Posted: 2/10/24 at 10:47am
In any case, I'm really happy this transfer is happening, but I'm with Forbes on this one: I'm skeptical that this will work out for them financially.
Credit where it's due: they learned from Take Me Out's mistake, and decided to strike while the iron was hot, rather than waiting months after closing to announce a commercial transfer.
But I have to assume Elle Fanning's name is getting a sizeable chunk of people in those seats. Obviously, there's an audience for Paulson too, but enough to fill the Belasco AFTER already running at the Hayes for a few months? The Hayes run is doing well, but it's not 100% sold out, which technically means there's more supply than demand already (just barely, but still). So adding 400 seats per performance is concerning to me. Especially when you consider the increased running cost.
On the optimistic side: affordable tickets will probably be easier to come by, meaning the transfer might benefit from the previously untapped market of people who were priced out of the Hayes run. Also, for all we know, they'll find a replacement for Elle Fanning with equal or greater star power!
