Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 12/17/17- Page 2

[Pauly3]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 5:38pm

Warbucks2 said: "For a week where most shows took a dip, happy to see OOTI makinga slight increase over last week. I'm hopeful (and so far the numbers seem to be proving out) that this will continue to followa very similar word of mouth path to success as Come From Away - which had very similar numbers in its initial weeks and gradually kept growing and growing as more people discoveredhow incredible of a show it is."

Jarethan said: "Actually your memory is faulty on this one; much to my surprise, Come From Away sold out from the very first performance and has not had an empty seat since then. You can see this by looking at the box office history for CFA. Sellout from Day 1."

The similarities between Come From Away and Once On This Island's first 5-6 weeks numbers are remarkably close.  Out of the gate, each show's Gross % Potential, Ave. Paid and Seat % Sold are all quite similar.

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 6:48pm

Does anyone have a concept of OOTI's weekly running costs/the amount of money put into it? I saw it on Saturday with my drama club and couldn't imagine it's anything too overwhelming for them—considering the moderately sized cast and small band. I'd figure they'd be more worried about long-term investments. My drama teacher spent half the train ride back home expressing her bewilderment at how much money had to have been put into the show (though I personally didn't get the impression it was a huge amount?). 

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 6:50pm

Jarethan said: "Actually your memory is faulty on this one; much to my surprise, Come From Away sold out from the very first performance and has not had an empty seat since then. You can see this by looking at the box office history for CFA. Sellout from Day 1."

The first few weeks were heavily discounted, and they technically fell 153 seats shy of this claim being true in week three.

[wicked4l]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 7:34pm

Home for the Holidays has a 2 week buy out for the cast and orchestra. (So if the show closed Sunday they’d still have to pay everyone as if they didn’t). It wouldn’t save them that much so they probably just figured they’re try to make some during the actual holiday week.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 8:09pm

A difference between CFA and OOTI is that CFA has a very simple, uplifting story. OOTI is being marketed as a simple, uplifting, charming fairy tale but it's actually a very sad, dark story. I feel like people going with their kids expecting a Disney Little Mermaid-in-the-Caribbean will be disappointed. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 8:54pm

Pauly3 said: "The similarities between Come From Away and Once On This Island's first 5-6 weeks numbers are remarkably close. Out of the gate, each show's Gross % Potential, Ave. Paid and Seat % Sold are all quite similar."

None of those mean diddly squat, not to mention that they are not comparable. Look at the grosses. Then get back to us. 

[passing strange]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 9:03pm

Jarethan said: "I am thinking that Spongebob needs to come up with a brilliant marketing campaign or it is not going to make it. So too with Once On This Island if it is going to return its investment. Re Spongebob,Frozen is just around the corner and, if it is well received, Spongebob will lose unless it is already a hit by that time. Hopefully, I am wrong or they will come up with the marketing campaign. Where is Ed Sullivan when we need him? (I have to admit that I still have no interest in seeing it, but I certainly want any show that gets good reviews to have a chance).

Also, I am absolutely amazed at this point with Come From Away. I liked it when I saw it early in the run, enjoy the cast recording even more, and still did not expect it to 'enter the zeitgeist' along with Evan Hansen last season. You never know. The interesting thing is that I still know people who won't see it because they 'don't want to be reminded of 9/11', despite being told how uplifting it is."

^^^  I am definitely among those who are wary about reliving 9/11.  I am glad that people are finding the show uplifting, and that it is doing well, but I doubt if I'll have the courage to see it myself.

 

Updated On: 12/18/17 at 09:03 PM

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 9:59pm

kclahar said: "^^^ I am definitely among those who arewary about reliving 9/11. I am glad that people are finding the showuplifting, and that it is doing well, but I doubt if I'll have the courage to see it myself."

For what it's worth, kclahar, I was one of the first people on here to write with extreme trepidation about the show when it was announced (the source material itself, let alone performing it in Manhattan). But putting my guard down and getting a ticket was one of the best decisions I've made as a theatergoer. It's really not a "9/11 musical." How we handle our grief of that day is entirely personal of course, but I hope you'll get to see this unbelievably uplifting, hopeful show.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 10:04pm

HBBrock said: "Also....the first few months of Frozen have been sold out for ages. Spongebob isn’t suddenly losing its audience to Frozen, which was sold out for months well before Spongebob opened."

If Frozen opens with fanfare (a given) AND gets good reviews (we'll see), everyone in the world will want to see it, a la The Lion King and Frozen and Phantom.  At that point, Spongebob will be hurt again IMO.  There is only so much that most family audiences can shell out for tickets and the money will go to Frozen even mores that today.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 10:12pm

haterobics said: "Jarethan said: "Actually your memory is faulty on this one; much to my surprise, Come From Away sold out from the very first performance and has not had an empty seat since then. You can see this by looking at the box office history for CFA. Sellout from Day 1."

The first few weeks were heavily discounted, and they technically fell 153 seats shy of this claim being true in week three."

So what?  Lots of shows have been discounted and not come anywhere near sold out.  153 tickets in one single week.  You seriously have to be kidding.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 10:13pm

the genius of the Disney demographic is that it renews itself much quicker than the older segments. It's not just Frozen that Spongey has to compete with; there are plenty of other fall backs in that space for those who can't get Frozen. But yes, Frozen is going to leave some degree of a vacuum in its wake.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 10:15pm

kclahar said: "Jarethan said: "I am thinking that Spongebob needs to come up with a brilliant marketing campaign or it is not going to make it. So too with Once On This Island if it is going to return its investment. Re Spongebob,Frozen is just around the corner and, if it is well received, Spongebob will lose unless it is already a hit by that time. Hopefully, I am wrong or they will come up with the marketing campaign. Where is Ed Sullivan when we need him? (I have to admit that I still have no interest in seeing it, but I certainly want any show that gets good reviews to have a chance).

Also, I am absolutely amazed at this point with Come From Away. I liked it when I saw it early in the run, enjoy the cast recording even more, and still did not expect it to 'enter the zeitgeist' along with Evan Hansen last season. You never know. The interesting thing is that I still know people who won't see it because they 'don't want to be reminded of 9/11', despite being told how uplifting it is."

^^^ I am definitely among those who arewary about reliving 9/11. I am glad that people are finding the showuplifting, and that it is doing well, but I doubt if I'll have the courage to see it myself.

"

It's not that kind of show at all. it takes place at that time of course and we all know what's happening out there. But this focuses on the town and striving to do the right thing because you are human and you care. It's not like you forget why this is happening but it's just such an uplifting show, it's about the goodness not the evil. It's not re-living 9/11 at all. It's how you overcome it with grace and humanity. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 10:24pm

KathyNYC2 said: "kclahar said: "Jarethan said: "I am thinking that Spongebob needs to come up with a brilliant marketing campaign or it is not going to make it. So too with Once On This Island if it is going to return its investment. Re Spongebob,Frozen is just around the corner and, if it is well received, Spongebob will lose unless it is already a hit by that time. Hopefully, I am wrong or they will come up with the marketing campaign. Where is Ed Sullivan when we need him? (I have to admit that I still have no interest in seeing it, but I certainly want any show that gets good reviews to have a chance).

Also, I am absolutely amazed at this point with Come From Away. I liked it when I saw it early in the run, enjoy the cast recording even more, and still did not expect it to 'enter the zeitgeist' along with Evan Hansen last season. You never know. The interesting thing is that I still know people who won't see it because they 'don't want to be reminded of 9/11', despite being told how uplifting it is."

^^^ I am definitely among those who arewary about reliving 9/11. I am glad that people are finding the showuplifting, and that it is doing well, but I doubt if I'll have the courage to see it myself.

"

It's not that kind of show at all.it takes place at that time of course and we all know what's happening out there. But this focuses on the town and striving to do the right thing because you are human and you care. It's not like you forget why this is happening but it's just such an uplifting show, it's about the goodness not the evil. It's not re-living 9/11 at all. It's how you overcome it with grace and humanity."

Honestly,I don't know how many times I have said exactly what you wrote...I just seem to know a good number of people who don't seem to care.  Yet, despite that, it is a huge hit.  I would love to know if the producers expected the degree of success to date.

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/18/17 at 11:38pm

Jarethan said: "So what? Lots of shows have been discounted and not come anywhere near soldout. 153 tickets in one singleweek. You seriously have to be kidding."

You're the one who said it never had a single empty seat since it opened. Don't blame me for wondering if that was true, heh.

[Lot666]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 8:09am

BroadwayConcierge said: "kclahar said: "^^^ I am definitely among those who arewary about reliving 9/11. I am glad that people are finding the showuplifting, and that it is doing well, but I doubt if I'll have the courage to see it myself."

For what it's worth, kclahar, I was one of the first people on here to write with extreme trepidationabout the show when it was announced (the source material itself, let alone performing it in Manhattan). But putting my guard down and getting a ticketwas one of the best decisions I've made as a theatergoer. It's really not a "9/11 musical." How we handle our grief of that day is entirely personal of course, but I hope you'll get to see this unbelievably uplifting, hopeful show."

 Yep. I've seen it twice and loved it even more the second time. You WILL leave the theatre with a smile on your face and a song in your heart. Come From Away is not a musical about terrorism.

Updated On: 12/19/17 at 08:09 AM

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 12:59pm

HogansHero said: "Pauly3 said: "The similarities between Come From Away and Once On This Island's first 5-6 weeks numbers are remarkably close. Out of the gate, each show's Gross % Potential, Ave. Paid and Seat % Sold are all quite similar."

None of those mean diddly squat, not to mention that they are not comparable. Look at the grosses. Then get back to us."

HogansHero, your post here surprises me a bit, as I'm a fan of your thoughtful comments on this board, but this almost seems like someone got ahold of your computer and posted your message.

Grosses don't have much meaning because you're comparing a 700 seat theatre to a 1050 seat theatre.  Something Rotten consistently had high grosses, ran for two years, and couldn't even come close to recouping.  It's gross % potential hovered around 60% for a lot of that time.

Jarethan, "Selling out" is also a bad metric to follow because producers could easily take all the left over tickets and sell them for $20 each.  And frankly, shows like OOTI and Come From Away that show 60% of gross % potential, but are 100% full, are practically giving tickets away for pennies.  I don't think it's a bad strategy in smaller theatres, but it certainly makes it confusing for folks on these message boards who like to follow the numbers.  

Gross % potential doesn't tell the FULL story and has its own flaws (namely, how a show defines its potential -- I've seen that potential number manipulated, or in the case of Hamilton, inflated), but generally is a better way to look at how well a show is doing.  

It took Come From Away 22 weeks to hit 100% gross % potential.  It started off in the 50-60% range, like OOTI, and took a while before word of mouth caught on.  The two shows have a ton of similarities.  Are they both about 9/11?  No.  Of course, they have differences too. 

Compare CFA's ramp up to success via word of mouth to a show like Dear Evan Hansen which got to 100% in 5 weeks, and you can see why I am more likely to compare word-of-mouth favorite OOTI to word-of-mouth favorite Come From Away, and not compare it to other shows that caught fire immediately.   

 

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 3:00pm

haterobics said: "Jarethan said: "So what? Lots of shows have been discounted and not come anywhere near soldout. 153 tickets in one singleweek. You seriously have to be kidding."

You're the one who said it never had a single empty seat since it opened. Don't blame me for wondering if that was true, heh."

Have to admit that I assumed that was opening week, but I didn't check.  Re my original comment, i 'Rounded up' since that amounted to 19 seats performance for one week.  Seemed like a reasonable decision to me.

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 3:07pm

Warbucks2 said: "HogansHero said: "Pauly3 said: "The similarities between Come From Away and Once On This Island's first 5-6 weeks numbers are remarkably close. Out of the gate, each show's Gross % Potential, Ave. Paid and Seat % Sold are all quite similar."

None of those mean diddly squat, not to mention that they are not comparable. Look at the grosses. Then get back to us."

HogansHero, your post here surprises me a bit, as I'm a fan of your thoughtful comments on this board, but this almost seems like someonegot ahold of your computer and posted yourmessage.

Grosses don't have much meaning because you're comparing a 700 seat theatre to a 1050 seat theatre. Something Rotten consistently had high grosses, ran for two years, and couldn't even come close to recouping. It's gross % potential hovered around 60% for a lot of that time.

Jarethan, "Selling out" is also a bad metric to follow because producers could easily take all the left over tickets and sell them for $20 each. And frankly, shows like OOTI and Come From Away that show 60% of gross % potential, but are 100% full, are practically giving tickets away for pennies. I don't think it's a bad strategy in smaller theatres, but it certainly makes it confusing for folks on these message boards who like to follow the numbers.

Gross % potential doesn't tell the FULL story and has its own flaws (namely, how a show defines its potential -- I've seen that potential number manipulated, or in the case of Hamilton, inflated), but generally is a better way to look at how well a show is doing.

It took Come From Away 22 weeks to hit 100% gross % potential. It started off in the 50-60% range, like OOTI, and took a while before word of mouth caught on. The two shows have a ton of similarities. Are they both about 9/11? No. Of course, they have differences too.

Compare CFA's ramp up to success via word of mouthto a show like Dear Evan Hansen which got to 100% in 5 weeks, and you can see why I am more likely to compare word-of-mouth favorite OOTI to word-of-mouth favorite Come From Away, and not compare it to other shows that caught fire immediately.


You absolutely make a valid argument.  That said I remember being really surprised that it sold out (minus 27 seats in week 3) from the first preview.  I remember wondering at the time whether the producers were happy or unhappy that they sold so many discount tickets in advance, not expecting the interest to be as hot as it turned out to be.  I wondered if they regretted not discounting a smaller percentage...as I remember the discounts were steep).

Of course, at the point it doesn't seem to matter a bit.  I think the show has entered into that area that very few shows achieve.  People who never go to the theatre want to see it.  I am sure that it will run multiples longer than the producers ever expected, e.g., 6 years vs. 6 months?

 

[PatrickDennis92]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 3:17pm

I know there is a lot of love for OOTI on this board, so I will expect to be shiv’d on the E train tonight. But I personally don’t think OOTI is on the trajectory we saw with Come From Away... If I were the producers of OOTI, I would soberly determine what expenses could be cut in order to try and make the show profitable at grosses around 400-500k a week, pray for awards, and potentially consider stunt casting later in the run. In my opinion, the show just isn’t good enough for word of mouth to translate into Come From Away caliber sales. I think the production of OOTI is excellent, but not the show.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 3:18pm

@Daddy Warbucks, thanks for the post. My post was not as complete as it should have been. I should have said that, of the reported information, the relevant one is the grosses. Then, of course, you have to consider that against at least a decent estimate of costs to make sense of it. That is going to be at least a little affected by the house size, but you can put a cheap show in a big house and an expensive show in a small one, so it is really the relationship of the grosses to the nut that are key.

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 4:58pm

HogansHero said:  "@Daddy Warbucks, thanks for the post. My post was not as complete as it should have been. I should have said that, of the reported information, the relevant one is the grosses. Then, of course, you have to consider that against at least a decent estimate of costs to make sense of it. That is going to be at least a little affected by the house size, but you can put a cheap show in a big house and an expensive show in a small one, so it is really the relationship of the grosses to the nut that are key."

Now THERE'S the real HogansHero back at his computer.    Thanks for adding further clarification and analysis to your post.  I agree with your further points here. 

The other thing to keep in mind is the question of what defines success.  Two years of Something Rotten on Broadway (with its million dollar grosses) was likely viewed as a big success to the producers office which got paid off the top, and the actors and the theatre.  To the investors who put up millions of dollars and lost most of it, it was a disappointing failure from a financial perspective.   

I too should clarify, that I'm not saying OOTI is bound to reach CFA heights -- I just think it has some of the same things going for it, and has started off in a similar financial zone, and perhaps OOTI will be another word-of-mouth-propelled success, like CFA.  My sense is that it will, but time will tell.      

PatrickDennis92 said:  "In my opinion, the show just isn’t good enough for word of mouth to translate into Come From Away caliber sales."

You make some valid points.  For what its worth though, I never thought it was possible for CFA to get to where it is today after its less than amazing financial start (again, looking at gross % potential and not tickets sold at discount).  

Jarethan said: "I think the show has entered into that area that very few shows achieve. People who never go to the theatre want to see it. I am sure that it will run multiples longer than the producers ever expected, e.g., 6 years vs. 6 months?"

Agreed.  CFA is a rare situation and a welcomed surprise.  It's success is good for Broadway in every way I can think of.  

 

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 6:00pm

If SpongeBob and OOTI producers are waiting for Tony nominations , they will have to be prepared for the beating my friend January and his pal February will give them. KO.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 6:12pm

blaxx said: "If SpongeBob and OOTI producers are waiting for Tony nominations , they will have to be prepared for the beating my friend January and his pal February will give them. KO."

You talk about them like they are your arms. Just call them your main bitch and your side hoe.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 7:01pm

@Daddy Warbucks "I just think it has some of the same things going for it, and has started off in a similar financial zone." 

I don't see them as similar in the metrics that (per what I said before) matter. Specifically, through the first 6 frames (adjusting for the partial first weeks), the average weekly net gross available to the productions were approximately $672k for CFA and $436k for OOTI. I don't know the nut for either but I'd venture to say CFA made money and OOTI lost money. So that, to me, is quite the opposite "zone." Beyond that, yes, they may arguably have some of the same things going for them. 

[MattRVA]

Posted: 12/19/17 at 7:15pm

I’m delighted to see The Band’s Visit doing well. I saw the show this past weekend, and it exceeded my high expectations. His reputation aside, if Riedel’s figures ($5 million capitalization, with a weekly running cost of $400,000 - https://nypost.com/2017/07/11/people-will-fight-for-tickets-to-these-upcoming-broadway-musicals/) are in the ballpark, is it fair to say based on early numbers the show has a solid chance at recoupment?