AP News, November 16th, 2007
Even the Grinch wants to get back on the boards.
When talks between striking stagehands and theater producers resume this weekend, James Sanna, like everyone else on Broadway, will be watching the negotiations closely.
Sanna is the producer of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical." Of the 27 shows shut by Local 1's dispute with the League of American Theatres and Producers, "Grinch" is the only holiday show and has a limited run.
"It's been really difficult for our show," Sanna said Thursday. "Most of the people who buy tickets for our show are families. They plan in advance.
"So even the looming threat of a strike was hurting our sales. And obviously, the strike itself is devastating when we had seven shows that were sold out just disappear."
And this week hasn't been any better — with the prospect of 12 more canceled performances for an engagement scheduled to end Jan. 6.
For Sanna, this gloomy run-up to the holiday season contrasts sharply with the appearance of "Grinch" on Broadway last season, an engagement that made even veteran Broadway producers take notice.
More than 200,000 theatergoers saw the musical during its 11-week run, a run that produced million-plus weekly grosses, often on 12 performances each week rather than the eight that Broadway customarily does. The show's total gross topped $15 million.
Because of that success, "Grinch" planned several 15-performance weeks this year — including a concentrated eight performances on all-important holiday weekends when family theatergoing is most popular.
"This year, we were tracking to do just as well, and then news of the strike has really slowed down our sales. At this point last year, if you called, it would have been difficult to get a good ticket. This year, because we have had so many cancellations, there is a great opportunity for families who want to see `Grinch.'"
Sanna, now in his early 40s, has been executive producer of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, so he knows the power of a holiday show and how people enjoy them.
"But it got to the point where I wanted to do some of my own shows," he said, and formed his own company called Running Subway.
"A lot of people in the entertainment industry just use their name," Sanna said. "What I wanted to say was ... , `We're a New York-based company but if we do things right, you sort of don't notice us. We're underground, and we're really not the stars. It's the properties that are the stars, not the producer."
"James understands the family audience — what they want and how to market to them," says Nancy Coyne, head of Serino Coyne Inc., a Broadway advertising and marketing agency. "His years at Radio City and then Madison Square Garden gave him hands on experience that resulted in the Grinch's enormous success last year. The number and schedule of performances is a crucial element in a seasonal property's ability to make money and James has perfected the formula. Nothing short of a strike could have stopped him."
As the contract dispute enters its sixth day Friday, there is hope the looming — and lucrative — Thanksgiving holiday week will provide a spur to a settlement. Negotiations resume this weekend "at an undisclosed place and time," according to a joint announcement issued Wednesday by the union and the producers.
The stagehands walked off the job Saturday in a contract dispute that has focused on how many stagehands are required to open a Broadway show and keep it running.
Sanna said the "Grinch" was always a title he knew would have a lot of appeal — "because it's such a heartwarming story about redemption, which is the best message possible at Christmas.
"As a kid, I loved Dr. Seuss — specifically the `Grinch' (which) was a real touchstone around the holidays for me," he said.
"I thought, `Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could do that on Broadway?' Our whole thought was we could establish a tradition on Broadway for families with a holiday show. And that's what we've attempted to ... achieve."
It was Sanna who supervised the enhancement of a version done at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the addition of new songs and expansion of the book. "We wanted to do a family show that was the full Broadway experience."
