Sorry to hear that the Reprise Theater Company here in L.A. is cancelling another show and suspending its major operations. If you read back on this site, you'll see me praising one production after another of this group. Since '97, they've staged three productions per year of classic musicals along with occasional special events. All have been mounted with modest budgets and very little prep and rehearsal time…and the batting average has been astounding. As I think back over great evenings I've spent in the theater, an awful lot of them have been at Reprise productions.
So what's going wrong here? Wish I knew. It can't be the quality of the shows. Some probably would think it's the selection of the shows. This year, they started with a first-rate Cabaret but the rest of the season was to be The Baker's Wife and The Apple Tree and I can understand that maybe audiences weren't jonesing to see those two, lesser-known shows. Last season they had Kiss Me, Kate followed by Gigi and They're Playing Our Song. The year before, it was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Carousel. But the choices for this season do not explain the problem. Reprise was losing money with the well-known shows. At worst, they made things a tad worse picking The Baker's Wife and The Apple Tree.
I don't have an answer. Good theater. Reasonably priced. In a comfortable building. And they can't make a go of it. The only hopeful thing I can say here is that I've dealt with the Reprise management and they're really smart, determined folks. If there's a way to make this work, they'll find it.