Posted on 05/25/2016 9:05:36 AM PDT by OddLane
The psychological thriller Perfect Crime has been strangely shunted out of Manhattan's cultural memory. It hit its astonishing 29th anniversary last month having failed to wear a groove in the city's psyche. Tourists lured from the relatively close Times Square discount tickets booth dominate the audience; the natives seem to treat the pleasant fourth floor space on 50th St. and Broadway like an anthrax factory, or the local Conservative club.
On a recent sunny Wednesday afternoon there were no more than two dozen theatregoers in a space that could’ve held 10 times that many. Yet in a ruthlessly competitive cultural environment where even critically acclaimed productions flop every week, this one remains standing year after year, clinging lamprey-like to its pleasant, modest fourth floor location on the outskirts of Times Square and the city's consciousness...
And it is not really that good of a play.
But low production costs and plenty of tourists.
“The Mousetrap” leaves them all in the dust.
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What’s your theater maven view of this?
Saw “ The Mousetrap” 30 yrs. ago....is it still going?
“The real Perfect Crime was that they took my money for this horribly written play!
It has a plot line of "Scoobey Doo" and the entire set is of a living room/dining room.
Wow. Sorry to hear of your experience. Next time, make sure you go to the theater booth in Times Square to get more affordable tickets of a good show. Some of the older musicals - the ones that have run awhile - may be up there.
My view would be that since murder mysteries, once a staple of B’way, have gone out of fashion among the beautiful people who are the gatekeepers of NYC theater, this play is reaping the benefits. You’d think a smart producer would pay attention to this and start looking around for good mystery plays. Plays are for tourists, too!
This is a non-Equity production (amateur) and I’ve only heard terrible things about it.
Those beautiful people wring their hands about how straight men don't care for the theater anymore and they ask how can we attract them back? Then rather than a murder mystery or light comedy they put up shows like Kinky Boots about a drag queen with a heart of gold who saves a family's shoe business by converting it into a transvestite boot factory and features a cast of men prancing around in stiletto heeled boots. Gee, wonder why straight men just aren't that into it?
To be honest, I haven’t heard too many theater people talk about getting straight men back into the seats. If they did, we would have the types of plays you mention and less of the dreck that wins Tony Awards.
In the old days, we called straight men ‘tired businessmen’ and many shows were designed around them - light-hearted musicals, plays about ghosts and murder, boulevard comedies with some old Hollywood star, etc. Maybe it all started going downhill with Sondheim. He was a genius but his imitators were not and we’re stuck with crap like Hairspray written by those awful fags Mark Shaman and Harvey what’s-his-name.
I've just always assumed it was like the high fashion industry. You look at the ridiculous things they put women into which are designed to hang on androgynous models who resemble boys more than women and you shake your head and wonder how people who work in fashion for a living can be so immune from knowledge of what's flattering on a women and then it hits you: they're all gay. Ah. Well there you go.
Assumed it was the same with Broadway shows. They can't figure out what shows appeal to a straight man because it sort of alien to them.
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