It's not uncommon for group sales to begin before the theatre announcement –– Mockingbird did that, too. But the general on-sale for Music Man wouldn't be able to occur without a theatre announcement.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/10/11
With the unprecedented (for a non-fantasy) drama that TKAM is doing, and the advance it still has, do you really think it will close by then? Rudin closed HD, I guess, because he did not think he could make real $$ without Midler; with TKAM, the show is the star. People may be pleased that Jeff Daniels is in the lead, but they are buying tickets for TKAM.
I can't help thinking that Rudin may try for a larger theatre, e.g., the Broadway, where he can gross as much as possible while Jackman is starred, under the assumption that business will drop when he leaves. He will need to pay off the investment and return a decent profit to investors, not to mention Jackman's weekly income, which I imagine will be in the Midler league, at least.
YvanEhtNioj--couldn't resist---that's the ONLY way that I buy my 'shoes'--I just have to line up in case I miss out on the ones that I want.
SweetLips22 said: "YvanEhtNioj--couldn't resist---that's the ONLY way that I buy my 'shoes'--I just have to line up in case I miss out on the ones that I want."
LOL! You got me.
**shows
Jarethan said: "With the unprecedented (for a non-fantasy) drama that TKAM is doing, and the advance it still has, do you really think it will close by then? Rudin closed HD, I guess, because he did not think he could make real $$ without Midler; with TKAM, the show is the star. People may be pleased that Jeff Daniels is in the lead, but they are buying tickets for TKAM.
I can't help thinking that Rudin may tryfor a larger theatre, e.g., the Broadway, where he can gross as much as possible while Jackman is starred, under the assumption that business will drop when he leaves. He will need to pay off the investment and return a decent profit to investors, not to mention Jackman's weekly income, which I imagine will be in the Midler league, at least."
TKAM may close to make way for Hugh and The Music Man. I could Daniels extending potentially until then and the show closes before the tour begins. All just predictions though, no actual insight other than what I read on here haha.
How much did Midler make again? $30k?
Jarethan, I agree that The Broadway would be a good financial move for Music Man. But even if it does take the Shubert, Mockingbird could run through August 1, 2020, which would be ~21 months. The last plays to run more than 2 years were Proof (10/00-1/03 @ Kerr), I'm Not Rappaport (11/85-1/88 @ Booth), Brighton Beach (3/83-5/86 @ Alvin), and Torch Song (6/82-5/85 @ Hayes). The Shubert is bigger than all those houses, and Mockingbird can't be cheap to run.
I do think there will be a dip post-Daniels. He's part of the interest, and no star will want to replace him. The next Atticus will probably be someone like Boyd Gaines, Reed Birney, Bill Camp, or maaaybe at the most Alfred Molina or Tracy Letts. It will also have a US tour starting in August 2020, and a West End mounting, so there will be opportunities to print money around the world.
Mike Barrett said: "How much did Midler make again? $30k?"
$150K per week + a percentage of box office. So if she was making 5% of the gross, that's at least an additional $100K per week.
Jarethan said: "I can't help thinking that Rudin may tryfor a larger theatre, e.g., the Broadway, where he can gross as much as possible while Jackman is starred, under the assumption that business will drop when he leaves. He will need to pay off the investment and return a decent profit to investors, not to mention Jackman's weekly income, which I imagine will be in the Midler league, at least."
If it's similar to Hello Dolly, I read an article that Rudin normally requires investors to invest in bundles so even if Music Man makes a lot of money, investors may only make around 5%-10% overall (since the bundle would include plays that most likely won't recoup.)
If it's also like DOLLY, that didn't recoup til Bernadette's run (allegedly).
Swing Joined: 10/3/18
"Constitution" will be fascinating to watch --- and a contender for the Pulitzer? Also, "Oklahoma" is incredible, but those grosses are kind of low, huh? "Burn This", which I saw last week, looks like it's selling a ton of tickets. Is it Driver or Russell or both?
Oklahoma! did 86% of its gross and had an average tix price of $102, which isn't bad for the second week of previews. Remember, Circle in the Square is only 648 seats for this production. (edit)
We'll find out about the Pulitzers on April 15. Constitution could be a contender, but there's also Slave Play, Downstate, Fairview, Pass Over, and others. It seems like an almost-certain Best Play nominee after those reviews. (It could also tour if Heidi Schreck wants to take it around the country, maybe not in a traditional way. I would be shocked if it doesn't get filmed for Netflix or HBO.)
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