Les Miz.
Allan Appel Photo
Pileggi in Shubert lobby beside poster for the current Steve Martin-penned musical Bright Star.
Diane Pileggi has spent 22 years working behind the scenes in the back office at the Shubert Theater. Now the historic theater’s accounting supervisor, she cited her favorite show over those two plus decades: Last season’s The Book of Mormon.
And what’s she looking forward to this season? She said she wants to think on it.
She’ll have a lot to choose from.
Next season’s line-up.
Tuesday night at an annual “sneak peek” event Shubert Executive Director John Fisher announced the lineup of the theater’s 104th season to about 100 guests assembled on the stage where, Fischer noted, “Marlon Brando did the premier of Streetcar Named Desire.”
Fisher said he’s particularly looking forward to the first show of the season, Les Miserables — the Victor Hugo tale and one of his favorites of all time — and the season finale, A Bronx Tale. Les Miserables runs from Oct. 4 – 7; A Bronx Tale runs June 26 – 30.
He called the line-up “tried and true,” with familiar, family-oriented, funny, and cross-generational offerings.
“You try to get a balance,” said Fischer.
The factors involved in getting such popular Broadway road shows to New Haven include “availability, logistics, scheduling, and dealing with booking agents,” Fisher said as he greeted supporters, board members, and other folks gathering for appetizers and announcements right on the historic Shubert stage itself.
Some of the tasty finger foods on offer included “cheesy munchkins” and “revolution tartlets,” named in honor of two of the season’s shows, Les Miserables and The Wizard of Oz.
Among those in attendance were theater and entertainment writers for The New Haven Register and The Hartford Courant, Joe Amarante and Christopher Arnott.
As brief videos appeared on a screen hung high over the orchestra section of the theater, guests applauded for announced shows such as Les Miserables, described as the world’s most popular musical of all time. Monty Python’s Spamalot elicited some appropriately approving hoots; and an awe-filled quiet gasp erupted as scenes from The King and I rolled across the screen.
Fisher reminded his guests that that musical, like so many others, premiered on the Shubert stage way back in the 1957 season.
Fisher said that as he looks toward the immediate future, the 104th season, the biggest challenge to the Shubert is the intimacy of the theater itself.
“Our intimate size,” 1,600 seats, is the size of an old-fashioned Broadway house, as opposed to much larger venues built more recently, he noted.
Size is also a challenge in terms of generating revenue and attracting shows that might want larger venues in order to meet their financial goals. “It costs the same amount of money to do a show for 2,500 people as 1,600,” Fisher said. Because of the inherent limitations of a 1600-seat house, “you have to raise more money as a nonprofit.”
Guests dining on the Shubert stage.
On the other hand, if the gods of scheduling all work together and the Shubert lucks out to be the first stop on a road show, that’s an economic boon for the theater and for New Haven, Fisher said.
While the upcoming season’s show will have runs of just three or four performances for most of the shows, several seasons ago Matilda and Jersey Boys all began their natinal tours at the Shubert. That meant they did their “tech” rehearsals and got the kinks out during a run of three or four weeks. Not only were lots more tickets sold, the economic impact on the city was also in the neighborhood of $1 million-$3 million, Fisher said.
The annual budget of the Shubert is about $6.5 million, Fisher said. Of that about 80 to 85 percent comes from box office, concessions, and other earned income, with 15 percent raised through grants and other contributions.
Diane Pileggi told me she had made up her mind: “I’m [particularly] looking forward to A Bronx Tale,” she said. The “Bronx has a clear niche in my life. Arthur Avenue. We bought our bread there.”