Musings on which shows have received big "save us" campaigns and which haven't (on the heels of January closings)

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/17/23 at 11:17am

As we look back at the antics surrounding AIN'T NO MO and KPOP...

When OHIO STATE MURDERS announced its closing, I figured there would be some groundswell on social media to try to gin up interest –– get a rich friend to buy you tickets, Black women are being mistreated by Broadway buyers, etc. Nothing. Silence, when it comes to two of the most important Black women in American theatre. (With previews, it ran 4 more performances than KPOP)

This post is primarily about OSM, but it's applicable to others too. There was no noise surrounding people trying to save TOPDOG or SALESMAN (which both made it through their scheduled runs, but with anemic ticket sales) or A STRANGE LOOP (though it ran far longer & had greater awards success than the shows above).

I don't have a grand theory here, it's just interesting to see what the social media public will and won't go for.

[Ke3]

Posted: 1/17/23 at 12:05pm

I think this really comes down to KPOP and AIN'T NO MO encouraging the campaigns. Salesman, OSM, and Topdog/Underdog did what many limited runs with poor tickets sales do. Quietly limp along to their finish line or close early. The other two tried to extend their lives by drumming up that fervor. Could've been smart if it had worked. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/17/23 at 12:54pm

Yeah, as Ke3 said: these campaigns were mostly fueled by the artists of the shows themselves. And in both those cases, they were also artists who hadn’t done a lot of commercial theatre, whereas everyone involved with OSM has been around the block, and are maybe more realistic. 

Speaking of being “realistic” it’s also possible that fans saw what happened with KPOP and ANM and just….realized it didn’t work? And reading/listening to interviews with Michael R. Jackson, it seems like he’s been pretty zen about the whole thing - so that might explain the ASL side of things. 

I also feel like the revivals maybe didn’t inspire as much passion in young Broadway fans as KPOP and ANM did. And because they have the appearance of being more high-profile and well-established, it’s harder for them to build the “scrappy underdog “ (no pun intended) narrative. And I’d also guess that most Broadway fans don’t analyze the grosses, and maybe perceived those shows as doing better than they were actually doing. I know this is just anecdotal, but I had several casual theatre fans express to me that they thought Death of a Salesman was a hot ticket. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/17/23 at 12:55pm

That's fair.

It's also interesting to see which artists are willing to beg and which aren't –– and the begging this season came entirely from people who were new to Broadway.

Updated On: 1/17/23 at 12:55 PM

[binau]

Posted: 1/17/23 at 1:25pm

I'm trying to think of the amount of times a 'save us' campaign ever worked to really save a show. I can currently think of 0. 

[raddersons]

Posted: 1/17/23 at 5:08pm

Occasionally they can get an extra week. Ain't No Mo got a week extension due to the amount of celebrities that were "buying out" performances. I recall Indecent also got a week long extension back in 2017 due to an angel investor. Not sure it ever works past that.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/17/23 at 6:03pm

^ good point, and the un-cynical way of looking at it is: every week of performances is it another paycheck for the artists. And every ticket sold is another $50-$100 that the investors DON’T lose. So even if these campaigns don’t save the shows, they’re still net-positive for the bottom line.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/17/23 at 10:51pm

raddersons said: "I recall Indecent also got a week long extension back in 2017 due to an angel investor. Not sure it ever works past that."

INDECENT actually extended more than a month –– it was set to close June 25, 2017, and was extended til August 6. But that's an extreme rarity. That show also had a very wealthy producer in Daryl Roth who could afford the risk.

[daredevil]

Posted: 1/18/23 at 7:30am

In the case of Indecent I remember Daryl Roth being quoted as saying she felt audience reaction was so strong as it headed to its closing performance that she was inspired to give the show a four week extension.

[inception]

Posted: 1/19/23 at 9:54am

I appreciate the comments above about how more experienced performers like Audra know how to deal with the disappointment when something doesn't work like they hoped.

I was reminded of this when reading about what has been happening at the Adele shows in Las Vegas.  The shows are completely sold out, but many tickets are in the hands of ticket "brokers" who are asking such ridiculous resale prices that there end up being many empty seats in the auditorium come show time.  Adele has demanded that Caesar's Entertainment make sure every seat in at least the lower section is filled.  As a result they've been bringing in hotel staff to fill seats.

The story has been verified by a reputable Las Vegas news outlet:

https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/the-skinny-behind-adeles-seat-fillers-at-caesars-palace-2709991/

Updated On: 1/19/23 at 09:54 AM

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 1/19/23 at 12:56pm

In regards to Adele’s Vegas show - there’s no reason they couldn’t move people’s seats up prior to doors opening. The fact that they’re going the extra mile of having hotel staff as seat fillers is…working harder not smarter, but I can accept that being a Vegas usher is probably very different than a Broadway usher. Just seems silly. 

Back to the “save us” campaigns etc - has there ever been a closing announcement, followed by extension but ended up closing early anyways? I’ve only witnessed this in a Minneapolis regional theater, and it was because they announced the extension too late for people to really jump on it.