Rebecca has been on quite a ride for the past few years.  She kind of reminds me of Whitney Kropp.  She’s the girl who gets told she’s going to the big dance . . . and gets all dolled up . . . and her fancy schmancy date never shows.

And then someone does it to her again.  And again.

Rebecca‘s London production was canceled.  And then her Broadway production was canceled.

And then, the rescheduled Broadway Production was delayed.

And now, as first reported by Michael Riedel yesterday, it was canceled again.

The poor girl.  If I had an extra 4.5 million lying around.  She’d have it.

But ok, let’s face it. You can’t feel bad for a musical.  She’s a thing.  But you can feel bad for the countless numbers of actors, musicians, designers, stagehands, merch sellers, marketing directors, investors, and more that won’t have a gig because Rebecca is all dressed up with no place to go.

And that’s what this blog is about.

It’s easy to feel a little schadenfreude about a show like this.  A lot of folks I know were placing bets on it “not” coming in a year ago – and sure, even I was tempted to throw some money into that pool.  In fact, someone in my office suggested we start an @IAmPaulAbrams twitter account last week so we could hear from the mysterious man from beyond the grave.

Funny.  But wrong.

Why?

Shows not happening hurt a lot of people where it counts – in their wallets, yes, but also in their dreams (I’d bet the money in that pool that a lot of tears were shed yesterday).  And sure, other folks with musicals on the boards this year will have one less show to worry about competing with for audiences and awards.  So I can understand why some may be pleased with this outcome from a business perspective.

Still . . . today, as the Rebecca jokes start shooting around Shubert Alley, let’s try to remember that a lot of folks, including the Producers, are heartbroken today.  And I bet you ten times the money in that pool that every single one of us will be in their heartbroken shoes at one point in our career or another, if not many times.  Maybe not for the same reasons, but we’ll have our share of disappointments, and we won’t want people whispering about us either.

And hey. You never know.   Whitney Kropp had the last laugh . . . maybe Rebecca will too.  Remember, there’s always another dance next year.

For the sake of everyone involved, I hope to see her there.

(Got a comment? I love ‘em, so comment below!  Email subscribers, click here then scroll down, to say what’s on your mind!)

——

FUN STUFF:

– Broadway Investing 101 seminar coming up on 10/13!  Register here.

– Win tickets to Seminar starring Jeff Goldblum!  Click here to enter.