Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 4/17- Page 2

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 4:57pm

Comps. They're not taken out of gross reports anymore.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 5:01pm

Thanks TheatreFan4 for the information. I wondered.

[Donthatecongratulate]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 5:10pm

THE PEOPLE out of a job. And yes, I see it's based on 7shows, but no, those numbers will not greatly increase.

[bk]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 6:01pm

Comps counted in percentage of attendance. Brilliant. So that percentage is now completely meaningless. So, a show, for example, with an average ticket price of fifty dollars (that's less than half of the asking price for any musical) that is not even grossing enough to fill half the seats in the theater, is comping like crazy and appears to be a hit because it has an 80% attendance rate. Who are they trying to kid?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 6:04pm

That's why the gross is the most important number. Remember: the average theater goer doesn't have any idea about these numbers. "We" are not average.

[Barney Stinson]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 6:10pm

Theaterfan4, maybe you are saying this, but it doesn't seem like it:

Potential gross assumes every seat is sold at full price, but it does NOT count premium ticket price as "full price". That is over and above full price. So a show most certainly can go over 100% of potential gross, as Wicked did this week (106%), despite selling slightly less than 100% of its seats.

So, once the discounts roll off, factoring in premium seats, BoM could definitely break $1mil, without "raising" ticket prices.

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 6:12pm

They also do standing room, so if they sell out standing room every performance, it could definitely hit it.

[evic]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 8:33pm

Bet ya Morman will raise it's prices for that reason alone- to be in the millionaire club- and it is the only true smash musical of the season so it can...Only the piggy Charlotte St. Martin knows the true figures.....take that 5-7% off for gross gross and the numbers dont look too great for some shows.......This week should be sellouts for most shows with the holidays.....then nominations, then closings, then awards, then closings.....Summer will see 24 shows on the boards. 25- forgot Hair revival

[vegas2]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 8:49pm

Guess I'll be shopping for another show to replace my soon-to-be-cancelled tickets for High.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/18/11 at 11:16pm

BOM could easily make more of the Orchestra seats "premium" to reach $1 weekly.

[amyfairycakes]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 9:31am

"..and it is the only true smash musical of the season so it can."

Not being pedantic, but can't we consider Priscilla Queen of The Desert a smash hit musical also?

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 9:49am

"Not being pedantic, but can't we consider Priscilla Queen of The Desert a smash hit musical also?"

Given that the reviews weren't necessarily raves (but not WONDERLAND bad) and has a lot of steep competition, it manages to break the $1 Million Club and fill a good majority of its house. I'd call that a smash hit.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 9:57am

"Comps counted in percentage of attendance. Brilliant. So that percentage is now completely meaningless. So, a show, for example, with an average ticket price of fifty dollars (that's less than half of the asking price for any musical) that is not even grossing enough to fill half the seats in the theater, is comping like crazy and appears to be a hit because it has an 80% attendance rate. Who are they trying to kid?"

Well...nobody. It is an accurate portrayal of attendance. To use HIGH as an unfortunate example, when you read that there was nearly 80% attendance, but listing the average ticket price at $19, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there are lots of people there for free, unless they've started selling tickets for a buck fifty.

Attendance is attendance, regardless of how the butts got in the seats. How else would you report it?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:37am

>Given that the reviews weren't necessarily raves (but not WONDERLAND bad) and has a lot of steep competition, it manages to break the $1 Million Club and fill a good majority of its house. I'd call that a smash hit.<

There's "hit" and "smash hit" and you can determine it by looking at some of the other figures which illustrate how a show is filling its seats. Priscilla is performing nicely, filling a large theatre to 88% capacity last week. That's not an inconsiderable feat. It has an average ticket of $83.86. Healthy figure, but it also means there's some discounting going on and there's also the figure that Priscilla is performing to 68.78% of its gross potential of $1,400,000 (the figure of what the show could generate with every seat sold at its full value).

For the same week, Mormon has an average ticket price of $111.59, showing very little discounting, if any, and played to 98.90% of its gross potential of $985,000. So I think if one wants to differentiate, Mormon is playing at "smash hit" level figures with Priscilla playing to "hit" figures.

[evic]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 10:59am

To me, a smash indicates that it is difficult to get tickets. While the numbers are good for Pricilla and How To...there are plenty of seats available. I can't believe that with the great reviews and a major movie star in the lead, that How To.... isn't selling out. Maybe that awful old fashioned TV commercial isn't helping.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:49am

Book of Mormon can easily reach that million dollar club. If more people buy premium seating($227-$277) instead of the normal $137 they'll top $1 million. And considering how difficult it is to get a ticket now it wouldn't suprised me to see them top that mark within the next few weeks.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 11:55am

I think any show that can post good numbers at the Palace Theatre should be considered a hit (at least for the time being), but I don't quite think it's a smash. I agree that Mormon is a smash, but probably not Priscilla.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 1:59pm

"High" comp tickets:

I went on SATURDAY NIGHT (typically the busiest theater night) and I'm not sure I've ever seen a bigger stack of comp tickets behind the window. They had a massive list and a stack that looked to be about 400 tickets tall. Does that explain the confusion over the attendance and the average ticket price?

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 2:15pm

How does a show even give away so many comps? Did they just give them through any organization they can find? I suppose the strategy is that if a show isn't selling at all (even with huge discounts), unload on comps and pray for good word of mouth.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 4/19/11 at 2:39pm

"Can book of Mormon ever hit a 'Mill" (without increasing the ticket price) I know it's a small theater?"


Mormon actually HAS increased their ticket price, within the last 1-2 weeks. Two weeks ago, I bought 2 tickets in Row E of the Mezz, for $99.50 each. I just checked, and now Mezz Rows E-H are selling for $137-142 as well.

So, except for the last 3 rows of the theater, every seat in the house is now going for full price. Kudos to the producers.
Updated On: 4/19/11 at 02:39 PM