Is the Broadwaypocalypse coming to a halt? Will Ferrell’s You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush is doing brisk business, the producers of In the Heights recouped their initial $10 million investment last month, and now comes word of a new $11 million musical opening on Broadway later this year. Just one month after the closing of burlesque-centric Gypsy, the producers of Minsky’s, a backstage-burlesque tuner that opened to mixed reviews last week in Los Angeles, have announced that they’re planning a New York transfer that will open in summer or fall.
So will Minsky’s be the tawdry bit of entertainment this town needs as the recession rolls on? Probably not. Loosely based on the 1968 film The Night They Raided Minsky’s, the stage adaptation sounds as hokey as they come, with the Times calling it a “feel-good musical†that will leave you “with the feeling that you’ve attended a comforting church service.†Sounds fun! Meanwhile the L.A. Times compares the show to The Drowsy Chaperone, noting “plenty of nifty one-liners and deliriously silly shenanigans.†Is this the kind of fluffy stuff we have to look forward to until the economy’s back on its feet? If so, that might explain why Guys and Dolls posted a whopping 96.3 percent attendance last week — the highest on Broadway — while still in previews. Never mind what we said earlier — Broadwaypocalypse is, for now, back on.