Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 12/1/24- Page 2

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:44pm

TigerBait88 said: "IdinaBellFoster said: "TigerBait88 said: "Yes yes Debbie Downers…we know this isn’t quite a money making week for Maybe Happy Ending but it’s continued improvement and shows a 750k/90% week is within reach. Baby steps…I believe this show can make it!!"

What makes their operating costs so high for such a small cast? Is it due to the technical elements?"

Yes and the higher rent/operating costs (or so I’ve read) of the theatre but yeah…mostly the tech elements are what’s to blame."

I also don't fully understand how tech elements can be that expensive *per week.* Even though Maybe Happy Ending has a small cast, is the production renting super hi-tech equipment that can only be used by a trained/licensed professional(s) that cost $$$ per week? Sometimes I wonder if these tech folks earn more than the cast!

Updated On: 12/3/24 at 03:44 PM

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:55pm

I believe that's a house record for Outsiders. This article says Parade set the 9-performance record at $1.81 mil and the 8-performance record at $1.29 mil. This week for Outsiders was 8 performances at $1.84 mil. Surprised we haven't seen an article yet. 

[Dkinny23]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 4:30pm

jkcohen626 said: "I believe that's a house record for Outsiders.This articlesays Parade set the 9-performance record at $1.81 mil and the 8-performance record at $1.29 mil. This week for Outsiders was 8 performances at $1.84 mil. Surprised we haven't seen an article yet."

You know, before Maybe Happy Ending came along and stole all of my emotional energy, Outsiders was by far the thing I couldn’t stop talking about. I’ve seen it 3 times and still can’t wait to see it again one day. I’m really proud of this show. It meant a lot to me that my favorite book from childhood was so successfully adapted into such a well done and successful musical. Really, kudos to everyone involved!

[OhHiii]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 4:30pm

Based on MHE's momentum, there is definitely a case to be made that they will be giving it a run through the Tonys. They may lose money, but shows don't gain steam like that often and the Shuberts pay a lot of attention to trends. If the producers have the funds to keep it going, they'll let it stay. Especially since we're getting pretty late to announce a closing date and a new production for the Spring. Dead Outlaw may have had that house, but they may also be moving elsewhere.

Gypsy had a stellar week and it's not altogether surprising Sunset isn't a holiday week draw for tourists. 

Moulin Rouge is still not making enough money. Their Thanksgiving week grosses have dropped around $200K/year since re-opening and 2022-2023 also saw that similar drop for their Christmas week. If they're making $1.4M for Christmas this, that's a BIG problem for a show like that. I will keep beating the drum that it'll fold before Hadestown (and other long runners we've prognosticated about at length). 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 4:40pm

Every week there is a lot of speculation and I'm guessing incorrect information about what the weekly running costs for Maybe Happy Ending are. I wish somebody who actually knows what they are would post that information, because while I understand the production has technical elements and development costs, those are usually things built into the production costs not the running costs.  It is just hard for met to believe a small cast musical would need to gross $900K a week to be profitable.  I can't imagine any sane producer budgeting it that way, but of course perhaps I don't have a crazy imagination.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 5:02pm

Oh, Mary! going up every week is pretty astonishing, and this week is another house record.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 5:04pm

Although its gross was solid, the producers of DBH must be fretting a little.  Average ticket price of $109 on Thanksgiving week.  I guess WOM will be really important for this to become a solid hit.

I have to admit that I find it amazing that a 20+ year show is the top grosser, with an average price of $190 a ticket, when the movie is playing 'everywhere' for $15 or so, depending on where you live.  Good for them.  Both The Lin King and Wicked are doing MUCH BETTER than Phantom was doing at this point in its run.  Minus the last months' uptick due to its relatively imminent closing, it had already been at TKTS for a decade or so.  Since I am 73, it is unlikely that I will be here when Wicked overtakes Phantom, but I can imaging there being a point in times where the top of the long-run list is: Phantom, Wicked, Phantom, Chicago, and ??? in the top 5.  Cats?  BOM?  Hamilton?

[Kad]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 5:33pm

The top 5 longest running of Phantom, Chicago, Lion King, Wicked, and Cats will remain unchanged for many years. Book of Mormon will need to play over 1500 more performances just to become the 6th, and that seems doubtful. Hamilton and Aladdin could do it, but, again, it'll be years.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 5:37pm

Claudia Draper said: "JESUS.. $949.50 top price for Romeo + Juliet .. Why ?!?!"

Because there are very wealthy people with nothing better to do with their money and producers know this. Same thing as when Bvlgari takes out a full page ad in The NY Times for a $30,000 watch. They would not do this if there weren’t enough people willing to pay that price. Ugh. 

[OhHiii]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 5:46pm

Agree on DBH grosses. That can't be enough to sustain, but like Sunset Blvd, it's not altogether surprising it didn't do gangbusters on a holiday week. It's a cult film, and not exactly a title full of holiday cheer. How it fares in Jan/Feb and when nominations come out in May will be determinative. There is studio money behind it, but those film studios pull the plug before their bottom line gets hit hard.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 5:59pm

OhHiii said: "Agree on DBH grosses. That can't be enough to sustain, but like Sunset Blvd, it's not altogether surprising it didn't do gangbusters on a holiday week. It's a cult film, and not exactly a title full of holiday cheer. How it fares in Jan/Feb and when nominations come out in May will be determinative. There is studio money behind it, but those film studios pull the plug before their bottom line gets hit hard."

The film Death Becomes Her grossed $149,022,650 in 1992. I’d hardly call that a cult film. 

[chernjam]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 6:31pm

OhHiii said: "Agree on DBH grosses. That can't be enough to sustain, but like Sunset Blvd, it's not altogether surprising it didn't do gangbusters on a holiday week. It's a cult film, and not exactly a title full of holiday cheer. How it fares in Jan/Feb and when nominations come out in May will be determinative. There is studio money behind it, but those film studios pull the plug before their bottom line gets hit hard."

I wasn't surprised that Sunset Blvd. didn't do "gangbusters" as this was a Family, Holiday weekend.  The tops for the week were shows that I would imagine would appeal to a wider range of ages than Sunset Blvd. would.  Even with all that, it was off a negligible amount from the previous two weeks.  

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 6:33pm

I also don't fully understand how tech elements can be that expensive *per week.* Even though Maybe Happy Ending hasa small cast, is the production renting super hi-tech equipment that can only be used by a trained/licensed professional(s) that cost $$$ per week? Sometimes I wonder if these tech folks earn more than the cast!"

yes.  Crew and tech is expensive.  The director/producer and design team significantly overshot financially, part of the reason for previewing a month late.  Everything AND the kitchen sink is in the show.  They thought it necessary to elevate the story and direction/team when it wasn’t all necessary. 

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 7:24pm

chernjam said: "OhHiii said: "Agree on DBH grosses. That can't be enough to sustain, but like Sunset Blvd, it's not altogether surprising it didn't do gangbusters on a holiday week. It's a cult film, and not exactly a title full of holiday cheer. How it fares in Jan/Feb and when nominations come out in May will be determinative. There is studio money behind it, but those film studios pull the plug before their bottom line gets hit hard."

I wasn't surprised that Sunset Blvd. didn't do "gangbusters" as this was a Family, Holiday weekend. The tops for the week were shows that I would imagine would appeal to a wider range of ages than Sunset Blvd. would. Even with all that, it was off a negligible amount from the previous two weeks."

Even so, I was really surprised.  This means that even Nicole performances had a decent number of empty seats, which I really would not have expected.  

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/4/24 at 12:47am

OhHiii said: " If the producers have the funds to keep it going, they'll let it stay. Especially since we're getting pretty late to announce a closing date and a new production for the Spring. Dead Outlaw may have had that house, but they may also be moving elsewhere.."

Not too late to announce closings at all.  For example, last year at the Belasco, the open run run of How to Dance in Ohio announced closing January 21 and closed 3 weeks later.   Appropriate was booked, waiting in the wings from the Hayes and previewed late March.   The year before, Ain't No Mo' announced closing in December with Goodnight, Oscar previewing in April. 

 

Updated On: 12/4/24 at 12:47 AM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/4/24 at 1:13am

CoffeeBreak said: "Goodnight Oscar was booked, waiting in the wings and previewed in April."

Do you mean Appropriate? Good Night, Oscar was the season prior.

Updated On: 12/4/24 at 01:13 AM

[Ravanne_1]

Posted: 12/4/24 at 3:40am

To be honest, if MHE isn't able to pull numbers like this weekly going forward, there is little chance of them staying open for the Tonys. That's months away and the show is going to need to at least be making its weekly operating costs in order to stay alive. The producers might tolerate not making back investment money (and hoping that some Tony nods might improve future prospects) but they're not going to keep a show open for months if they're losing money every week. This is, in the end, a business. While this weeks numbers are a huge improvement for MHE, it's a big holiday week. Most shows saw pretty big numbers and when you really start dissecting how MHE really did instead of just looking at the raw numbers, there still some big warning signs. We know that this is an expensive show to run and it's in one of the smaller theaters so they not only need to sell a lot of tickets, but they need to sell those tickets at a high price. And yes, they did have a nearly 10% increase in capacity this week which is impressive but you can't compare that jump with shows that were previously selling 90%+ every week and saw smaller increases. A show that is selling 95% on average doesn't have the wiggle room to show such a dramatic increase. We still don't know what the ceiling is yet, but it's got a pretty low floor in regards to box office.

This week is going to be important because we need to see if MHE is going to sustain these numbers or if we're going to see any significant decreases in capacity and/or ticket prices now that Thanksgiving is over.. The weeks between now and the usual Christmas spike are going to be important because the show has to at least start making it's weekly operating costs to survive. 

Updated On: 12/4/24 at 03:40 AM