The New York Post has reported that an Actors' Equity policy decision has resulted in the closing of the Off-Broadway show, Maybe, Baby, It's You. Facing a weekly overhead of $30,000, the producers tried to reduce the number of weekly performances at Maybe, Baby from eight to four, which would have cut costs by $10,000 and kept the show open.
The actors, Charlie Shanian and Sahari Simpson were amenable to the arrangement, but their union, Actors' Equity, saw danger in setting a business precedent [reducing performances] just because of a temporary lull in business activity [diminished sales].
NY Post theatre writer Michael Riedel quoted Equity executive director Alan Eisenberg as saying that, "Actors are not avocational, they are professional. They are paid for eight performances a week."
As reported Dec. 29, the Jan. 2 matinee of the romantic comedy, Maybe Baby, It's You, will be its last performance at the SoHo Playhouse Off-Broadway. The romantic comedy, which opened Nov. 9, ends its run after 16 previews and 64 regular performances.
Actors Charlie Shanian and Shari Simpson first played the piece in a three week run at OOB's Currican Theatre this past summer. Jeremy Dobrish, artistic director of the Adobe Theatre Company, directs Maybe which a production spokesperson described as being about "finding your ideal soul mate." Last season, Dobrish produced and directed the Off-Broadway play Duet!. He is the author of the book, "Plays by Jeremy Dobrish."
Producers for the show are Madeline Austin, who discovered the piece in an acting class, as well as Roger Alan Gindi, Bruce Lazarus, Scott Benedict, Dana Matthow, Libby Anne Russler and Allan Sandler. Of this group, Gindi, Lazarus and Russler were the producers of last season's Shakespeare's R & J which started at the Expanded Arts before moving to the John Houseman Theatre, where it ran for a year.
The SoHo Playhouse is located at 15 Vandam Street, NYC. Tickets run $35 $47.50. Ample street parking is available near the theatre. For tickets call (212) 239 6200.
-- By Murdoch McBride
