Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 2/23/14- Page 2

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:55am

Can those of you with insight into the weekly cost of running a Broadway show comment on A Gentleman's Guide and After Midnight? Can both these shows continue to coast by on the grosses they're making or do they need to do better to make it through the season?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 10:17am

A good rule of thumb is to assume operating costs are somewhere in the 50% of the potential gross range. Some shows may be higher and some may be lower, and of course it can fluctuate weekly due to things like extra rehearsals and overtime payments, work calls for the crew, advertising costs for the week, etc. But a show like Gentlemen's Guide is probably havering right around the break even point this past week. The show only has a potential gross of less than $900,000. I doubt any producer and/or general manager would have booked them into that theatre of they needed to meet a $650,000 weekly operating cost. The margin would be too slim to offer a realistic chance of recoupment.

[bdn223]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 12:25pm

A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder's running cost is probably around 400-450k or maybe even a little less. Outside of Jefferson Mays the show is a cast of no names, with a small cast, small sets, and has done little advertising for the most part. The show has been riding on great word of mouth and I think its producers have seen that. They are saving money so that they can do a major advertising push till Spring and Award season, when the returns they get on advertising will increase dramatically.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 12:42pm

After Midnight's weekly nut is fairly low. Almost no set, a somewhat large cast and two celebrities. Hence why Vanessa Williams will be joining the show in April followed by Fantasia returning in May for most of the summer. If their grosses remain steady for the spring/summer, they might recoup. After Midnight's biggest concern now is to find a name to join the show in the Fall.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 2/25/14 at 6:58pm

Thanks for that insight, guys. While I didn't care for the show at all, I know that Gentleman's Guide was a big hit with many seasoneed theatregoers on this board and others. It's a shame that a show that is, by their estimation, so well constructed isn't finding a bigger audience. I guess becoming a big "brand name" is increasingly important on Broadway. Even though I didn't like it, I hope it has a healthy run because that can only encourage others to take chances on shows with original scores which aren't littered with reductive forms of power pop ballads.