Why Do People Buy Tickets To Some Shows and Not Others, ;-)
Why Do People Buy Tickets To Some Shows and Not Others, ;-)
#1Why Do People Buy Tickets To Some Shows and Not Others, ;-)
Posted: 8/8/15 at 8:53am
It puzzles me, and I'm not judging myself, but how do well received shows like On The Twentieth Century and On The Town have to close, while "less than well received" shows like Finding Neverland manage to stay open. Is it the "star" contracts time limits, or just plain luck? Motown, while it may have been fun, closed kind of fast. I hope Something Rotten can manage to stay running for a while. Is it the producers trying to cut losses? I guess also, are some shows just "critic-proof"?
I Can Has Cheezburger With This?
Updated On: 8/8/15 at 08:53 AM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
ebontoyan
Broadway Star Joined: 9/22/14
#5?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 9:09am
On the Twentieth Century was scheduled to close when it did, so it closed. The show stars Kristin and Peter already had other commitments after its scheduled limited run. Finding Neverland is making $1MM+ or close) in grosses per week despite mixed reviews/no awards, why should it close it's making money??!. With the low grosses for On the Town week after week since it opened in Oct 2014, the show actually was open far longer than it should have. If Something Rotten continue their robust sales it can stay open for awhile
As for Motown I haven't been following that show.
But one way or another it will boil down to $$, Broadway is a business after all
Updated On: 8/8/15 at 09:09 AM
#6?? Why Do people buy tickets to some show and not to others?
Posted: 8/8/15 at 9:18am
Shows only run when people buy tickets.
So you should rephrase your question: Why do people buy tickets to some shows and not to others?
#7?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 9:21am
"Less than well-received" by ....... critics? theatergoers?
WICKED did not get the kind of reviews that would have suggested the staying power the musical has shown, and based on the reviews SPRING AWAKENING should still be running. It's a combination of factors that make some shows last and some fade away, and it's not always the same combination for all shows.
ON THE TOWN is a case in point. Yes, the selection of a theater is one factor, but also other favorably reviewed revivals were in competition. Neither KING & I or ON THE 20TH CENTURY had been on Broadway in decades, whereas ON THE TOWN has been here in recent memory. And then another dance-heavy show debuted, sucking up a lot of the audience that might otherwise have gone with ON THE TOWN.
I guess the simple answer is that there is no simple answer.
I
2016 These Paper Bullets (1/02) Our Mother's Brief Affair (1/06), Dragon Boat Racing (1/08), Howard - reading (1/28), Shear Madness (2/10), Fun Home (2/17), Women Without Men (2/18), Trip Of Love (2/21), The First Gentleman -reading (2/22), Southern Comfort (2/23), The Robber Bridegroom (2/24), She Loves Me (3/11), Shuffle Along (4/12), Shear Madness (4/14), Dear Evan Hansen (4/16), American Psycho (4/23), Tuck Everlasting (5/10), Indian Summer (5/15), Peer Gynt (5/18), Broadway's Rising Stars (7/11), Trip of Love (7/27), CATS (7/31), The Layover (8/17), An Act Of God (8/31), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (8/24), Heisenberg (10/12), Fiddler On The Roof (11/02), Othello (11/23), Dear Evan Hansen (11/26), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (12/21) 2017 In Transit (2/01), Groundhog Day (4/04), Ring Twice For Miranda (4/07), Church And State (4/10), The Lucky One (4/19), Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (5/16), Building The Wall (5/19), Indecent (6/01), Six Degrees of Separation (6/09), Marvin's Room (6/28), A Doll's House Pt 2 (7/25) Curvy Widow (8/01)
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#8?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 9:33am
There IS no answer. That's why investing is a gamble. You THINK a show will catch the audience's eye (pocketbook) but you have no way of knowing.
Yes, sometimes excellent shows fail at the box office. Sometimes mediocre shows play for decades.
Critics no longer hold the power to make or break a show. In some ways, that's a good thing: the public seems to make up their own mind.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#9?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 9:52am
>Neither KING & I or ON THE 20TH CENTURY had been on Broadway in decades, whereas ON THE TOWN has been here in recent memory.<
The King and I was revived in 1996 in a production that ran through February 1998. On the Town came and went in a three month run in 1998. How has King and I not been here "in decades" but On the Town was here "in recent memory"?
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#12?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 11:47am
Yup, I misremembered re when those two shows were last on the board. Thanks for ASSUMING that I deliberately lied - it tells me a lot about some of the people who post here, incapable of making a mistake.
And I didn't say that not having been on Broadway recently was the ONLY reason it is selling. The whole point of my comments was that no single factor determines the hit or failure status of a show.
2016 These Paper Bullets (1/02) Our Mother's Brief Affair (1/06), Dragon Boat Racing (1/08), Howard - reading (1/28), Shear Madness (2/10), Fun Home (2/17), Women Without Men (2/18), Trip Of Love (2/21), The First Gentleman -reading (2/22), Southern Comfort (2/23), The Robber Bridegroom (2/24), She Loves Me (3/11), Shuffle Along (4/12), Shear Madness (4/14), Dear Evan Hansen (4/16), American Psycho (4/23), Tuck Everlasting (5/10), Indian Summer (5/15), Peer Gynt (5/18), Broadway's Rising Stars (7/11), Trip of Love (7/27), CATS (7/31), The Layover (8/17), An Act Of God (8/31), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (8/24), Heisenberg (10/12), Fiddler On The Roof (11/02), Othello (11/23), Dear Evan Hansen (11/26), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (12/21) 2017 In Transit (2/01), Groundhog Day (4/04), Ring Twice For Miranda (4/07), Church And State (4/10), The Lucky One (4/19), Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (5/16), Building The Wall (5/19), Indecent (6/01), Six Degrees of Separation (6/09), Marvin's Room (6/28), A Doll's House Pt 2 (7/25) Curvy Widow (8/01)
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#13?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 12:27pm
When you state things as FACT, people will indeed call you out on it. Should no one have pointed out your error?
Additionally, ONE poster was snarky, another pointed out your error and yet you are willing to dismiss the entire board? Nice.
I make mistakes on the board all the time....when someone corrects me, I usually just thank them for the clrification and move on.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Updated On: 8/8/15 at 12:27 PM
#14?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 12:49pm
"There IS no answer"
Dramamama for the win. Most of the reasons offered have not been inherently wrong, but they are only right when they are not wrong. Hork, as an example, may not be wrong about OTT, but that does not explain AAIP.
The missing element is producing. Good shows sometimes fail because of bad producing. Bad shows sometimes succeed because of good producing.
And OTT is the poster child of a good if not great show with phenomenally bad producing. While some blithely applaud these producers for dumping roughly $5 million over and above this show's capitalization into the money pit to keep it open, their producing has been lousy.
Why? Budgeting. Supply and demand management. Staffing and Casting. Marketing.
And running at the same time we have the poster child for the opposite, Finding Neverland, a bad show that has been engineered to succeed.
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#16?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 2:18pm
I think the reason we some shows get mixed and/or negative reviews, but end up running a long time is because they often have some commercial appeal (Beauty & the Beast, Aida, Mamma Mia!, Wicked, The Color Purple, Mary Poppins, Rock of Ages, Motown: The Musical, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Finding Neverland, etc.).
Shows that get positive and/or rave reviews end up closing prematurely can sometimes be due to their subject matter (Passion, Side Show, Caroline, or Change, Grey Gardens, Passing Strange, The Scottsboro Boys, The Visit, etc.).
Of course, we sometimes do see critically acclaimed shows get a major boost from the Tony Awards (Avenue Q, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, Gentleman's Guide, Fun Home, etc.).
Though I still wonder why a show like Honeymoon in Vegas, a musical comedy featuring Tony Danza get glowing reviews, but just fail to find an audience...
Updated On: 8/8/15 at 02:18 PM
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#18?? Why Do
Posted: 8/8/15 at 6:10pm
@Jeffrey-
The most important lesson I learned when i first got involved in the theatre is that there are no rules.
Why is that so important? Because from a producer's perspective, once you make assumptions, you are limiting yourself, and what you want to do is expand, and never limit. Because you simply can't know. Think your show has commercial appeal? Make a list of the shows with commercial appeal that fell as flat as a pancake. Think your show has an appealing subject matter? Make a list of all the appealing shows that flop. Think you've got a star people will pay to see read a phone book? Make a list of the stars who came in to do shows and quickly were out of work. Think you can ride your way to the Tony awards? Guess again. The solution is to do everything, promote everything and fight for sales, while keeping your expenses in check. Look at Mormon. They have made an ad buy week in and week out for 232 straight weeks. Could they have rested on their laurels for a while? You'd think so, but no. And you will see Hamilton do the same thing. Some here complain about overkill; they don't agree: the push has to be unrelenting, expansive and smart.
#19?? Why Do
Posted: 8/10/15 at 9:33am
DramaMama said:
Additionally, ONE poster was snarky, another pointed out your error and yet you are willing to dismiss the entire board? Nice.
Read what I said: "it tells me a lot about some of the people who post here".
Please note the word SOME ...... SOME ....... SOME ...
Does that sound like dismissing the board? Most people here are helpful and knowledgeable, which is why I have been an active participant here for over a decade.
2016 These Paper Bullets (1/02) Our Mother's Brief Affair (1/06), Dragon Boat Racing (1/08), Howard - reading (1/28), Shear Madness (2/10), Fun Home (2/17), Women Without Men (2/18), Trip Of Love (2/21), The First Gentleman -reading (2/22), Southern Comfort (2/23), The Robber Bridegroom (2/24), She Loves Me (3/11), Shuffle Along (4/12), Shear Madness (4/14), Dear Evan Hansen (4/16), American Psycho (4/23), Tuck Everlasting (5/10), Indian Summer (5/15), Peer Gynt (5/18), Broadway's Rising Stars (7/11), Trip of Love (7/27), CATS (7/31), The Layover (8/17), An Act Of God (8/31), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (8/24), Heisenberg (10/12), Fiddler On The Roof (11/02), Othello (11/23), Dear Evan Hansen (11/26), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (12/21) 2017 In Transit (2/01), Groundhog Day (4/04), Ring Twice For Miranda (4/07), Church And State (4/10), The Lucky One (4/19), Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (5/16), Building The Wall (5/19), Indecent (6/01), Six Degrees of Separation (6/09), Marvin's Room (6/28), A Doll's House Pt 2 (7/25) Curvy Widow (8/01)
Eurotrash
Featured Actor Joined: 8/28/13
#20?? Why Do
Posted: 8/10/15 at 10:06am
The other thing to remember is that a 'cognoscenti' audience on boards like this are often a poor guide to total audience opinion.
Why don't you go? Why don't you leave Manderley? He doesn't need you... he's got his memories. He doesn't love you, he wants to be alone again with her. You've nothing to stay for. You've nothing to live for really, have you?
#21?? Why Do
Posted: 8/10/15 at 10:12am
As I've stated here before, some of our posters are greatly knowledgeable and I appreciate this, some of the posters share both positive and negative thoughts based on their own opinions which in turn make me think about my own thoughts on actors and shows, but some others revel in just being a hater or instigator. I personally believe in positive energy and the negative stuff...really? It's a message board for people with a common interest in loving and preserving Broadway.
So "Play Nice"
I Can Has Cheezburger With This?
