Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 11/6/22- Page 3

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 6:34pm

JBroadway said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "So now we should blame the clearly-racist audience for not buying tickets, right? That’s the next verse of how the song goes, no?"



You need some overalls for that straw man?"

Yes I would like some overalls, it’s getting cold these days and denim is very comfy. 

 

[TheatreMonkey]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 6:35pm

Matt Rogers said: "Bill Snibson said: "I thought that "Death of a Salesman" was going to be no brainer and a much bigger hit but their numbers have been really lack-luster."

Maybe they shouldn’t have yanked the discount code the day the reviews came out. Maybe people in post pandemic America don’t have $183.00 to spend, per ticket, on a play that has been revived to death already, And yes, I know it’s always at TKTS and there are cheaper seats in the back and high in the rafters."

Someone needs to write an analysis of just that -- aside from probably being quite interesting, they'd be able to use the title "Death of a 'Death of a Salesman'".

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 6:44pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "Matt Rogers said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Well sh*t. Looks like the Broadway audience are racists!

(That’s the line, right? That’s what we’re all meant to say now, right?)"

Huh????????"



“So now we should blame the clearly-racist audience for not buying tickets, right? That’s the next verse of how the song goes, no?”

I have not heard one person saying anything like this…..until now. 


"

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 7:12pm

May I also point out that Hamilton, The Piano Lesson, MJ The Musical, and Six are pulling in good-to-great numbers. 

And while their numbers aren’t great now, Tony Award winning ethically diverse shows like Hadestown and A Strange Loop have done pretty well. Not to mention other culturally diverse pretty successful shows like & Juliet and Into The Woods. 

And let’s not forget all the predominantly white shows that are/were struggling: Almost Famous, Cost of Living, Kimberly Akimbo, Walking With Ghosts.

That’s not to say that racism does not permeate all parts of American culture, including Broadway.  But plays especially are always harder sells on Broadway unless they have a huge star attached (i.e. Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Daniels - although I think in that last instance the biggest star was the book and movie). 

it seems to me that being a Broadway investor is not for people who like safe bets. They go in knowing shows may or may not be commercial hits. In some cases, it may be a passion project or it may more often be that shows they believe in just don’t perform at the box office like they’d hoped. 

Thank goodness for investors who sink their money into less than safe bets. Very few of Sondheim’s shows ever recouped. But I think we can still agree that we are still glad they were produced. And I’m thankful that the “great white way” is a little less white these days. 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 7:14pm

That total for A Beautiful Noise really surprised me, that's super strong. & Juliet looks looks like it will be strong too. I'm a little less impressed by the Some Like It Hot numbers (I know it was a partial week).

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 7:26pm

I believe “Beautiful Noise” has the largest advance of any new musical this season. 

[pethian]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 7:31pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I believe “Beautiful Noise” has the largest advance of any new musical this season."

 

I believe you are correct. I've heard this from several sources. That average ticket price is stunning. Good for them.

 

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 7:40pm

"A Beautiful Noise" has become the sleeper hit of the season, as far as new musicals are concerned.. Little marketing yet the Neil Diamond name alone is pushing sales. It's very impressive. It sounds like lazy play writing but, alas, it is generating dollars and bringing people to the theater. I'm conflicted! 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 7:46pm

Bill Snibson said: ""A Beautiful Noise" has become the sleeper hit of the season, as far as new musicals are concerned.. Little marketing yet the Neil Diamond name alone is pushing sales. It's very impressive. It sounds like lazy play writing but, alas, it is generating dollars and bringing people to the theater. I'm conflicted!"

Let's not jump the gun here. Their advance is solid until the end of the year. There's lots of availability beginning in January. Let's see what the reviews are and if people will shell out $150 for a ticket in the winter.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 7:50pm

Far too soon to jump to conclusions about BEAUTIFUL NOISE –– flops like SUMMER grossed over $1m for a few months, and often with jukebox titles like this the diehards flock to early previews. But it's a better start than some other shows here.

KPOP is crazy. Just a complete disconnect from buyers. I wonder if the title is too bland?? Would "[WORD]: THE KPOP MUSICAL" have sold better?

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 7:58pm

ACL2006 said: "Bill Snibson said: ""A Beautiful Noise" has become the sleeper hit of the season, as far as new musicals are concerned.. Little marketing yet the Neil Diamond name alone is pushing sales. It's very impressive. It sounds like lazy play writing but, alas, it is generating dollars and bringing people to the theater. I'm conflicted!"

Let's not jump the gun here. Their advance is solid until the end of the year. There's lots of availability beginning in January. Let's see what the reviews are and if people will shell out $150 for a ticket in the winter."

 

Not jumping the gun...just comparing it with other shows like Kimberly Akimbo, Almost Famous, &Juliet, and K-Pop...and comparatively "A Beautiful Noise" is doing gang-busters. I have no clue about the over-all trajectory but at the current time it is winning from a marketing stand point.That's all.  

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 8:00pm

Matt Rogers said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Matt Rogers said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Well sh*t. Looks like the Broadway audience are racists!

(That’s the line, right? That’s what we’re all meant to say now, right?)"

Huh????????"



“So now we should blame the clearly-racist audience for not buying tickets, right? That’s the next verse of how the song goes, no?”

I have not heard one person saying anything like this…..until now.


"

"

Playbill's editor-in-chief tweeted something along the lines of an accusation about why Leopolsdadt was doing so well but Piano Lesson and Topdog/Underdog are not. It was incredible stupid and she deleted it quickly but there is this simmering attitude of resentment towards the lack of audience flock to these fine productions. I am assuming thats what is being referred to here...

 

THAT SAID: why isnt Beautiful Noise similar to MJ? Both musicians have fans flocking to hear their music. 

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 9:11pm

I think "A Beautiful Noise" is actually very similar to "MJ"...a familiar pop name and song book. It's an easy and safe sell. It's obviously working. 

[dearalanaaaa]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 10:27pm

I hate to say that my words on the kpop musical remain true. F(X)'s Luna will not sell tickets to teenage kpop fans, because we are here to see our specific idols, not these watered down kpop recreations, and adults are equally disinterested. Nobody investing or producing KPop even though of who the audience is and how they work, and that's their fault. 

Real kpop groups have their structure for a reason (the R3mis side plot about pregnancy mentioned in the other thread would've been good drama though!). Fans are disillusioned to view themselves as personally close to their favorite idols, and kpop Broadway fails to realize that creating fictional idols that are made as a critique to the industry, and don't have any structure of real kpop groups (like hype around streams/a cast album), spend a lot of the plot commenting on the negativity of the industry, and from the press clips, have nowhere near the amount of talent any kpop group has (not even just BTS, look up Tomorrow x Together, NMIXX, and Sunmi, all of whom could be in real like equivalents of the groups in the kpop musical), and you will see that true kpop depends on visuals, strong charismatic humans, all round dance skill, and a fanbase willing to support their idols until the very end. I never wish people out a job, but closing this early would at least mean cutting the losses. And while they're at it, I'll gladly take a paper ticket and write exactly how they can improve this show to appeal to real KPop fans, real teenagers, and not whatever wishy washy audience they imagined for the show.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 10:50pm

If I had to guess, the typical Broadway audience - older white skewing - after a crazy two years - does not want to sit through a taught, racial drama. They'd rather get drunk at happy hour and see a dumb Neil Diamond show. Sorry if that comes off harsh or whatever, but that just feel like what is happening. 

That said, I don't think we can count A Beautiful Noise as a hit. It hasn't even opened yet. It sounds like a terrible concept. 

KPOP is just a bland idea/title. It's like saying "Rock Music: The Musical." Who the hell knows what it's about. I do wonder if off-Broadway the experience made it more interesting than the actual show. I wonder why they didn't keep their out of town tryout in DC. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 10:57pm

A nice bump for Almost Famous and Kimberly Akimbo. 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 11/8/22 at 11:05pm

Bill Snibson said: "I think "A Beautiful Noise" is actually very similar to "MJ"...a familiar pop name and song book. It's an easy and safe sell. It's obviously working."

OK... I'm quite surprised by A Beautiful Noise too but that's very premature. Neil Diamond is not Michael Jackson. Talk to me in a year if A Beautiful Noise is grossing well over $1 million then...

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/9/22 at 8:59am

Phantom4ever said: "Lot666, I think Cameron would close Phantom today if he could. He wants to cut off those royalty checks to Harold Prince and Bjornson ASAP. Feb. 18 can't get here soon enough for him."

You may be right, but I'm not convinced. A $1 million per-week bird-in-the-hand seems like strong motivation to me. Of course, I'm not talking about an open-ended run; I'm just wondering about an extension for as long as it continues the current numbers.

Updated On: 11/9/22 at 08:59 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/9/22 at 9:00am

chernjam said: "Lot666 said: "Can Cameron Mackintosh bring himself to officially pull the plug on Phantom (i.e., actually put February 18 on sale),with the show now consistently earning $1 million+ per week and posting the highest capacity on Broadway?"

I think it depends on whether these are still weekly sales or having an affect on Advance Ticket sales. My gut was that if demand was so high that the advance grew they would instead of putting Feb 18 on sale as the closing date would extend it with a new closing date (which I expected would happen after the Christmas season just to max demand at higher prices)"

That's what I meant.

[newyorker1410]

Posted: 11/9/22 at 10:58am

I don't think anyone mentioned that there were fifty thousand well-to-do tourists here for the NYC Marathon.  The three I knew all saw shows.  

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/9/22 at 11:00am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Far too soon to jump to conclusions about BEAUTIFUL NOISE –– flops like SUMMER grossed over $1m for a few months, and often with jukebox titles like this the diehards flock to early previews. But it's a better start than some other shows here.

KPOP is crazy. Just a complete disconnect from buyers. I wonder if the title is too bland?? Would "[WORD]: THE KPOP MUSICAL" have sold better?"

I think the disconnect is the average age of broadway ticket buyers vs the age of people interested in actual kpop.  If I don't care about them normally, I'm not going to want to see a show about it. 

[jesse benet]

Posted: 11/9/22 at 11:04am

BorisTomashevsky said: "Matt Rogers said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Well sh*t. Looks like the Broadway audience are racists!

(That’s the line, right? That’s what we’re all meant to say now, right?)"

Huh????????"

Producers gave what was demanded, which is more POC stories onstage, and for almost a year those stories have been absolutely not reeling them in and have instead been losing money.

So now we should blame the clearly-racist audience for not buying tickets, right? That’s the next verse of how the song goes, no?

Exaggeration to illustrate the point, but the elephant in the room is that people simply don’t want to see much of what only made it to Broadway because producers had their arms twisted over the past two years. Rather than anyone being incredulous about why people aren’t flocking to Topdog/Underdog, maybe what should be acknowledged is that the audience for it just doesn’t exist right now.


"

Maybe it's worth putting POC perspectives on Broadway even if they aren't blockbuster sellers? 
A weird thing to make-up a "that's racist!" accusation when no one in this thread mentioned racism. 
I feel like if you have to exaggerate to illustrate a point, maybe the point isn't well-made to begin with.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 11/9/22 at 12:06pm

I'm not sure it is much of an exaggeration when some artists have made a similar assertion and Billy Eichner said something along the same lines when he suggested homophobia was the reason Bros did not perform well at the box office.  I took it as poking back a bit at those default responses.

[cwilliams]

Posted: 11/9/22 at 5:02pm

Lot666 said: "Can Cameron Mackintosh bring himself to officially pull the plug on Phantom (i.e., actually put February 18 on sale),with the show now consistently earning $1 million+ per week and posting the highest capacity on Broadway?"

 

I say this as a die hard Phan that wished it didnt have to close: the question is what would the grosses be if it wasnt closing, I doubt it would be doing that kind of business. Also booked for the 35th anniversary show, can't wait! 

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 11/9/22 at 5:13pm

Gabriel Byrne's Walking With Ghosts to Close Early on Broadway