Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15- Page 2
Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
#25Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/4/15 at 6:27pm
I was hoping The Visit & On The Town would get a bump. Both these shows are in need of better size audiences
#26Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/4/15 at 6:30pm
When I purchased my ticket, I noticed that Telecharge did not have ticket availability for "The Visit" beyond the month of June. Should I be worried about the show for Sat. June 6th?
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
PatrickDennis92
Stand-by Joined: 9/25/12
#28Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/4/15 at 8:03pm
I feel that The Visit is just poorly produced. While, in my opinion, not the greatest show, it was certainly passable and holds it's own as a new musical-- these numbers are shameful. Not to say it ever had the potential to be a huge commercial splash, but this just seems lazy and sloppy to me, with all this tremendous talent involved, the producing seems very amateurish.
toofunktastic2
Stand-by Joined: 4/9/15
#29Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/4/15 at 8:13pm
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/DOCTOR-ZHIVAGO-to-Close-on-Broadway-This-Sunday-2015050465
and Zhivago's closing.
#30Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 5:56am
"I feel that The Visit is just poorly produced. While, in my opinion, not the greatest show, it was certainly passable and holds it's own as a new musical-- these numbers are shameful. Not to say it ever had the potential to be a huge commercial splash, but this just seems lazy and sloppy to me, with all this tremendous talent involved, the producing seems very amateurish."
How is it poorly produced? How is it very amateurish?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
tanchick
Swing Joined: 5/5/15
#31Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 7:04am
Use TeamViewer if you often work remotely: http://www.joydownload.com/how-to/use-teamviewer - easy manual how to do it
TapDanceGal
Understudy Joined: 5/10/14
#32Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 7:57am
I was at The Visit on Saturday night and sat in the mezz. It was sparse at best. I had a row to myself. It's too bad. It's a beautiful show.
#33Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 8:41am
I love The Visit - it's a quiet and subtle show. But quiet and subtle aren't what the tourists seek, and you can't have a hit without the tourists. Visit lovers will need to be content with quality rather than financial success.
#34Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 9:23am
@newintown-
I totally agree with your last sentence.
But not being a show appealing to tourists (and I agree it is not) occludes the problem. That may be a longevity consideration, but right now the show is still in its first weeks, a time when non-tourists should be battling for tickets. For whatever reason, the production can't interest enough non-tourists to fill the Lyceum, a small house, for six weeks. The immediate reaction to reviews and 5 Tony nominations was a marked decrease in attendance, and even those buying tickets, on average, paid less than the TDF price for them. This show's woes are not limited to tourists.
#35Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 12:54pm
Mind you I'm not equating it to "Follies" but Sondheim's show was not a big box office hit when it first came out.
Some shows just may not have commerical heft when they open, for all their qualities and later( perhaps ) more appreciated strengths.
The Visit IS different, so hopefully it can be enjoyed while it's still around.
"when I’m on stage I see the abyss and have to overcome it by telling myself it’s only a play." - Helen Mirren
PatrickDennis92
Stand-by Joined: 9/25/12
#36Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 2:06pm
To answer you qolbinau, or at least, to attempt to answer you on my phone in a very limited time, I obviously don't know the details on how The Visit's decisions are made, so it would be impossible for me to give any specific evidence-- however, the producers have a fiduciary responsibility to the investors-- the fact that The Visit has never even once come close to its weekly running cost isn't terribly rare overall, but I'd call it a producing failure when so many well known talented people are involved, and the product is pretty good too. Seems many producers would have been able to take this exact same product, same everything, and make it much more successful, even if it still had losses. It's the "last" Kander and Ebb show, the "last" Chita show, the team is outstanding, the show is actually not bad. So where is everyone? I think they missed the mark. My opinion only. Obviously.
#37Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 2:14pm
I'll be in the front row of Orchestra. Will it be uncomfortably high...kind of like Pippin at the Music Box?
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#38Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 2:42pm
I sat front row and the view was perfect. Even scarier being close up.
Up In One
Broadway Star Joined: 5/27/04
#39Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 3:01pm
Considering the average price of a ticket has been hovering around $40.00 with many getting free tickets I wonder what the reaction would be or how many of us would have seen The Visit at $150.00 bucks a pop. It was never on my full price radar - it kinda came in as a wounded bird.
Up In One
PatrickDennis92
Stand-by Joined: 9/25/12
#40Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 3:48pm
It's tough once you start to paper a show. They had no choice, but it's really hard-- not impossible of course, but really hard to get those sales to happen when you begin papering.
#41Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 5:40pm
PatrickDennis92, I appreciate what you are saying. It does seem odd that this show is doing as badly as it is (to me at least). However, I don't think it's a good argument to conclude it's "poor producing" simply because the sales are bad. That's a very outcome focussed approach, which can be affected by so many factors that are out of the control of the producers.
To me, the producing doesn't seem that poor from what I can see (although I'm no expert). Good choice of theatre, show, Broadway star, good marketing (including TV spot). I don't think we can conclude it is an example of poor producing unless we are critical about the factors that cause the outcome, rather than just the outcome itself. Otherwise we really have no idea.
"Considering the average price of a ticket has been hovering around $40.00 with many getting free tickets I wonder what the reaction would be or how many of us would have seen The Visit at $150.00 bucks a pop."
I do wonder about discounted tickets sometimes. Let's face it, at the prices many of the people on this board pay for tickets, the shows cannot survive. If we want a show to do better, we (and all others) need to pay full-price tickets. It's the only way a show can survive. I suppose if cheaper options are available and you can't afford to pay more, we should take advantage. But it shouldn't come as a surprise then that the show isn't doing well. No single raindrop ever thought they were part of a flood :P.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
mike_ant
Understudy Joined: 9/18/14
#42Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 5:59pm
Well I, for one, paid full-price for "The Visit", $161.25 (including Telecharge charges) for first row orchestra (A109) during my trip there 2 weekends ago. I don't know how people can get those cheap tickets, since the usual discount sites didn't even have discount code for Orchestra at that time. But I didn't regret it a bit, it was definitely the highlight of my trip. I also got 2500 bonus points from Audience Rewards for that. :)
PatrickDennis92
Stand-by Joined: 9/25/12
#43Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 7:04pm
The poor producing comment comes from that special place, where a producer is an artist, not a machine. This was always going to be rough, I think. It's a hard sell. Could have been a sleeper hit, but it wasn't.
I absolutely don't doubt the producers struggled, but I just think some more thoughtful producing would have yielded some great results. Example-- the TV ads are present, but I don't find them to be inticing. I, for one, think when you "sell" The Visit, you sell dark, you sell revenge, you sell badass Broadway diva realness-- its not entirely like that in the show, but it would get people in, I think. And I don't think they'd be sorry.
so many people don't even know what The Visit even is. A shame.
Up In One
Broadway Star Joined: 5/27/04
#44Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/5/15 at 7:53pm
"I also got 2500 bonus points from Audience Rewards for that. :)"
Even at full price there was still a bit of a back end discount! How does that work? Does the show pay Audience Rewards for the points they give? When I had an issue with an Audience Reward ticket once the box office person mentioned that they are treated as comps. Is there any money associated with those points?
Up In One
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#45Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/6/15 at 11:54am
Glee hasn't been relevant in 4 years, so I think they overestimated Darren's appeal. Apart from the first week of previews, his first full week is the lowest grossing week of the show's entire run. Ouch.
Sami7
Swing Joined: 5/6/15
#46Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/6/15 at 7:41pm
It wasn't a full week, though. It was 6 shows, not 7. Had he had a seventh I'm sure he would have been right on par with JCM's last several weeks (excluding his final week, obviously, which is a bit of a different ball game). I think it's kind of a fallacy to assume that they only chose Criss because of his Glee popularity, because as everyone knows that show fell pretty severely off the general audience's radar in the last couple of years and it's not as though this show is geared for a younger audience which comprises a lot of his fanbase. Anyway, he's a talented kid, even if people want to discount him because of his association with Glee, and I'm sure with the positive audience reviews/word of mouth that he has been receiving and with the summer months coming up, he'll do fine.
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#47Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/15
Posted: 5/7/15 at 9:12am
OK Darren-Stan. You're not wanted here. Bye.
