arrogance or ignorance?

tony award winning actor shuler hensley, one of my best friends, my close friend, my friend, who? when did i eat a penny? someone i shared a life with, shared a pecan pie with, shared a dressing room with worked with in a dream i had, at hardee's, a couple of times, will soon be out of a job. probably not – and hopefully not – for long. but come january 4th, 2009, shuler's run in the mel brooks musical "young frankenstein" is officially over. actually, come january 4th, "young frankenstein" itself is officially over.

the new york times suggests the theater community is not terribly sad that the big green monster (played by shuler himself) is being put to rest (i.e. the villagers have finally come to angrily and happily burn down frankestein's castle.) the times also mentions, at least twice, that initial word of mouth for the show was good. guess i was listening to the wrong words from the wrong mouths. (although i gotta say, word of mouth on shuler's performance was always great.)

the show was brooks' follow up to the tony-est winning, long-running, record shattering musical "the producers" (currently coming back to life at my old stomping grounds, the skylight in milwaukee, which is where i met...shu...) after a success like that, who could blame the producers of "young frank" for charging $450 for premium seats? a measly $375 got you a not-so-bad orchestra seat, and $120 (sorta the standard for good seats elsewhere on the great white way) sat your ass in the dress circle.

well, that was then.

“what (some very smart broadway people) perceived as our arrogance,” robert f. x. sillerman, brooks’s producing partner, said, “was nothing more or less than my ignorance.”

"as anyone who has seen this stunning production can attest, it is a spectacular and extravagant musical. in these uncertain economic times, my partners and i have decided to end our run on broadway and focus our efforts on the first national tour, which will launch in september 2009."

$450 seats. i'm just sayin'.

if i spend $450 to sit in the same seat for over two hours hoping to be taken away from my dreary everyday life, i wanna end up in maui, not walking out of the hilton theatre not humming the tunes.

after 30 previews and 484 regular performances, "young frankestein" unhooks the electrodes on january 4, 2009.

and shuler? no worries – he won't be outta work for long.