Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18- Page 2
Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
#25Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 12:23pm
KINKY BOOTS holding its own in the low-700s is about par for the course for an 8-show week. It's certainly no longer raking the big bucks in like it did with the original cast or upper-tier stunt casting (Wayne Brady, Todrick Hall, Brendon Urie), but I wouldn't necessarily fret quite yet. The lowest it has ever dipped for a normal 8 show week is the low-600s, and if it reaches or goes below that point, then the plug will likely be pulled.
I don't think Jake Shears is turning out to be the awesome stunt casting they hoped it would be, especially considering a large portion of the Scissor Sisters demographic has likely already seen KINKY BOOTS. The real test of this set of stunt casting will be when the girl from Pentatonix joins in two weeks. At that point, I think it can be safely determined if the show either needs to step up its stunt casting or fold after the summertime.
#26Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 12:54pm
I wonder if OOTI really need to step up the marketing of Lea Salonga. Not sure why they are wasting time and money bringing in Norm Lewis and Tamyra Gray for marketing purposes (assuming the rumours were true - which based on the Director's husband's tweet sure sounds like it) when they aren't leveraging the biggest asset they have in the cast. With over 5 million twitter followers it seems like people know who she is (maybe the general public know her work more than her name - so that could be emphasised in an ad). And yet, if I go to the website there is nothing about this on the main page (only Ken D's latest 'innovation' - the Best Price Guarantee). If I click 'reviews' - there is no pull quotes on the page about her.
Not sure why they are downplaying her involvement and sitting her below the title. Maybe they didn't want the show to be dependent on her/disappoint fans given it's more a featured role. But still. If the show is in dire straits I see this as a missed opportunity.
#27Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 12:57pm
..
#28Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 1:18pm
Just wondering where the potential ticket holders for Dolly ended up since it only did two shows for the week.
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#29Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 1:29pm
qolbinau said: "I wonder if OOTI really need to step up the marketing of Lea Salonga."
I don't really remember what Allegiance was doing, but her involvement didn't keep that show going. I can't imagine that her influence and marketability has really changed all that much in the past couple of years to make her a more bankable star.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#30Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 1:29pm
Well, if you write up a survey, we can ask them.
It' s the middle of January, they stayed home.
#31Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 4:02pm
HogansHero said: "The producing is not right"
HogansHero said: "Who: Ken Davenport
What: an incompetent dream
And so the pattern of flops continues."
I've been trying to figure out from our earlier back and forth why you have such a bone to pick with OOTI. But it seems like it is less an issue with the show and more that you don't like one of the producers. Have you seen this production of OOTI? Was there some noticeable aspect of Ken Davenport's producing that comes through in the production? I saw the show and didn't notice it. I credit Arden more for what I saw.
PS. I don't blame you if you don't like a whole production just because you hate one guy attached to it. That's how I feel about the Patriots. It's just helpful for me to know not to waste my breath trying to make logical arguments in response to your quips and jabs about anything with Davenport attached to it. And, by the way, you should know there's nothing rational you can say that will make me like the Patriots until Brady is gone. And if Tom Brady starts producing musicals, so help me.
#32Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 4:10pm
I'm excited about these Kathryn McPhee to Waitress rumors. If they are true, do you guys think she has enough star power to keep Waitress powered forward for another year until (wishful thinking) Sara comes back for a third stint? It'll be interesting to see what happens to the grosses as soon as Sara and Jason leave. Obviously a big drop, but how far and how long...
VintageSnarker
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/30/15
#33Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 4:52pm
Good point about Scissor Sisters fans already seeing Kinky Boots. Though I think the point of stunt casting is you'd make a return visit (see: Chicago).
I've liked Katharine McPhee since Idol but she's a little hit or miss. That said, her acting has never been that great. I think she might get a little lost in a show like Waitress. As for her bringing in an audience, her Scorpion show is inexplicably popular even though it is so, so stupid. So... why not?
#34Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 5:11pm
I gotta ask, who's seeing Beautiful and A Bronx Tale? I guess Beautiful might be a touristy one but A Bronx Tale? Anyone know?
#35Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 5:17pmA Bronx Tale is for anyone who saw jersey boys
#36Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 5:39pm
Warbucks2 said: "But it seems like it is less an issue with the show and more that you don't like one of the producers. Have you seen this production of OOTI? Was there some noticeable aspect of Ken Davenport's producing that comes through in the production? I saw the show and didn't notice it. I credit Arden more for what I saw."
But you're in a thread about grosses, not where people measure the aesthetic value of shows.
#37Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 5:55pm
Call_me_jorge said: "A Bronx Tale is for anyone who saw jersey boys"
And already saw Beautiful twice.
#38Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 6:45pm
Warbucks2 said: "I've been trying to figure out from our earlier back and forthwhy you have such a bone to pick with OOTI. But it seems like it is less an issue with the show and more that you don't like one of the producers. Have you seen this production of OOTI? Was there some noticeable aspect of Ken Davenport's producing that comes through in the production? I saw the show and didn't notice it. I credit Arden more for what I saw.
PS. I don't blame you if you don't like a whole production just because you hate one guy attached to it. That's how I feel about the Patriots. It's just helpful for me to know not to waste my breath trying to make logical arguments in response to your quips and jabs about anything with Davenport attached to it. And, by the way,you should know there's nothing rational you can say that will make me like the Patriots until Brady is gone. And if Tom Brady starts producing musicals, so help me."
I saw and liked the show. I don't hate anyone (except our happily shared Brady/Patriots hate, which doesn't count). I have nothing against any responsibility KD has for the show on stage (any more than I did for his Spring Awakening). My focus (here and always) is on the objective information about the show's business plan (a) which no experienced successful producer would touch with a 10 foot pole, (b) which is demonstrably a roadmap to failure and (c) that follows a pattern of inept budgeting and marketing that is, IMO, worthy of scorn. Should KD (who has the chutzpah to charge people to teach them how to produce) learn how to produce before his next show, I'll be first in line to shower the production with accolades.
Some people on this board have suggested I hated them. I don't hate any person; I do hate some ideas, and that's basically my feelings about this as well.
I hope you look good in green. I don't but I will be wearing it on 4 Feb 2018.
#39Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 8:17pm
I saw and liked the show. I don't hate anyone (except our happily shared Brady/Patriots hate, which doesn't count).
I hate Brady and the Patriots as well, but as a life long Giants fan that hatred doesn’t come close to the level of hate that I have for the Eagles. So I’ll be rooting hard for the Pats in the Super Bowl, I guess you’re not a Giants fan
#40Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 8:38pm
Jets, so the green comes naturally to me 
#41Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 8:57pm
Once on this island got a 99.53% average capacity this week. That is pretty good, no?
#42Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 9:04pm
Haterobics: Good point! This thread is about grosses and Hogan has been repeatedly beating down OOTI over its grosses and in this thread I guess that is appropriate.
Hogan: You’re a good guy. I like you. Great response and I think we may see more eye to eye than it seems, not just regarding Brady. If we’re just talking about grosses here and that’s the metric then I understand why you might question why a producer would touch OOTI. Are you also surprised a producer would touch the other 80% of shows on broadway that don’t turn a profit? I don’t get what makes this one so obviously bad. Apparently the folks on this board (generally) and the critics (almost unanimously) also seem to be missing problems that seem so obvious to you.
#43Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 9:23pm
TheatreRocks said: "Once on this island got a 99.53% average capacity this week. That is pretty good, no?"
If that were to translate to grosses then that would be pretty good, but anyone can fill a seat at a discount/for free.
#44Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 9:23pm
TheatreRocks said: "Once on this island got a 99.53% average capacity this week. That is pretty good, no?"
Capacity doesn’t really factor into the gross, though. You need to look at the gross vs. potential gross percentage.
Melanie73
Stand-by Joined: 5/17/17
#45Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 9:48pm
Last performance week, Bronx Tale promised to donate $4 from every seat sold to the victims of the recent Bronx Fire. I'm sure that encouraged a lot of people to see the show; that was certainly the case for me.
#46Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/18
Posted: 1/23/18 at 10:48pm
Warbucks2 said: "If we’re just talking about grosses here and that’s the metric then I understand why you might question why a producer would touch OOTI. Are you also surprised a producer would touch the other 80% of shows on broadway that don’t turn a profit? I don’t get what makes this one so obviously bad."
It is not just the grosses. It's the potential, the costs and the marketing. This is a venue that has a relatively low potential. This show is not costly but also not cheap. And (as I think I have said before) there was no marketing plan that described a path (a word I have used before regarding shows that seem to be proceeding cluelessly) to success. "Build it and they will come" is not a path to success, and I don't think they have ever conveyed to the broader potential audience a reason to see this. (In other contexts they call this a hook. )
There are plenty of other shows that don't make objective sense and I have commented on a fair number of them. Sometimes people believe in something that doesn't find an audience. But successful people are focused on a plan even when it fails, and here when you combine the elements mentioned above, you don't get to the finish line. As I have said, the only way this show succeeds is to create a demand that yields premium prices. You can't sit on the sidelines and expect that demand to spontaneously generate.
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