Posted: 11/5/24 at 3:10pm
Weren't there a bunch of pre-agreed dates that Auli’i Cravalho was going to be out? I remember when I was looking for tickets around this time she had always planned to be out.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 3:12pm
Halloween is notoriously a bad week for broadway, but Maybe Happy Ending and Tammy Faye are not long for this world. I don’t know if a show could recover from an average ticket price that low.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 3:18pm
I feel bad for Maybe Happy Ending since I thought it was a great show. Average ticket price of $47 is a little bit over the average price of rush ticket prices which tells me they're papering a lot.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 3:30pm
Moana 2 hits theatres at the end of the month, I assume Cravalho's planned absences are to fulfill press obligations for the movie. Makes sense that Cabret producers would want her in the show during the holiday week.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 3:36pm
Not sure what people were expecting from Maybe Happy Ending this week? After last week, this seems to be what their anticipated average week is going to be until the previews end and their long standing heavy preview discounts end. Hoping great reviews give it the launching point it needs!
Posted: 11/5/24 at 4:06pm
Omg!!
Tammy Fake grosses are way bad
Will Tammy Faye be the new Glory Days?
Posted: 11/5/24 at 4:33pm
I doubt the current week will be all that much better. Anecdotally I think a lot of people have left this week blank for election purposes (even though most shows are dark tonight), on top of this being a historically slow period. The hits have no trouble attracting people tho!! There’s just a lot of stinkers out there.
If a show starts previews, it’s almost unheard of for it not to open nowadays (pandemic aside). Especially when the producer is as deep pocketed as Nederlander & Elton John. For accounting purposes it’s better to open & run a week than to stop before opening.
MAYBE’s weekly costs aren’t that low. If they doubled their gross they’d still be losing money. The solid word of mouth doesn’t appear to be helping anything.
Updated On: 11/5/24 at 04:33 PM
Posted: 11/5/24 at 5:40pm
"Maybe Tammy Faye" might have stood a chance to run in a theater till Christmas.
As separate shows we might see 2 empty theaters by Thanksgiving.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 5:55pm
Producers of shows doing poorly will generally try to keep them running a while so they will be entitled to share 40% of the authors’ future royalties. I forget the number of performances they typically have to run before the 40% kicks in, but I’m sure some on here know.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 6:07pm
Will Left On Tenth shutter early or make it to it's February close?
Posted: 11/5/24 at 6:17pm
ucjrdude902 said: "From the little information Ive been told, they're thinking 24-25 and yes, the lavish production that made it a hit."
The North American tour of the reimagined production is happening summer 2025. This is the same production that has toured the UK and Australia, and while it features the original Broadway creative team (director/scenic/costume/lighting/orchestrator) it is not the original production that became a hit.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 6:19pm
If Tammy Faye is gone before year's end, could we possibly see a fast-track transfer of Ragtime, or would it be better to wait until Spring?
Posted: 11/5/24 at 6:25pm
They should wait. No reason to rush it into the slower selling months.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 6:30pm
Dylan Smith4 said: "If Tammy Faye is gone before year's end, could we possibly see a fast-track transfer of Ragtime, or would it be better to wait until Spring?"
that's the word going around. Question is, how soon does Tammy Faye close? right after opening? A few more weeks? After the holidays?
Posted: 11/5/24 at 7:41pm
Dylan Smith4 said: "If Tammy Faye is gone before year's end, could we possibly see a fast-track transfer of Ragtime, or would it be better to wait until Spring?"
First of all, I LOVE Ragtime. I have seen it 7 times that I can remember, and loved it every time. Given its history, do people really think it will sell, especially at the Palace. I don't see it, although I would love for it to surprise everyone and be a hit. Since it has no chance at Musical Revival, and no real ticket selling names, I just will be shocked if it does well...unless, of course, every new musical is a big flop. That might help.
Is the premise that funding would come from someone who expects to lose every dime invested?
On another note, I will admit that I never heard of the current female lead of Cabaret. Really serious question, even if it sounds obnoxious: beyond the people on this board, do you think her name is really selling tickets? The fact that it went down last week, if she was out, is pretty meaningless, given how many shows went down.
PS -- I am surprised that SB is not selling out. Do people think this is attributable mostly / solely to NS not doing 8 performances.
PPS -- Do people think Gatsby will survive beyond JJ's exit?
Updated On: 11/5/24 at 07:41 PM
Posted: 11/5/24 at 9:14pm
Moving RAGTIME to Broadway would be completely foolish from a financial standpoint, and it's not like one person is bankrolling it: it's still going to hit up the same investor pool as all other Broadway shows. (Its lead-producer is Tom Kirdahy, Terrence McNally's widower and a seasoned producer, but he's not going to self-fund it.)
Posted: 11/5/24 at 9:21pm
Jarethan said: "PS -- I am surprised that SB is not selling out. Do people think this is attributable mostly / solely to NS not doing 8 performances."
694 unsold seats could conceivably all be from a Mandy night but I haven't been paying attention to the numbers. Is the Balcony open on her performances? Are they selling more rush/lotto seats?
If the production is regularly selling out every show with Nicole far in advance, that might push some sales to Mandy's nights just from people who are curious about the production.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 11:08pm
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Jarethan said: "PS -- I am surprised that SB is not selling out. Do people think this is attributable mostly / solely to NS not doing 8 performances."
694 unsold seats could conceivably all be from a Mandy night but I haven't been paying attention to the numbers. Is the Balcony open on her performances? Are they selling more rush/lotto seats?
If the production is regularly selling out every show with Nicole far in advance, that might push some sales to Mandy's nights just from people who are curious about the production."
The balcony has been closed on Mandy nights... and I think from the productions perspective even if they're not sold out, for them to keep getting the grosses increase and average price per ticket is definitely good for them overall.
Posted: 11/5/24 at 11:47pm
Sorry to burst some of those bubbles, but Maybe Happy Ending was terrible in my opinion. Also, I went to see Teeth Off Broadway and it was dreadful. Everything else I have seen lately was great (I loved Water, Mattress, Sunset and Death)
Posted: 11/5/24 at 11:58pm
muscle23ftl said: "Sorry to burst some of those bubbles, but Maybe Happy Ending was terrible in my opinion. Also, I went to see Teeth Off Broadway and it was dreadful. Everything else I have seen lately was great (I loved Water, Mattress, Sunset and Death)"
How are you bursting a bubble? And what does Teeth have to do with any of this?
Posted: 11/6/24 at 1:03am
IIRC muscle23ftl also said Diana was the best musical ever, so .....
Posted: 11/6/24 at 8:43am
Posted: 11/7/24 at 8:32am
About "Maybe Happy Ending"...I think it might have fared better off-Broadway, looking at shows that have eventually succeeded. The buzz was very positive when it played down in Atlanta, but that was in February of 2020. The delay, caused by the pandemic, helped to erode whatever initial word of mouth the show had. It might have also benefitted from an off-Broadway engagement, which had helped shows in the past like "Avenue Q" at the Vineyard or "Dear Evan Hansen" at the Second Stage or "The Band's Visit" at the Atlantic. The set design may have affected such opportunities, but the show itself is so likeable, unpretentious, charming and ultimately touching that it might not have needed such an elaborate design initially. However, in its favor, if it secures really good reviews it should begin to build and have a good run. Can't believe, with a four-character musical, that their running costs are more than $525-$575 a week (depending on what Darren Criss, who is worth every nickel...his performance is that good...is getting). Thoughts?
Posted: 11/7/24 at 9:00am
MHE’s weekly is, I’m told, $750K per week. This is the new normal.
So just to break even they will need to increase grosses by 2.5X what they’re currently doing.
I’m sure they were also hoping that the presence of Darren would be helpful to the preview sales, which it clearly isn’t.
Updated On: 11/7/24 at 09:00 AM
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