We've raved here about Reprise!, the Los Angeles-based group that revives classic musicals and stages them for brief runs at the Freud Theater up at U.C.L.A. I've seen some great shows there, many of which I recommended on this blog.
Reprise started in 1997 with a production of Promises, Promises that starred Jason Alexander, Alan Thicke, Barney Martin, and Jean Smart. It was great and Reprise was promising, promising. They kept going with three shows per year (plus occasional specials) and while not everything they did was a gem, the batting average was quite high. As I got to know some of the folks involved and even hosted some of their educational events, I was even more impressed. That they did so much so well with such low budgets and extremely limited rehearsal periods was astounding. Alas, money was a constant problem and the operation had to shut down. The last production of that run was Kiss Me, Kate in 2011.
Last year, they announced Reprise 2.0 with a season that was to have included Sweet Charity, Victor/Victoria and Grand Hotel. Sweet Charity, which I reviewed here, was pretty darned good on the stage, maybe not good enough at the box office. Suddenly, Victor/Victoria was replaced by And the World Goes Round, which is a much cheaper show to do. I wrote about that here but gallantly avoided mentioning that even on opening night, the theater was far from full. That's never a good sign.
Today on Facebook, Gerard Sternbach — Reprise's musical director — posted "I'm sure the news has started to come around the pike, but I am just now officially posting on Facebook that Reprise is shutting down after the second show. We are not even going to be able to finish the first season." That means that Grand Hotel, which was announced to star Hal Linden and Sharon Lawrence, won't be happening. My tickets are for the opening, October 24, so I guess I'm free that night. Anyone want to go bowling with Amber and me?
I'm really sorry to hear this. I'm not surprised but I'm sorry. I had some wonderful evenings at Reprise shows probably because the folks behind it were truly passionate about bringing good theater to that stage at U.C.L.A. Way more often than not, they did. I hope there's some way they can rebuild and we'll have a Reprise 3.0 but it feels to me like anything short of total pessimism would be unwarranted optimism.
UPDATE 9/29/18: And now we have word that the above-described announcement has been retracted and that Reprise may be alive and well. More on this over here.