Mary, Martha & Chubby not selling at 80% Off

[TheMotownManiac]

This is crazy, ticket resellers now have third row seats at $30 and still can’t move! Is there a measles sign on this building? There must be another fans within 100 miles or so, with prices this cheap, it would be a bargain even if you had to take the train. How can we expect to be able to call these people legends when a fine bill like this sits nearly empty? Promoters seem to have given up trying to discount the seats as the last few promotions seemed to have done nothing. Hopefully it won’t get cancelled, but it breaks my heart that they will walk out to a venue that’s only 10% sold. C’mon y’all - make some calls - get those seats filled!

[BayouMotownMan]

This is crazy, ticket resellers now have third row seats at $30 and still can’t move! Is there a measles sign on this building? There must be another fans within 100 miles or so, with prices this cheap, it would be a bargain even if you had to take the train. How can we expect to be able to call these people legends when a fine bill like this sits nearly empty? Promoters seem to have given up trying to discount the seats as the last few promotions seemed to have done nothing. Hopefully it won’t get cancelled, but it breaks my heart that they will walk out to a venue that’s only 10% sold. C’mon y’all - make some calls - get those seats filled!

Unfortunately your fan base is severely diminshed

[thommg]

This is crazy, ticket resellers now have third row seats at $30 and still can’t move! Is there a measles sign on this building? There must be another fans within 100 miles or so, with prices this cheap, it would be a bargain even if you had to take the train. How can we expect to be able to call these people legends when a fine bill like this sits nearly empty? Promoters seem to have given up trying to discount the seats as the last few promotions seemed to have done nothing. Hopefully it won’t get cancelled, but it breaks my heart that they will walk out to a venue that’s only 10% sold. C’mon y’all - make some calls - get those seats filled!

What might help is telling us where and when this is.

[reese]

What might help is telling us where and when this is.

The NYCB Theatre at Westbury, NY.

[milven]

The show is this Friday at Westbury Music Fair [[or whatever its current name is). It is an excellent venue. I have seen many seventies soul groups there, the Seventies Supremes, Johnny Mathis, all the Motown groups, and Mary Wilson.

https://www.ticketmaster.com/mary-wilson-chubby-checker-and-nycb-theatre-at-westbury-westbury-ny/venueartist/141/2427916

And according to the seating chart, it looks like barely 100 tickets have been sold.

https://concerts1.livenation.com/event/00005349DA8659B0?tm_link=venueartist_msg-0_00005349DA8659B0&crosssite=TM_US:759712:&_ga=2.241189121.200679643.1524103034-1130551486.1524103034&f_PPL=true&ab=efeat5787v1

When you click away from the seating chart above, a pop up appears saying something like to buy tickets quickly because they are selling fast.

Westbury is in Marv's neighborhood and he is a Mary fan. Perhaps he can shed some light on this. The venue isnt huge and every seat is good. Most every time that I have been there, just about all the seat were filled

[franjoy56]

Have car will travel. I saw mary snd martha at bbking last year. Diana at st geiorge theater in 2016. Going to see katherines marvelettes at the beekman in june. If t show is on sat i msy get a ride. Otherwise forget lirr

[midnightman]

OUCH! That's definitely not good...

[PeaceNHarmony]

Martha and Chubby usually draw; it's maybe just a bad venue match.

[Circa 1824]

mary had top billing ---- HUGE mistake.

Plus, nowhere in the ads does it promise that she will not sing Red Hot. Thus, an empty house.

[franjoy56]

Someone's is not a mary wilson fan not nice

[milven]

mary had top billing ---- HUGE mistake.
.....

Perhaps there is some prejudice in that statement, but also a little bit of truth. I did see some sites listing the tickets with just Mary Wilson's name. You had to click further to see Martha and Chubby were also on the bill. And after decades of using the Supremes' name in her solo billing, and doing thousands of interviews soley because the interviewer wanted to talk about the Supremes or Diana, most people do not know who the solo Mary is.

But back to the ticket sales. They changed their pricing again and now all tickets are $39 to $49. And it looks like the first five or six rows are now now filled. So I imagine the show will go on tonight. But it is odd that even at these prices, the show is not selling even with three good performers.

Paul Anka, whose career goes back even further that Chubby,Mary and Martha is appearing there tomorrow, tickets are selling at up to two hundred dollars and most seats are sold.

Poor sales can not be blamed on location or venue. And once in the theatre, all seats have a good view of the stage.

Even the do-wop show on April 29th has more sold seats than tonight's show. It is odd.

https://www.ticketmaster.com/NYCB-Theatre-at-Westbury-tickets-Westbury/venue/141

Is it even worth it for the artists to perform? Splitting the cut from the few tickets sold at 39 dollars and then having to pay their back up and band leaves them probably performing at a loss. Hopefully, their contracts give them a minimumn guarantee and the theatre or promoter takes the loss and not the artist.

[luke]

Mary’s show at Ridgefield Ct theater was packed but I’m not blaming Martha and Chubby for this NY show! All kinds of variables.

[motony]

how & where was it advertised? Like I said Martha & Mary sold out the 2,500.seat Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach with very little advertising & no advertising in the Orlando area.

[midnightman]

Perhaps there is some prejudice in that statement, but also a little bit of truth. I did see some sites listing the tickets with just Mary Wilson's name. You had to click further to see Martha and Chubby were also on the bill. And after decades of using the Supremes' name in her solo billing, and doing thousands of interviews soley because the interviewer wanted to talk about the Supremes or Diana, most people do not know who the solo Mary is.

But back to the ticket sales. They changed their pricing again and now all tickets are $39 to $49. And it looks like the first five or six rows are now now filled. So I imagine the show will go on tonight. But it is odd that even at these prices, the show is not selling even with three good performers.

Paul Anka, whose career goes back even further that Chubby,Mary and Martha is appearing there tomorrow, tickets are selling at up to two hundred dollars and most seats are sold.

Poor sales can not be blamed on location or venue. And once in the theatre, all seats have a good view of the stage.

Even the do-wop show on April 29th has more sold seats than tonight's show. It is odd.

https://www.ticketmaster.com/NYCB-Theatre-at-Westbury-tickets-Westbury/venue/141

Is it even worth it for the artists to perform? Splitting the cut from the few tickets sold at 39 dollars and then having to pay their back up and band leaves them probably performing at a loss. Hopefully, their contracts give them a minimumn guarantee and the theatre or promoter takes the loss and not the artist.

Why did it take long for the tickets to be sold? Something is funky about that.

[jobeterob]

Something isn’t quite right here

There are 3 performers here with a history. And Martha and Chubby were the voices on some big hits

They are old and the market isn’t what it was but I’d go if I were there

The advertising I saw showed the headliner as Martha Reeves; if sales were so poor, maybe they changed it up

[PeaceNHarmony]

Something isn’t quite right here

There are 3 performers here with a history. And Martha and Chubby were the voices on some big hits

They are old and the market isn’t what it was but I’d go if I were there

The advertising I saw showed the headliner as Martha Reeves; if sales were so poor, maybe they changed it up
The event was listed as 'Golden Voices' or some-such in some places - that sure does not identify the performers. Could be that the other performers at the venue [[like Anka) took up sales from the same audience base.

[Roberta75]

The event was listed as 'Golden Voices' or some-such in some places - that sure does not identify the performers. Could be that the other performers at the venue [[like Anka) took up sales from the same audience base.

If Marv and Luke made a date out of this and each took 5 other couples, that would move some seats for there idol Ms Wilson.

[midnightman]

The event was listed as 'Golden Voices' or some-such in some places - that sure does not identify the performers. Could be that the other performers at the venue [[like Anka) took up sales from the same audience base.

WOW. Someone needs to get fired... seriously.

[Circa 1824]

You know gull-dern well that house was heavily papered with free tickets.

[jobeterob]

Is this show on Friday or is it over?

I’ve heard Marv doesn’t resemble the picture from the 80s and Luke might be disappointed

Maybe someone selling this show at least needs a rethink

[captainjames]

Mary Wilson, Chubby Checker & Martha Reeves
Date
Fri 4/20 @ 8pm
Venue
NYCB Theatre at Westbury
Westbury, NY

[franjoy56]

Who went recap plesse

[loganjlr]

Agreed! Show us the receipts!

[jobeterob]

https://youtu.be/qcJ5DFateE0

[Circa 1824]

https://youtu.be/qcJ5DFateE0

Honest to God, that is the worst karaoke I have ever heard. She seriously needs to quit.

[jobeterob]

She’s getting old; they weren’t her songs so you can’t expect much like the originals

[BayouMotownMan]

Well, you gotta say, Mary still tries. All those empty seats and unenthusiastic people, she kept going

[bradsupremes]

Honest to God, that is the worst karaoke I have ever heard. She seriously needs to quit.

If you think Mary is that bad, I can't imagine what you think of Martha.

[jobeterob]

If you think Mary is that bad, I can't imagine what you think of Martha.

Sadly that’s a fair comment

But there are other reasons to go to see performers like these

How well preserved is Chubby’s voice?

[lakedistrictlad1]

Slightly off topic, but some years ago a friend got me a ticket to see the jazz singer Annie Ross at a small London venue. There were 5 of us on the audience in total!
We stuck the whole show out but it was one of the most embarrassing things I've ever witnessed.
Sometimes you just need to know when to stop.

[PeaceNHarmony]

https://youtu.be/qcJ5DFateE0
Sadly that's awful. I'm surprised at how amateurish the entire look and sound is. Some of the NJ beach towns near me have free, afternoon park concerts featuring acts like the 1910 Fruitgum Company: the end result is pretty much like this. Who are the fat white people walking around on stage?

[PeaceNHarmony]

If you think Mary is that bad, I can't imagine what you think of Martha.
I watched Martha clips from the same date - Martha sounds like Martha!

[PeaceNHarmony]

Slightly off topic, but some years ago a friend got me a ticket to see the jazz singer Annie Ross at a small London venue. There were 5 of us on the audience in total!
We stuck the whole show out but it was one of the most embarrassing things I've ever witnessed.
Sometimes you just need to know when to stop.
Decades ago I recall one of the golden-age screen stars saying [[or being said about ...) 'When 'ya can't draw flies it's time to stop sellin' fruit".

[Circa 1824]

If you think Mary is that bad, I can't imagine what you think of Martha.

Martha sounds like something you would hear from someone lying in a casket.

It is a pea-pickin' pity these ladies did not save for their old age, and avoid having to "sing" to pay the mortgage despite how horrible it might sound.

Chubby Checker sounds good. I could watch the entire YouTube clips of Chubby.

[milven]

There are many clips on YouTube of this performance. In some of them, Mary seems off, confused and not full of her usual stamina. Could she have been ill? Or simply disapointed about the turnout and not giving it her all? She was performing to a lot of empty seats, even up front. And those that were there were not that enthusiastic and seemed to be sitting on their hands.

In this clip, someone noticed that something was wrong and handed her a bottle of water. But she couldn't open it and she handed it to another audience member who opened it and gave it back to her. Maybe she just wasn't feeling well that night

To me, the best part of this show was Pernell. He was happy, smiling, and gave the performance and the moves his all. In fact, he reminded me of Mary when she was in the Supremes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi9gdwI8i64&index=3&list=PLQxcuoR4rZGgw_LhJOCM7kyt5tH_vBeEZ

Everything about the promotion of this concert seems to have been wrong. Evidently they were hoping for a huge turnout and tickets were available for the whole theatre. But the theatre can be configured to accomodate smaller audiences. This is theatre in the round with a revolving stage. For smaller audiences. The stage does not rotate and one half of the circular theatre is roped off and the top tier of seats is also roped off.

Something was wrong here. Just cant figure out what it was. Promotion? Mary ill? Mary disapoointed about low turn out? Don't know. But this is not Mary's best.

I hope that the next time Mary is in NY Metro area, she performs at a smalll intimate place like 54 Below and leaves the Supremes stuff alone and does a Mary show.

[RanRan79]

Someone should have been told Mary to give up the Supremes stuff. It doesn't suit her voice at all. Mary is still in top shape vocally. She should be doing songs that show this off.

[midnightman]

That's disappointing to see Mary like that... :[[
I agree with letting the Supremes stuff go.

[Bluebrock]

That's disappointing to see Mary like that... :[[
I agree with letting the Supremes stuff go.
I agree. It is very sad to hear these great songs being butchered in this way. Truly awful.

[marv2]

There are many clips on YouTube of this performance. In some of them, Mary seems off, confused and not full of her usual stamina. Could she have been ill? Or simply disapointed about the turnout and not giving it her all? She was performing to a lot of empty seats, even up front. And those that were there were not that enthusiastic and seemed to be sitting on their hands.

In this clip, someone noticed that something was wrong and handed her a bottle of water. But she couldn't open it and she handed it to another audience member who opened it and gave it back to her. Maybe she just wasn't feeling well that night

To me, the best part of this show was Pernell. He was happy, smiling, and gave the performance and the moves his all. In fact, he reminded me of Mary when she was in the Supremes.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi9gdwI8i64&index=3&list=PLQxcuoR4rZGgw_LhJOCM7kyt5tH_vBeEZ

Everything about the promotion of this concert seems to have been wrong. Evidently they were hoping for a huge turnout and tickets were available for the whole theatre. But the theatre can be configured to accomodate smaller audiences. This is theatre in the round with a revolving stage. For smaller audiences. The stage does not rotate and one half of the circular theatre is roped off and the top tier of seats is also roped off.

Something was wrong here. Just cant figure out what it was. Promotion? Mary ill? Mary disapoointed about low turn out? Don't know. But this is not Mary's best.

I hope that the next time Mary is in NY Metro area, she performs at a smalll intimate place like 54 Below and leaves the Supremes stuff alone and does a Mary show.

She was fighting a head cold.

[BayouMotownMan]

She was fighting a head cold.

I'm just so sure she told you that Marv

[captainjames]

The water didn't help the singing

[milven]

She was fighting a head cold.

This show was in your neighborhood. Were you able to attend the show?

[Roberta75]

This show was in your neighborhood. Were you able to attend the show?

He rarely attends Marys shows.

[Roberta75]

i'm just so sure she told you that marv

lololololololol

[midnightman]

You'd think a "real fan" would attend the shows, rather than act like they know what was going on. <_<

[Roberta75]

You'd think a "real fan" would attend the shows, rather than act like they know what was going on. <_<

Wouldnt you though.

[midnightman]

Wouldnt you though.

Yeah. If my favorite act was at a venue closed to me, I'd make sure to buy tickets! Don't make sense to comment like you're a fan and not come see the show unless you can't do it because you're financially underwater.

[reese]

Too bad the turnout at Westbury was low. I just saw Martha and Mary this afternoon and the show was great.

Martha did the usual hits, as well as pulling out an unexpected A LOVE LIKE YOURS [[DON'T COME KNOCKING EVERY DAY). Mary did the usual hits as well, plus a nice DON'T KNOW WHY and her finale, IMAGINE. I didn't notice any trouble on her part, as noted above, so I gather she is over her cold. She sounded great and as always, I truly feel that videos don't do her justice. I've never been disappointed when I see her live.

[midnightman]

How many shows did they do? Two?

Guessing Mary wasn't sick after all if she turned out fine when you saw her, Reese... lol

[reese]

How many shows did they do? Two?

Guessing Mary wasn't sick after all if she turned out fine when you saw her, Reese... lol

They did one afternoon show.

[johnjeb]

Too bad the turnout at Westbury was low. I just saw Martha and Mary this afternoon and the show was great.

Martha did the usual hits, as well as pulling out an unexpected A LOVE LIKE YOURS [[DON'T COME KNOCKING EVERY DAY). Mary did the usual hits as well, plus a nice DON'T KNOW WHY and her finale, IMAGINE. I didn't notice any trouble on her part, as noted above, so I gather she is over her cold. She sounded great and as always, I truly feel that videos don't do her justice. I've never been disappointed when I see her live.

I also saw the show this afternoon. [[Reese, I wish I knew who you were and we could have met and introduced ourselves. I did see a few old friends.) I had seen some of the videos from Friday night so I wasn't expecting much from Mary, however I was blown away. I have seen her many times and she never disappoints. I agree the videos on youtube don't do her justice. The video above of YCHL, CSAM and BIMAA pales in comparison to what I saw and heard today. I thought this medley was just one of the several highlights of the show.

I felt Martha's show wasn't as strong. I had seen MR&V in Provincetown a few years ago and thought it was one of the best concerts I had ever attended and vowed to see them the next time they were in my area. I was so looking forward to a repeat of that excitement and performance. Unfortunately, today's show wasn't on par with that. They all have their days - just like us.

The audience was very enthusiastic for both acts.

[carlo]

Whether you love her or not, Mary Wilson is a Motown Legend and an original Supreme. She's still doing it, after over 50 years in the business. If you're a fan of the Supremes, she is an integral part of their history and music, which has brought joy to all of our lives. I believe for that reason alone, she deserves more respect than what some of you are posting in this thread. I think she sounded fine in all of those clips from the Westbury show. I didn't see or hear anything wrong. From what I've observed in recent years, she still works with her own backup singers and musical director and usually has other local musicians working her shows under contract. This means having a different group of musicians each show, which in itself can be a challenge for any performer, but she pulls it off like the pro that she is.

Her name is in the history books.

Happy trolling.

[midnightman]

^ No one was arguing about her place in history. WTF?

Some just thought she was a little off kilter and maybe that wasn't the case. Calm down, damn...

[PeaceNHarmony]

TBH the 'legend' moniker is a tad over-stated ... Member of a legendary group, yes. Individually? ...

[loganjlr]

Mary's a professional. I'm sure she knows her draw in this stage of her career, and realized this was probably the fault of the promoter. While the crowd was small, I would have LOVED being an audience member and getting up on stage with Mary! As someone who's worked with event promotion companies and PR before, the business can be shady and you always have to double-check as an artist to what you're paying for.

We have a theatre-in-the-round like that in Phoenix called the Celebrity Theatre and it can get awkward when seats aren't sold out. When smaller shows take place, they usually cut off the stage half-way and turn off the revolving motions.

[carlo]

^ No one was arguing about her place in history. WTF?

Some just thought she was a little off kilter and maybe that wasn't the case. Calm down, damn...

I can read in between the lines. Lots of haters up in here, emphasizing their opinion in regards to her voice, performance, etc. It's the same story in every thread on here. They don't respect her as a Supreme or legend in the same way that they do with other Motown performers. I am allowed to post whatever I wish to express and there was no lack of calmness in my post, that is your own interpretation. If you want to further discuss practicing calmness, I kindly suggest avoiding acronyms that contain swear words, as that in itself is disrespectful and suggests an angry tone. Thank you.

[reese]

I also saw the show this afternoon. [[Reese, I wish I knew who you were and we could have met and introduced ourselves. I did see a few old friends.) I had seen some of the videos from Friday night so I wasn't expecting much from Mary, however I was blown away. I have seen her many times and she never disappoints. I agree the videos on youtube don't do her justice. The video above of YCHL, CSAM and BIMAA pales in comparison to what I saw and heard today. I thought this medley was just one of the several highlights of the show.

I felt Martha's show wasn't as strong. I had seen MR&V in Provincetown a few years ago and thought it was one of the best concerts I had ever attended and vowed to see them the next time they were in my area. I was so looking forward to a repeat of that excitement and performance. Unfortunately, today's show wasn't on par with that. They all have their days - just like us.

The audience was very enthusiastic for both acts.

We do end up at some of the same shows it seems. I might have been sitting right next to you. :-)

For this show, I took along a friend who has never seen either lady before. She enjoyed them both but confessed that she really enjoyed Mary. That said, she made a point of asking me the best starter cds by each for a newbie like herself.

[RanRan79]

I can read in between the lines. Lots of haters up in here, emphasizing their opinion in regards to her voice, performance, etc. It's the same story in every thread on here. They don't respect her as a Supreme or legend in the same way that they do with other Motown performers. I am allowed to post whatever I wish to express and there was no lack of calmness in my post, that is your own interpretation. If you want to further discuss practicing calmness, I kindly suggest avoiding acronyms that contain swear words, as that in itself is disrespectful and suggests an angry tone. Thank you.

As one of the ones critical of Mary's performance of Supremes songs, I have to conclude that I'm supposedly one of the haters. I am constantly complimenting Mary's vocal skills in this forum so I won't even put on the hater hat. I had an opinion and I stated it. Why is it okay for some to state their opinions but not okay for others? The world doesn't end because someone gives a negative opinion about any Motown act, including Mary Wilson or Diana Ross. Why are they immune to criticism?

[midnightman]

I guess in this forum, if we just criticize a Motown legend, that means we're haters. I don't get that at all.

Like I had people in my Stevie thread where he sings in Japan say they didn't like him "oversinging". The LAST thing that would come to mind is "oh they're just hating".

Least I know Mary can sing real good and I've posted videos of her where she blew me away. One lackluster performance doesn't take away from the 60 years she's contributed to popular music as member of the Supremes just like a few actions by Aretha, Diana and Patti don't take away their own contributions to the industry.

[milven]

We do end up at some of the same shows it seems. I might have been sitting right next to you. :-)

For this show, I took along a friend who has never seen either lady before. She enjoyed them both but confessed that she really enjoyed Mary. That said, she made a point of asking me the best starter cds by each for a newbie like herself.

Was Chubby also a part of the show? Was the audience larger than it was at Westbury? I think something went terribly wrong with Westbury for the show to get such a small audience and it was atypical to the the rest of the tour.

[reese]

It was only Mary and Martha.

The venue they performed at has a seating capacity of 822. I saw a few empty seats here and there, but the majority of them were filled. I think it was promoted well. I received an email the morning the tickets went on sale from the promoter because I had attended one of his concerts in the past. Subsequently, I've been receiving emails from the venue itself, which doesn't hurt. Others coming up on their schedule include Air Supply, John Sebastian, Gordon Lightfoot, and others.

[luke]

Well said Carlo. And you are one of the most respectful posters here!

[carlo]

As one of the ones critical of Mary's performance of Supremes songs, I have to conclude that I'm supposedly one of the haters.

I never pointed out anyone specifically in this thread, so that is your own conclusion, not mine.

[carlo]

Well said Carlo. And you are one of the most respectful posters here!

Thank you, Luke.

[midnightman]

It was only Mary and Martha.

The venue they performed at has a seating capacity of 822. I saw a few empty seats here and there, but the majority of them were filled. I think it was promoted well. I received an email the morning the tickets went on sale from the promoter because I had attended one of his concerts in the past. Subsequently, I've been receiving emails from the venue itself, which doesn't hurt. Others coming up on their schedule include Air Supply, John Sebastian, Gordon Lightfoot, and others.

What happened to Chubby?

I didn't know it was just 822 lol

The way the posts were, it was over 1,000.

[reese]

What happened to Chubby?

I didn't know it was just 822 lol

The way the posts were, it was over 1,000.

Chubby was never on the bill of the show that I saw.

[midnightman]

Chubby was never on the bill of the show that I saw.

I see. Is what Mary and Martha doing all over the country together by any chance?

[milven]

What happened to Chubby?

I didn't know it was just 822 lol

The way the posts were, it was over 1,000.

The show that midnight man saw was in a theatre that held 822. The thread is about last Friday's show at Westburry in Long Island. That theatre has close to 3000 seats.

And now I think I know what the problem was there. The show probably can attract about 1000 or so people and the whole Westburry Theatre [[3000 seats) was made available for this event. That would explain why there were so many empty seats. The theatre can be set up in many configurations making less seating available. That is what should have been done

Dont know how the system works, but a guess is that either Mary's manager, or the promoter decided to have all the seats available hoping that they would all sell. They would have served Mary, Martha and Chubby better if they had had the theatre configured to seat about 1000 to 1500.

But Mary, Chubby and Martha have moved on . Maybe we should too.

[midnightman]

Gotcha. Yeah we need to move on. That's what Mary and Martha definitely want. We can't go back, go forward.

[marybrewster]

I'm still shaking my wig over the "fat white people" comment above. If Ida said "fat black people", SDF would be on fire.

[jobeterob]

I'm still shaking my wig over the "fat white people" comment above. If Ida said "fat black people", SDF would be on fire.

Tis true tis true.

Fat isn't even okay anymore. That hurts feelings and we won't have that in Canada.

But fat certainly damages health.