DISNEY - TARZAN A LOSER ON BROADWAY

TARZAN A LOSER ON BROADWAY

Disney's strategy of turning hit animated features into Broadway musicals has encountered its first setback. Thomas Schumacher, Disney's head of theatrical productions announced Friday that the company's ambitious stage version of its 1999 film Tarzan will shut down on July 8 -- "earlier than any of us had hoped" -- as a result of falling ticket sales. In an interview with the Associated Press, Schumacher said that after examining the show's advances, he concluded, "I am going to have a summer where I am going to be losing a substantial amount of money. ... And I don't artificially keep shows going." However, he noted that the show's Dutch production has been a big hit. "I would have loved for [the Broadway production] to have been as successful in New York as it now is in Holland," where it is playing in The Hague, Schumacher said. "This production is a loss. But the title of Tarzan within our catalog and within the Disney franchise will do just fine."

25/06/2007