Ziegfeld Theatre

I’m going Tuesday night. I hesitated a little when I heard about the $25 ticket, but special engagements and roadshows (even though “Dreamgirls” isn’t really a roadshow) were always higher priced than regular runs. In 1968 my dad paid $4 each for two tickets to “2001” at the Capitol, and that was probably more than double a regular ticket price, same as “Dreamgirls” is now. I recall the ad for a 1968 New Year’s Eve showing of “Funny Girl” at the Criterion charging $5 – that REALLY seemed like a lot of money to me back then.

I believe in the maxim, “Be careful what you wish for”. Perhaps the “studio bean counters” will also come to the conclusion that a $25 ticket price warrants a theater befitting such a price.

Inflation being what it is, I’d pay the extra price if I could have a theater like the Rivoli in which to see a movie. I’m very tempted to take advantage of an American Airlines award ticket to see Dreamgirls at the Cinerama Dome.

The Times ad also states that the Monday performance is sold out. I will be going tonight—-even if the film isn’t perfect, I expect that it will be an exciting evening. The stage version was electrifying—-I saw “Dreamgirls” during its Boston tryout in 1981 and the audience response to a certain number at the end of the first act was something I have never forgotten.

I was surprised that the Times selected A.O. Scott to review “Dreamgirls.” When he slammed “The Producers” last year, he made it very clear that he wasn’t a fan of Broadway musicals in general or film adaptations of same. Dargis or Holden would have been more appropriate given Scott’s bias.

I read the review in the Times this morning and I also think the critic (A.O. Scott) is a moron! Believe it or not, his only real criticism was with the music! I saw the original Dreamgirls on Broadway and the revival and the music is magnificent. When there was a special one night only benefit perfomance of Dreamgirls on Broadway a few years back there THREE standing ovations during the show when three songs were sung: One Night Only, We’re Your Dreamgirls, and I’m Telling You I’m Not Going!

I have tickets for Sunday evening the 17th. I organized a group of 20 friends to see it and it’s going to be a great night at the theater. According to the full page ad in today’s Times, all performances for tonight, Saturday and Sunday are completely SOLD OUT even at $25 a ticket!

Dreamgirls received great reviews excpet for thr Times. What a bunch of idiots they have for reviewers. They were the onlyones who did’t like the new braodway musical Mary Poppins.

It was an all-day-and-night storm on a Friday in February 1983. It was classified as a blizzard, with high winds and zero visibility. Which made it all the more amazing to see a sellout crowd at the Ziegfeld for “Gandhi”, which had already been playing there for more than two months.

“Gandhi” did extremely well at the Ziegfeld. I saw it there 7 times and several of those were sell-out shows, including the night of the biggest snowstorm of 1983.

The longest Roadshow at the theatre was “Ryan’s Daughter” with 33 weeks in 70MM, which opened on Nov. 10th 1970 (Premiere Nov. 9th). “Gandhi” opened at the theatre Dec. 8th. 1982 in 70MM. The next 70MM print in the theatre was “Staying Alive” on July 15th 1983. Was there anything else booked in between or did “Gandhi” play the whole time?

But will it make money? There are other interesting movies coming out during Christmas that will not play at the Ziegfeld: A Night at the Museum (box office hit) is the most notable. Last year, King Kong and Narnia were big. This year, expect the box office to dip a bit even though there is only two fantasy movies (Eragon and CHarlotte’s Web) as well as one drama (The Pursuit of Happyness) that are only a few films to check out. Too bad the new James bond didn’t play longer than other films in the past at Ziegfeld. By the way, which movies were the longest-running at the theater? I’d say Gandhi and THat’s Entertainment, along with the Star Wars prequels.

I do somewhat agree with Vito. If Dreamgirls were a true Roadshow it would premiere tomorrow at the three theaters its going to play in (and perhaps a few others), running there for a few months prior to opening in wide release. That, unfortunately is not going to happen.

I am pretty confident I am not alone in that I long for a long gone movie going experience. It doesn’t exist in too many places anymore. I must say that seeing Happy Feet on the IMAX screen really impressed me. I do know that when I sit down at the Ziegfeld on Sunday, December 17 I will not have to sit through commercials, slides and trailers. I hope the presentation will be great and the curtains will be closed upon my arrival.

Will this inspire more studios and theater owners to consider a true Roadshow rollout? I sincerely hope so and only time will tell. In the meantime, this week’s show will contain no ads, trailers, etcetera. A reserved seat and a program will have to suffice for now. I intend to go to the movies and have some great fun.

I look forward to the posts here between tomorrow and Sunday.

This is NOT a roadshow. It’s just a movie being played twice a day.
accompanied by a booklet. I saw it and thought it was very good but hardly worth $25.00 I’ve even heard some say “best of the year”, sorry, not even close. Roadshow….Please, don’t get me started.

Well it will be interesting to see if the film was shot in scope since it definately was not shot in 70mm. Poor Bill Condon got a slap in the face today not getting a best director or screenplay in the Golden Globe nominations. Clint Eastwood getting two for Flags of Our Fathers and the Japaneese version was ridiculous condier neither picture got a best picture or any other nominations. At least Dreamgirls got 3 acting nods plus a Best Picure nod.