Oskar Eustis, the head of the Public Theater, is on the move!
His not-for-profit complex down on Lafayette Street — as well as the Delacorte in Central Park — just isn’t big enough to contain his ambition for world domination. Well, domination of the New York theater scene at any rate.
Even before his latest production, a musical version of “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” opened at the Delacorte he was plotting a move to Broadway, where he can get his hands on some more Tony Awards.
He’s hit a roadblock, however — a lukewarm review from Big Ben Brantley in the Times, who called the production “hit or miss.” It’ll be difficult to scrape together the money for a Broadway transfer without support from the Times.
Eustis can take comfort from some of the other reviews — “goofy,” “a fine rompy musical,” “a wacky good time” — but it’s the summer, and everybody’s entitled to lighten up.
In the cold hard light of winter, shoehorned inside a Broadway theater, this admittedly sophomoric show might start to grate, even on critics who liked it in August.
The challenges of moving “Love’s Labour’s Lost” are nothing compared to those for the Public’s hit show “Here Lies Love,” which closed last month.
A disco musical by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim based on the life of Imelda Marcos, the production was what hipsters call “immersive” — which means “no seats.” The audience stood and danced for 90 minutes.
Now that’s a tricky one to move. Naturally, Eustis eyed Broadway. But few theater owners were willing to take out seats. Eustis inspected Circle in the Square, but the seats are welded to the raked concrete floor, which would have required demolition experts.
A nightclub is probably the best place to put “Here Lies Love.” But several commercial producers who liked the show have choked on the cost of remounting it — $5 million.
That would make it the most expensive production in off-Broadway history.
And Eustis won’t even be able to get a Tony!
I last spoke to press agent Shirley Herz, who died Sunday at 87, about a month ago. I had a question: What happened to the sculptures that once adorned the facade of the Equity Building on West 46th Street, where Shirley had an office for nearly 40 years?
The building is being refurbished, and the sculptures, of Ethel Barrymore, Marilyn Miller, Mary Pickford and Rosa Ponselle, had disappeared from the niches where they’d stood since 1926.
“They’re coming back!” Shirley said. “As soon as they took them down, I called the landlord. I thought they needed rescuing. But he’s restoring them.”
I knew she’d have the answer. The Equity Building was originally a branch of the I. Miller shoe-store chain, and the sculptures were of some of I. Miller’s famous clients. As Shirley noted, “I am probably the only person around who still has a pair of I. Miller shoes.”
A press agent for 65 years, she represented such shows as “La Cage aux Folles,” “Gypsy” and “On Golden Pond.”
I once interviewed her about the bad old days of Times Square in the ’70s and she said, “Bad old days? It was fun. I knew the names of all the hookers on Eighth Avenue. I used to leave my car in front of a cheap electronic store on 42nd Street. Didn’t have to lock it. The guys in the store looked after it.”
Shirley did her part to spruce up the area, however. One of her clients, the producer Joe Kipness, thought his block had become an eyesore. So he and Shirley bought a couple of potted trees and put them at the corner of Broadway and 47th Street.
“I think it’s fair to say we began the rehabilitation of Times Square,” Shirley said.
Broadway will dim its lights in her honor before showtime tonight.