Allegiance Previews — Page 13

Pootie2 said: "Allegiance's audience approach is sort of more "inside out"--taking an internal story largely unknown to the population and trying to popularize it, from a racial minority to the non-Japanese/Asian masses. You should be able to guess which target audience approach is going to be more challenging."

Whatever their approach is, it seems to be working, though. They have been selling a LOT of tickets for a new musical. Even this week, where every other show took a major box office hit, they made Halloween a success by making the matinee Star Trek Day, encouraging people to come in costume, and the evening performance was Pinoy Day, trying to get all the Filipinos in the house.

So, there is definitely a lot they have to work with, from Takei to Salonga, just to it being a new musical about American history... Takei can even go on Howard Stern whenever he wants and sit in for the whole show. I think most people want to go to a good show, and if it is good work that pleases an audience, the subject matter is less important. No one was wondering why we didn't have a founding father rap on Broadway 2 years ago, or said they wanted a closeted gay dad with a lesbian cartoonist daughter to kill himself... I don't think we are waiting for specific things, unlike Hollywood. 

If they make something of quality, that people talk about to their friends, people will go. If there was never a musical about a Japanese-American internment camp, we wouldn't care. But if there is a good one, we'll probably go...

Considering the Visit could never even sell the Mezzanine, and this show typically sells out most of the balcony, yes.

haterobics said: "If they make something of quality, that people talk about to their friends, people will go. If there was never a musical about a Japanese-American internment camp, we wouldn't care. But if there is a good one, we'll probably go..."

Well, that was basically my point. The difference in opinion on whether this show is "good" is going to vary, but if opinions can change drastically about artistic merit during previews, to me that means this has a better commercial shot than I might have thought before. This hasn't been the height of tourist season so far, so I got the impression (which may be wrong, naturally) that the preview audiences have been a bit more on the "hardcore" side and already had significant interest in the musical for varying reasons from star power to personal connection.

But would these audiences dry up months later as what happened to IF/THEN? I mean, the creatives could have seen this early interest and thought "Okay, we're good!" and believed they could ride out the rest of the season based on this initial enthusiasm. But they didn't, and appeared to make significant artistic changes to make the show more accessible and appealing in general, and that's great for hopefully catching more of the faceless tourist masses after it opens who could very well not be interested in the historical aspect. It's not like Hamilton is selling itself out because people love the historical figure, so yes, that's really what Allegiance could be compared to; the artistry is valuable for broader appeal which will hopefully translate to a long run.

Also, I really want to hear "Still a Chance" now.

Updated On: 11/5/15 at 01:56 PM

Oh, I wouldn't. I wish that specific influence could be measured, though.

I don't think we ever "know" a show's nut until after it recoups (and knowing the capitalization)...

responding to WhizzerMarvin and ScaryWarhol:

I have not seen Allegiance as yet.  But based upon familiarity with  the finances other Broadway shows, I estimate that the weekly nut of Allegiance is around $650K before royalties, taking into account the fact that there is a cast of over 30.  (Matilda - @$750K; Cinderella @$600-650K; If/Then @$$600-650K).  In the four weeks it has been running, the show's gross has gone down each week from "net" gross of around $540K to around $405K.  Last week's tally may have been lowered by Halloween as was the case with most other shows.  So, my estimate is that Allegiance is operating at a loss of about $150K to $200K a week, depending in part on how much it is spending on marketing and advertising.

Pootie2 said: "Royalties to whom?

And how do you estimate nut for Cinderella and IF/THEN when neither recouped nor shared final numbers?

"

I'm assuming George Takei

Royalties to the creators are not just for revivals.

I was guessing somewhere in the 600ks, too.

Why would they have to pay George for rights? It isn't an autobiography, it is just some of his memories from the camps in a fictional setting, no? I mean, I'm sure he has points or whatever they are called on Broadway. But I doubt he gets a writing or inspired by credit, or does he?!

http://www.show-score.com/shows/allegiance

Perhaps someone should inform Lea Salonga that none of those preview reviews, including both critics and viewers, should be used in a score tally, or she owes this board an apology, eh?

Wow, not up on TDF or TodayTix for the matinee. Maybe it's picking up steam (or maybe they've booked friendly houses for the performances critics will be present at).

Eeeeek. I need to go see it again with the changes.

Good orchestra seats were $109. Not sure about the rest.