From afar, I've been following the new King Kong musical that recently opened on Broadway. The critics were mixed. A few friends of mine who've seen it thought it was great. Everyone — even reviewers who were underwhelmed — seems to think the Kong puppet and the leading lady (Christiani Pitts) are superb.
But it ain't doing Kong-sized biz at the box office. For the week ending 12/2, it was at 73.94% capacity. Nearby, Aladdin, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Frozen, Hamilton, Harry Potter, Mean Girls, Network, Pretty Woman, Springsteen, The Book of Mormon, The Cher Show, Lion King, To Kill a Mockingbird and Wicked were all at 95% or more. Many of those shows were selling-out, which would make you think that a lot of folks who couldn't get in to see Lion King, for instance, were looking for something else to see. Kong tickets are available for half-off at the TKTS booth.
A show made from a beloved story that features two outstanding performances (Ms. Pitts and the big marionette) should be doing a little better. Here's a news story about it…
And someone on YouTube posted a good video of the curtain call at the performance they attended and this also makes me want to see King Kong: The Musical. I dunno when my next New York trip will occur but I sure hope it's still running then. That's gotta be an expensive show to put on every night…