American Girl Closing Theaters
If you have wanted to see one of the American Girl shows in the American Girl Place theaters, then you had better hurry. The Los Angeles theater is slated to close April 13, while the New York and Chicago theaters will close September 1.
According to the article the reason for the closure is:
“Management felt that the time was right to find new entertaining experiences for our guests,” Parks said. Those experiences, however, won’t include live performers.
The Chicago American Girl Place is in the process of moving to the Water Tower Place shopping mall, in the space formerly occupied by Lord and Taylor department store. Live theater won’t be a part of the new location.
Over the last ten years, three different shows have been created (and rotated). Along with the original “The American Girls Revue” (currently playing in New York and Chicago), American Girl also produced a second show called “Circle of Friends - An American Girl Musical,” which currently plays in New York. More recently, a show aimed at younger kids called “Bitty Bear’s Matinee: The Family Tree” was added to the mix. Although well-respected by theater professionals and not egregiously commercial, all of the shows revolve around American Girl products and characters. American Girl has long been regarded as a leader in the fusion of theater and retail.
In New York, the production was hit by a strike in 2006, when actors involved in the shows attempted to join the Actors Equity Association, even after management turned down a request by the union to meet with them. That dispute flared up again in late last year, when actors again voted to join the union and American Girl charged that Equity had unfairly influenced the voting.
While I know many fans will be sad to see the live shows go, I really hope that American Girl releases the shows on DVD so that girls can continue to enjoy the performances and messages in the shows.
What do you think? Will the shows be missed? Have you ever seen one live?
Related posts:
- Emma Roberts to be at American Girl Place New York
- American Girl Announces the Real Girls of the Year
- Review: Velvet Theater Seats
- American Girl Place Chicago Is Moving
- Now Open - The New American Girl Place Chicago
Posted on February 20th, 2008 by Char
Filed under: American Girl
10 Responses to “American Girl Closing Theaters”
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This is sad news. We went last February on a bus junket that included lunch, the show, and plenty o’shopping time. It made the day full. Without the show, a trip is just lunch and shopping. Not as special.
I wish AG wasn’t doing this. My sister and I LOVE the shows! We even have the CDs! AG will not make me and my sister go to the Places again! EVER!
Gee, I’m going to Disneyland in March, and my mom and I may go to AG place in LA. We went in 2006 but I never saw the show. Do you think I should see it? I’m 14 so I really just collect the dolls and stuff, so I think I may be a little too old for it. What do you think?
I dont think anyone is too old for anything! “Too Old” is just an excuse for not doing things anymore. I havent seen it, and i am not going to most likely, but i think if i could GET to the AG place then i would, lol (we live like 5 and a hlaf hours away from the NYC one)
Its a great show …..its such a shame its closing. Would LOVE to have the Circle of Friends show on DVD.
Yeah… they could create DVDs of the shows! All of them! Oh, did you know that Ruthie will have brown eyes, reddish-brown hair, freckles, and the Julie face mold? They are apparently making Stirling too. What if Stirling comes out with Ruthie? Then how would the logo, “American Girl” change? Uh-oh. Do you think that they’d change the logo? Oh Please No!
Char, did you close the comments on the blog about Ruthie?
Sara, who told you that?
sara sry to say but you are a lier i dnt knw if the fake alexandra told you but there is no stirling and they nevr tella nyone wat she is gonna look like they wouldnt even tell me when she was cming out
I really miss the show. It was also playing in LA. I played Becky (Molly), Natalie (Kaya and Samantha), and Laura (Singing Bird from the Kirsten books). This was a really great show. The problem is, American Girl didn’t advertise! I had people coming to me a year after it opened asking me when it was going to open! Very few people even knew it existed.
Anyway, I was so sad when it closed. All of us (Me and the other girls in the show) were depressed and most of us even cried. I saw the last performance in LA. Even the girls on stage started to cry at the end. It was all really sad.