Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 10/11

[Rob]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:12pm

Click below to access all the grosses from all the shows for the week ending 10/11/2009 in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Also, you will find information on each show's historical grosses, cumulative grosses and other statistics on how each show stacked up this week and in the past.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/grosses.cfm

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:22pm

I know "Shrek" would get a boost due to the fact it was Colombus Day weekend. Same with "Mary Poppins."

[singtopher]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:25pm

Good bumps all around. 8 shows increased attendance by more than 10%.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:29pm

I love how well CHICAGO is still doing.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:32pm

Of course Shrek would get a little bump over a holiday weekend, but hardly enough to keep it running forever. It'll shrink back down by next week.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:33pm

Well glad to see Shrek increased, but yeah it is only one weekend, which was a holiday weekend. I am interested in seeing how well it will do in the coming weeks.

[Mamie]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:34pm

OUCH for Superior Doughnuts. This and Wishful Drinking look like the big losers. I hate to see that happen in new shows.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:39pm

Wishful Drinking, being a Roundabout show, is relatively safe, though. It's guaranteed a run no matter what.

[threetwoone]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:39pm

I'm glad to see the boosts some shows got. And while not a boost, good for Shrek for at least going up...

I found an interesting article just now, about Dreamworks' revenues etc. It appears to be a quarterly report from Dec. 31st 2008 - March 31st 2009. Here are some notable lines:

"Lastly, our library of titles contributed $35.1 million earned across several markets and Shrek the Musical, which debuted on Broadway in the fourth quarter of 2008, contributed $9.8 million of revenues."

"In addition, cost of revenues for the first quarter of 2009 was impacted by the operating and marketing costs associated with the ongoing production of Shrek the Musical on Broadway, resulting in an immaterial overall gross loss in the first quarter of 2009 for the production."

Interesting how Shrek had a gross loss in the first few months of it being open, but still remains open without the production doing much better...
Updated On: 10/13/09 at 02:39 PM

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:40pm

I am glad to see such high raises in so many shows. I know it's because of the holiday weekend, but I hope they can maintain some of this and not drop too low next week!

[yeomansden]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 2:46pm

"OUCH for Superior Doughnuts. This and Wishful Drinking look like the big losers. I hate to see that happen in new shows."

Actually, while the percentages dropped for these two productions, it looks like their actual gross went up. So they may have had less tickets sold, but they brought in more money. (Guessing since I think both of these shows opened recently, they may have had a lot of comps last week? Not sure...)

[Mamie]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 3:06pm

Yes - I thought about it some more and realized that they were probably just 'smoothing out' after the opening rush. Also neither is a big musical that usually draws the holiday weekend families.

[matineeidol2013]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 3:17pm

Horray for Finians! Some things to take into consideration: A.) This is their first week of previews B.) how many people said this show would fail? Naturally things can quickly change (who knows, capacity may drop and the show can be gone in a number of weeks), but 72% capacity for a show that just started previews and that some have little faith in isnt half bad! Heres hoping things will only improve!!!

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 3:30pm

Yay for the big N2N boost!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 3:58pm

"Horray for Finians! Some things to take into consideration: A.) This is their first week of previews B.) how many people said this show would fail? Naturally things can quickly change (who knows, capacity may drop and the show can be gone in a number of weeks), but 72% capacity for a show that just started previews and that some have little faith in isnt half bad! Heres hoping things will only improve!!!"

Other things to take into consideration:

- They only had four performances. The average ticket price is relatively low and there might have been comped tickets as well. I am not saying it will fail, but the capacity doesn't really reflect much at this point whether this show will be a success or failure.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 4:05pm

Shrek is run by a movie studio tht doesn't seem to mind losing some disposable bucks to save face.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 4:40pm

SHREK may have movie money behind it but if the grosses fall below the show's stop clause limit 3 weeks in a row, the Broadway theatre can evict them and go looking for a new tenant. It's not entirely up to the producers.

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 5:10pm

^ ISn't that what happened with Avenue Q?

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 5:14pm

It has happened with many shows. In the early 1980s the cast of BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE were told to buy up extra tickets and give them to friends to keep the show from slipping below its stop clause.

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 5:26pm

"Shrek" released a block of tickets that got through late May the day Ben Crawford was announced to take over for Brian. Maybe they're thinking about keeping the movie open till the fourth film, "Shrek Forever After" to see if that will give it a box office boost like the "Hairspray" and Mamma Mia" movies did with their msuicals.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/131995-Crawford_Will_Be_Shrek_This_Fall_on_Broadway_Tix_on_Sale_Through_May_2010

[Barney Stinson]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 5:43pm

A little more info on Shrek, from DWA's 2nd Quarter 10Q

From the 10-Q

"Includes $19.9 million and $23.1 million of stage musical costs at June 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008, respectively."

I take that to mean that total costs in 2008 including the initial investment were $23.1 mil, and the cost of running the show from Jan 1-June 30 = $19.9 million, which would be a weekly nut of about $765K.

At $31.5 mil revenue on the year, they have thus far barely covered weekly operating costs, in fact, have lost money on the year, once you factor in gross adjustments and various royalty payments.

With only $5.6 mil of rev in 08, they have $18 mil+ to recoup.

I really don't think the holiday weeks justify the losses they are incurring right now. But I guess they are motivated by other factors, so I suppose it'll last til January at least.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 7:19pm

That jibes with Variety's report that the show's weekly nut hovers between $750,000 and $800,000 (Varies with the amount of weekly radio/TV/print ad campaigns.)

Last few weeks the grosses were:
09/13/2009 $438,209
09/20/2009 $451,274
09/27/2009 $552,808
10/04/2009 $511,347
10/11/2009 $670,006

It's not only failing to cover its costs, it is probably below its stop clause.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 7:34pm

If the Shuberts are getting their money from somewhere I doubt they will care.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/13/09 at 10:22pm

and i love how Chicago is getting a nice little bump this year. It's only slipped below $400K a few times this year.

Posted: 10/13/09 at 10:28pm

Anyone else hear the God of Carnage is supposed to announce the replacements this week?