email about Elf: The Musical said the same thing:  I hate holiday musicals, but everyone I know loved it.  Everyone that took time to email about Promises, Promises said the same thing: I shouldn't have listened to the critics.  I couldn't agree more with either group.  You really did miss something with both.


3.  (tie) A Little Night Music and In the Heights - 11.4% each

Everyone that wrote about Night Music regretted not going back to see Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch.  Apparently, of those who wrote, they didn't like it enough the first time to see it again.  And I think Bethany R. from Newark, NJ says it best about In the Heights: "I always meant to go.  There was always another show I wanted to see more, and I figured it wouldn't close for another year or more!"


2.  Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - 14.3%

I got the most email about this one, and nearly every one said the same thing: "I can't believe I listened to all the negative stuff before it opened.  It can't really have been that bad!"  You were all right, too.  You shouldn't have, and it was much better than you think.  Much.


1.  (tie) Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and next to normal - 20% each

Jill S. of Teaneck wrote that she finally got the cast recording of next to normal the week it closed, and loved it so much.  Apparently, she just couldn't believe a musical with that subject matter could be any good, no matter what everyone was saying about it.  Catch it on tour, Jill!  And from Liz H. of The Bronx wrote in to tell me that her son wanted to see BBAJ because the pictures on my blog were really cool looking.  She got him the CD for Christmas, but now she won't let him listen to it because of the language!  (She did tell me that Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was his favorite musical of all time!  Is this kid cool or what?)

BE SURE TO VOTE IN FEBRUARY'S POLL COMING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1!

Comments?  An idea for a poll question?  Leave it here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.153

2 comments:

  1. Interesting poll results. I didn't vote because of the way the question was worded. The shows I didn't see (La Bete, Elf, A Free Man of Color), I didn't *want* to see, and therefore I didn't/couldn't regret missing them. The others I saw, some of them multiple times. I was especially glad that I caught the Scottsboto Boys and BBAJ before they closed. I wouldn't have minded seeing Time Stands Still again (I saw it with Alicia Silverstone), but there was always something I wanted to see more. So in the scheme of things, I can't honestly say I regret not returning to it.

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  2. Hey, Londynow!

    Part of the problem with the poll questions is the limited space for the question, you know?

    But I am glad you are participating in the poll this way!

    Jeff

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