Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 2/25/18- Page 2

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:31pm

222disneyland said: "qolbinau said: "I find the Hamilton number to be insane. It's just not THAT good. And I felt incredibly ripped off when the performance I saw had a bunch of mediocre understudy performances in the lead roles. It felt a bit stale/theme-park like rather than a genuine piece of art."



I am Australian too. I really did love it. But 3M dollars wtf???"

It’s my favorite show so I don’t begrudge it its success. As someone who has to travel to NYC and never knows a year or 9 months ahead of time, I do wish it was easier to get tickets closer to trips without paying exorbitant re-sell prices. That’s why I’ve only seen it twice. Once in 2015 with the OBC cast in the last row of rear mezzanine at hotel concierge resell prices. Then last year in Chicago when I was there for a quick work trip. Also, at resell prices, but much more affordable. But what are you gonna do? Whether you agree that it should be or not, it’s a phenomenon that’s not likely to subside anytime soon. 

[binau]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:36pm

I mean, I enjoy listening to the cast recording. And I'm glad it's a hit - but I don't quite get why it's SUCH a phenomenon - that's all. I remember when this was transferring to Broadway I wondered whether it would even be a hit. How hilarious in hindsight. 

My post on the off-Broadway transfer announcement:

"Introduce 5x the amount of seats [every night] and the demand won't be as strong. Interested to know how it goes. A new, avant-garde musical without any stars is rarely successful. I hope it is."

[binau]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:37pm

...

[222disneyland]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:38pm

for a non brand name its done well. For a show that literally is not based on anything famous. It was a very big risk. And it paid off. It worked for them and for that I am happy

 

Miles2Go2 said: "222disneyland said: "qolbinau said: "I find the Hamilton number to be insane. It's just not THAT good. And I felt incredibly ripped off when the performance I saw had a bunch of mediocre understudy performances in the lead roles. It felt a bit stale/theme-park like rather than a genuine piece of art."



I am Australian too. I really did love it. But 3M dollars wtf???"

It’s my favorite show so I don’t begrudge it its success. As someone who has to travel to NYC and never knows a year or 9 months ahead of time, I do wish it was easier to get tickets closer to trips without paying exorbitant re-sell prices. That’s why I’ve only seen it twice. Once in 2015 with the OBC cast in the last row of rear mezzanine at hotel concierge resell prices. Then last year in Chicago when I was there for a quick work trip. Also, at resell prices, but much more affordable. But what are you gonna do? Whether you agree that it should be or not, it’s a phenomenon that’s not likely to subside anytime soon."

 

[Willie4316]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:39pm

I agree with Hogan and Miles, Angels did horrible this week. If the reviews are as glowing as they were in London and once they run at normal schedule, perhaps it will turn around. But I don’t see this becoming difficult to get a ticket to anytime soon.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 11:29pm

In a nutshell, Hamilton has captured the zeitgeist of our current time while daringly reimagining the past. It is doing so well for many reasons: a) it retells history in an original, mesmerizing way, b) it has a killer contemporary score and book, c) it arrived during the second term of our first black president, which made it seem like a natural product of such, and d) it now seems (to me at least) more necessary than ever given the recent political developments in our country. All of this has made it a hot ticket that New Yorkers and tourists across a wide age range want to see. The fact that it is so hard to get tickets makes it that much more popular. It’s hit a nerve where all forces worked to its favor. Also, I just looked at Billboard’s Hot 200 Albums chart. Hamilton is still at #20

Updated On: 2/26/18 at 11:29 PM

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 12:35am

qolbinau said: "I find the Hamilton number to be insane. It's just not THAT good."

Not going into the quality issue, which I disagree with, but if you have a set amount of product to sell each week, and a grater number of people wanting to see than those who can see it, then not that hard to achieve.

Getting a show that has more interested people than available seats is the tricky part. Making money once you have that formula? Not as tricky. Plus, most people are still seeing it for their first time. People who see it again and again on here are outliers in the grand scheme of things.

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 1:06am

Miles2Go2 wrote "Hamilton has captured the zeitgeist of our current time"

Yes, preening, aggressive obnoxiousness does seem indeed to reflect the zeitgeist of our current time.

Let's hope our current time grows up.

Soon. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 1:10am

After Eight said: "Yes, preening, aggressiveobnoxiousness does seem indeed toreflect the zeitgeist of our current time."

You're really keeping up with things then...

 

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 8:28am

"I find the Hamilton number to be insane. It's just not THAT good. And I felt incredibly ripped off when the performance I saw had a bunch of mediocre understudy performances in the lead roles. It felt a bit stale/theme-park like rather than a genuine piece of art"

Wow, that is sad to hear especially with those high ticket prices. I am glad I was fortunate enough to see it with the original Broadway cast.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 8:31am

Rooting for "SpongeBob" to hang in there because my daughters have tickets for it in June.

[Wick3]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 8:39am

Looking at the numbers for Angels, I think it did fine especially getting 103.4% seats filled. During previews, I always think it's more important to look at how many seats were filled rather than the average ticket price sold. After opening night when reviews come out, then it's more important to see the average ticket price and whether the producers budgeted the production correctly.

At this point, it's important for the show to get a positive word of mouth out and the only way to do that is to get most if not all of its seats filled, even if the price paid was less than regular price.

Thinking more about it, other than Harry Potter, have there been other plays on Bway that were sold as 2 part shows?

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 8:55am

@wick3 What you say is generally true, but not of a high budget production with stars and a limited run. They needed to hit the ground running and now they are playing catch-up. They can and I hope they do, but it is cause for concern and not "fine." They got to the capacity number via TDF (an excellent demographic for the show), but TDF does not cover your costs.

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 9:11am

HogansHero said: "@wick3 What you say is generally true, but not ofa high budget production with stars and a limited run. They needed to hit the ground running and now they are playing catch-up. They can and I hope they do, but it is cause for concern and not "fine." They got to the capacity number via TDF (an excellent demographic for the show), but TDF does not cover your costs."

FYI, TDF ticket buyer are told they can pick up their tickets after 10am on show days so the line you may have seen 30 minutes before the show might not be them.

I believe "Wolf Hall" (I can't even remember if that was the name of the show or was it "Fox Hall" was also a two part play a couple of years ago at the Winter Garden for a limited time.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 10:03am

HogansHero said: "@wick3 What you say is generally true, but not ofa high budget production with stars and a limited run. They needed to hit the ground running and now they are playing catch-up. They can and I hope they do, but it is cause for concern and not "fine." They got to the capacity number via TDF (an excellent demographic for the show), but TDF does not cover your costs."

You beat me to it.  I have to admit to being very surprised that it was so steeply discounted, even with Lane and Garfield.  I am guessing that it is just too soon after the recent off-Broadway revival; I also suspect that the availability of the National Theatre Live showings and the need to purchase 2 tickets at Broadway prices is undoubtedly serving as a deterrent for some.  'I want to see it.  If I pay full price, I am going to pay $400 just for me to see the full play; or I can see National Theatre Live.  It won't be the same thing, but $400 is a lot of money to see something that I can see with the same leads for $20.'

The limited engagement dimension does not give it a lot of time to make up for early weeks.  What I think is going to happen in the end: it will get good reviews, based on London; it will play to full houses that include a decent number of discounted seats; it will more than make its weekly nut (a full week would have translated into $700 - $800K last week); it won't return its full investment.  

[nolanativeny]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 10:15am

I think Angels perhaps lost with their weird preview schedule. I usually like to see shows in previews but I didn't like nor did my schedule work with the seeming randomness of some of the pairings combined with the fact that you had to purchase together (which I also think maybe is hurting ticket sales). 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 10:20am

@BuddyStarr there were in fact a huge number of TDF tickets. And while they can be picked up earlier, the half-hour is the deadline and most people don't go much before. 

@PThespian I think the question was about required multiple tickets, not just shows in  multiple parts. 

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 10:35am

HogansHero said: "@BuddyStarr there were in fact a huge number of TDF tickets. And while they can be picked up earlier, the half-hour is the deadline and most people don't go much before.
 

this is interesting because I have never had a deadline on any of the TDF tickets I've picked up and I've picked them up with less than 30 minutes till curtain.  If anything I've had an issue of getting there too early before they have allocated the seats to the TDF crowd.  I have always assumed that they want you to pick them up 30 minutes before so there isn't a line at the BO but they don't give the tickets away since you've paid for them.

[Wick3]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 10:50am

I see your point HogansHero that with big names like Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield the show should have sold better. I wish the show had done better too but perhaps the ticket prices (for both parts total) were too pricey for the average theatergoer. Average ticket price sold this week is $77 per part but in reality that means each person on average paid $154 for both parts.

I asked about whether there have been 2-part shows on Bway in the past since I was curious how the ticket pricing dynamic worked for those shows.

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 11:00am

Wick3 said: "in reality that means each person on average paid $154 for both parts."

In what reality isn't that a discount for two Broadway shows?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 11:07am

@Buddy, I believe that TDF asks folks to pick up by half hour, but I agree it is not a use it ot lose it situation as it can be for papered tickets.

@wick/haterobics, are the TDF tickets being sold in pairs? 

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 11:20am

HogansHero said: "@wick/haterobics, are the TDF tickets being sold in pairs?"

It's not currently listed, but its TDF show page seems to indicate as much: "ANGELS IN AMERICA IS A TWO-PART PERFORMANCE. PART 1: MILLENNIUM APPROACHES AND PART 2: PERESTROIKA ARE SOLD TOGETHER."

https://www.tdf.org/shows/7832/Angels-in-America

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 11:50am

Thanks. It also lists the time as 3 hours lol

[Luminaire2]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 12:59pm

Okay, I haven't been able to access my original account in a long while (can't remember password and resets won't send...) But I had to make a new one just so I could comment on that Frozen gross... HOLY SHIZ. I about fell off my couch. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 1:14pm

Jarethan wrote: "I have to admit to being very surprised that it was so steeply discounted, even with Lane and Garfield.  I am guessing that it is just too soon after the recent off-Broadway revival; I also suspect that the availability of the National Theatre Live showings and the need to purchase 2 tickets at Broadway prices is undoubtedly serving as a deterrent for some."

Ever consider that maybe the play itself just isn't very good (x2)?

That's a big deterrent to ticket sales.