I didn't think it was possible for a Broadway musicals these days to be capitalised at "only" $6.75 million. But I suppose it helps that Gutenberg is a two-person show (plus cameos) with very modest set, costume and band requirements. And as entertaining as Gutenberg is (I didn't see the Broadway production, but a local one some years ago), I hope "bare bones" doesn't become a template for future Broadway or West End musicals.

I'm really excited that Silvie Paladino will be the alternate Norma. She has one of the best voices in the country and suspect I'll prefer her Norma to Sarah Brightman.

Ironically in my experience it's often the oldies who are the worst behaved.

Lots of negativity in this thread, but that seems to be par for the course for any fandom. Personally I'm cautiously optimistic.

Skydance produced/co-produced (often partnering with Paramount) on a number of franchise movies, including Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Jack Reacher, Top Gun, GI Joe, Terminator, The Old Guard and Spy Kids. Some of their productions have been well-received (eg Mission Impossible, Top Gun Maverick) and others less so (Terminator Genysis and Dark Fate, although personally I quite liked Dark Fate). They've also produced smaller, critically acclaimed movies like True Grit, Annihilation and Air; as well as their share of dreck of course, like Geostorm.

What I think is clear though is that Skydance is primarily interested in big franchises, so if they were to acquire Paramount, I think more Star Trek movies would very likely be in the works which, as a fan, I'd be happy about. I know there's an argument that Trek is best suited to TV, but some of the best Star Trek has been big screen Star Trek. And studios are more willing these days to have franchises run across both TV and film concurrently (MCU, DC, Star Wars), granted with mixed success.

Re Larry Ellison's involvement - my guess is that he'd be a silent partner, putting some of his personal fortune - rather than Oracle's funds - to help out his son. I believe he did the same thing for his daughter, Megan Ellison, whose company Annapurna Pictures he helped fun and which went on to produce films like Her, Zero Dark Thirty, Phantom Thread and Books Smart (and the stage musical A Strange Loop). I doubt Larry Ellison will take a hands-on role in the management of Skydance/Paramount.

You don't have to be interested in trains to enjoy Starlight Express, just as you don't have to like cats to enjoy Cats. Cause that's basically what Starlight Express is: Cats on wheels. Same story, except that instead of dancing you get roller skating racing. :-)

I saw this new version in Australia and liked it. I wouldn't describe it as a reimagining of the original production, but it's also more than just a few tweaks. The only issue I had with it was that the make up for the Beast really downplayed the beastliness. He looked more like a guy with a couple of prosthetics on his face.