New York Says No to Hauptmann
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The producers decided to go with the May 28 opening even though they sensed another potential problem brewing uptown, where a busy Broadway season with hit shows such as Guys and Dolls, Jelly’s Last Jam, and Falsettos was diverting media attention from off-Broadway and its lower-key productions.
With their small advertising budget, Hauptmann’s producers could not mount much of a fight against the Times’s cool assessment. They tried direct mail, flyers, and invitations to VIPs who could get out the word about the show, but time and the box office were not on their side. “From the beginning we did no business,” says Dowling. In the first two weeks losses far exceeded the $6,000 to $8,000 a week they had budgeted to lose based on weekly production costs of $22,000. The closing notice went up on June 10, four days before Hauptmann ‘s final performance.
