Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/21/24 — Page 2

Yes, there will be shows of the new lot that are coming up this Spring that will limp through the Tonys. The difference with the new shows coming in, they will very likely not have the deep pockets some of the shows we saw stick around long past when they should have closed based on the numbers (Some Like It Hot was produced by its landlord, so the money there worked way differently). So shows won't be sticking around long past the Tonys in a bigger way than we saw last season, I think.

It's also worth noting that last season did see a new unmitigated hit productions in &Juliet and Sweeney Todd too if we're counting revivals. They aren't exactly apples to apples comparison given it's known pop music and a widely known Sondheim show, but the point stands. It's worth reminding everyone that every single season yields a maximum of 1-2 musicals that can be considered successes and run well. It's easy to say the market has not recovered post-Covid and everything is destined to fail. It hasn't recovered entirely, not by a long shot, but the obituaries for Broadway as a whole being written are hyperbolic.

OhHiii said: "Yes, there will be shows of the new lot that are coming up this Spring that will limp through the Tonys. The difference with the new shows coming in, they will very likely not have the deep pockets some of the shows we saw stick around long past when they should have closed based on the numbers (Some Like It Hot was produced by its landlord, so the money there worked way differently). So shows won't be sticking around long past the Tonys in a bigger way than we saw last season, I think."

I will gladly eat my hat if Lempicka reaches the four-month mark (around mid-July) and has not posted its closing notice. An even longer run would be an added bonus.

Quite a few of the spring titles and stars could end up faring a bit better than we think.

I have high expectations about The Notebook, Hell's Kitchen, and The Wiz. And Cabaret with a big asterisk (boffo business during Eddie Redmayne's run and at the beginning, but that's a BIG expensive show to continue operating)

Would like to be proved wrong by a few others . . .
Great Gatsby? (because of the title and marketing potential)
Lempicka? (because of Chavkin's work on Hadestown, and again if they play their cards right with advertising)

We have a lot coming in, certainly, but how many are must sees? While I'm looking forward to be works, I'm not crazy excited by most of them. In fact, other than Lempicka, and Suffs (and Wine, to a slightly lesser extent) all other new shows are a bit ho hum on my interest level. I am looking forward as well to Tommy and Cabaret.

dramamama611 said: "We have a lot coming in, certainly, but how many are must sees? While I'm looking forward to be works, I'm not crazy excited by most of them. In fact, other than Lempicka, and Suffs (and Wine, to a slightly lesser extent) all other new shows are a bit ho hum on my interest level. I am looking forward as well to Tommy and Cabaret."

Totally agree. I'll be in NYC a week in early March and have tix for Tommy, The Effect, and Corruption. I sampled the scores of the new Broadway musicals that will be playing at that point. Granted I could only hear a few minutes of each-- and out context-, to boot--but none of them have excited me enough to take a chance on them. (I saw and loved Wine and Roses off Broadway). Enough with the generic Americana/roots sound (although I did think Swept Away was terrific). Instead, I bought tix for Teeth, which at least sounds quirky and singular, is half the price of its Broadway cousins, and sounds like it might be the most transgressive show of the spring season.

Re: Hadestown, it's important to remember that the show recouped in 2019, so even in a slower time of year for grosses, they don't have the same financial commitments that a newer and/or non-recouped show would. Yes, grosses have been up-and-down over time, but I'd say that's a part of the life cycle of a long-running Broadway show. Who knows how much longer the show has at the Walter Kerr, but selling out in mid-January is not likely a signal to post the closing notice of a show that has recouped and been running for this many years. Even if another production wanted the Kerr, as I'm sure several have over the years, Hadestown is nowhere near triggering a possible stop-clause with Jujamcyn/ATG. It's possible for producers to want to close up shop at some point, but they have no reason to do that since they're making money from Broadway and the national tour at this point.