Only yesterday I was reporting here on the rise and role of the blogosphere, and how it is affecting and challenging the critical discourse. But it is also a window that allows us a glimpse into an artist’s soul and disappointments, too.
So instead of hearing me speculate on the latest producing disaster at the Arts Theatre - where All Bob’s Women had only recently already come and quickly gone after some of the most lethal reviews in recent memory — you can read about the fate of Jay Johnson’s The Two and Only for yourself on his personal blog.
And it makes for extremely illuminating reading. For, unlike All Bob’s Women, this is a show which arrived in London with a Tony-Award winning Broadway pedigree and though it had not been reviewed very widely (and for that the difficulty must come from the fact that that the show fell into a black hole somewhere between theatre and comedy critics), those that did have been favourable, notably including a four-star rave in The Guardian. But on the same day that The Guardian review appeared last Tuesday came the fatal blow.
As Johnson reports it, “Today I get the call from [London co-producer] Andrew Collier that the show will close this Sunday, July 13th. (Thirteen seems a perfect number to end on)… I have rarely felt such heartache. I will someday come to a conclusion as to what happened. I think it was mostly the wrong venue and inexperienced producers. This is not a theatre it is a cabaret booked like a comedy club. I’m not sure I believe in cursed theaters, but if I did the Arts would be the poster child for the black hole of entertainment. This is not a show that fits any paradigm. With a word of mouth show as different as this one, I didn’t expect to draw crowds for several weeks, obviously I expected it would take more than days. School is not even out yet. Why spend all this time and money knocking on the door if you don’t stay around long enough for someone to open it. The reviews were good and the crowds were loving it. I’m not sure what was expected. I am very disappointed in the people over here I believed in.”
The next day he continues: “I am fairly certain that the production here in London was under funded. Seems like the London group did not have their money together before we opened. I don’t have any legal recourse, but I would think the other investors do. I found out the theatre rental has not been paid. I think in the US this is called fraud, but don’t know the rules here. We are at this point a hot show in London, and everyone assumes we are a hit. No show has ever closed with reviews and reception we have gotten for the 17 shows we have done here.”
His frustration turned to rage, and by his penultimate day, Johnson lets us know that, “I blasted the Producers in my dressing room on Wednesday like Hitler addressing his generals in the bunker. Later I realized that I had vented Broadway anger that was pent up for two years and in some ways did not fit my anxiety over the current situation. I later told them that I was more upset with the situation and their mistakes than I was with them personally. That is true, I don’t think they are dishonest, nor underhanded, they are producers, the natural enemy of the artist. They are just young and inexperienced and made some tragic mistakes. I like them a lot and still think they are good producers. They will take the hit for this failure more than me. I leave town with the hottest show that didn’t run. Great reviews, everyone who saw it thought it was the best show in London. And I believe it was. The mortgage crunch has hit Britain and the oil prices affect them as much as us. There are no Americans on holiday here. No one can discount the fact that the show opened in the worst economic times London has experienced in ages. There is not a show in London right now that isn’t struggling. There will be more closures than just my show before this economy turns around. The world economy is on a knife’s edge and we have not seen this sort of depression worldwide in a long time.”
Part of the inexperience of his producers is to have opened in July, of course - only last night I was talking to a senior executive of one of the major West End and regional theatrical chains and he bore this out: “I sometimes wonder why we don’t just shut shop in July and go on holiday”, he told me. And the Arts Theatre, of course, as usual didn’t help Johnson, either: it’s a theatre that a bad smell has now attached itself to, and audiences and critics alike are steering away, it seems. But there were press and marketing failures to get the message out: I had to chase down a press release since one didn’t arrive automatically, even though I was known to the PR concerned.
But it also appears to have been in the end fatally undercapitalized, so that when it failed to achieve its own momentum fast there was no money left in the kitty to support it while tried to build one. That would have had to come from locals, too, since Johnson is right that American tourists are in short supply, though I am in fact right now in the midst of an annual teaching week that I do for visiting American theatregoers, who come to London for three weeks every summer under the auspices of the adult extension program of the University of California, Berkeley, and see a show every night that is followed the next day by a morning seminar on what they have seen that includes a visiting guest from the production.
It’s an extraordinarily rich and varied programme, and attracts a devoted and loyal following. But this year’s “class” is the smallest intake they’ve yet known: there are only around 25 here this year, against 40+ in previous years. With the dollar being so weak against the pound - and London being so expensive anyway, even for us! - Americans are on a credit crunch the moment they land at Heathrow. In fact there’s talk now of reducing the program to two weeks instead of three, to try reduce both the cost and time commitment and hope to attract a bigger group; though the 21 or so regulars, out of the 25 subscribers this year, seem to be more than happy with the existing arrangements.
The Two and Only may have won a Tony Award but it was a category in which both nominees were the only shows eleigible . If the Tonys had any sense that year they would have simply eliminated the category. When it was running in New York it failed to attract audiences even with good reviews. What would honestly make the UK producers think that it would go over here? What did Jay Johnson honestly think as he looked out at empty houses throughout the New York run? Why would any of them think their fate in London would be different than in New York? He's an entertaining guy but really wouldn't he be happier in a twice daily gig in Blackpool? They were just being silly.
I know this is only one side of the story but Justin Bond's account of how nasty Jay Johnson was to him after winning the Tony over Kiki and Herb makes me think, well perhaps the failure here could not have happend to a more deserving artist:
"After he won the award, he was a total dick. I thought, this guy is an asshole. He comes up to me, I’m sitting there after having lost the Tony, he goes up to get it and his wife is sitting there. No one is talking to her, so I say, ’Congratulations, you must be so pleased. I know that it’s hard work on both of you to have a career like this and I’m sure you share it. Congratulations, I’m really happy for you. What a wonderful night.’ Gracious, white woman language. So he comes down after he had done his little press thing and comes up to me. I reach out my hand to him to say, ’Congratulations’ and he goes, ’Wanna touch it?’ And shoves the Tony into my hand. And then he goes, ’Why don’t you kiss it for good luck?’"
An interesting article to read. Regarding the producers of Jay's doomed show in London, does anyone know how I can track them down? My company were contracted by the Arts Theatre to assist in the de-rig and the subsequent invoice has remained unpaid and unanswered by the producer named in the article. I have paid my crew and am now subsequently out of pocket while the producers have seemingly walked away and the Arts Theatre have closed for business. Seems Jay wasn't the only one to lose out on this UK show...