Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/22/22

The Tony nominations have had no effect on Paradise Square whatsoever. Will they even be open on Tony Sunday?

 

So many small bumps, but still good to see. That For Colored Girls growth tho..like damn! 

Beetlejuice only doing 63% occupancy is..sus. I wonder how long they can survive in that big ass theater. 

I also think it's about time for Come From Away to close.

Why are Wicked and Phantom doing so well?

I wasn't implying that I thought Phantom and Wicked would close (they won't), but just curious about the dramatic bump in grosses

Updated On: 5/25/22 at 02:13 PM

I know I am saying this every week at this point but POTUS, seems to be truly turning into a sleeper hit. It’s likely its not going to recoup its capitalization during its limited run, but it also seems unlikely to close early at this point and based on its grosses during previews that is an impressive feat! 
I honestly wonder if its producers will consider it transferring to NWS with a rotating cast alla The Play That Goes Wrong, The 39 Steps, and Peter and the Starcatcher.

RaisedOnMusicals said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "The Tony nominations have had no effect onParadise Squarewhatsoever.Will they even be open on Tony Sunday?

Being "unsuccessful' is one thing, but the magnitude of the failure of Paradise Square is truly mind-boggling. The only show that grossed less was a revival of a 1942 play. I mean it's an EPIC fail on a level I can't remember seeing, ever. And to be completely honest, I'm hard pressed to understand why. I saw the show. Is it great? Absolutely not. Is the book weak? Yes. But it got 10 Tony noms and say what you want, it's fairly entertaining with one great performance. When the show played pre-pandemic in Chicago, it did pretty well, and got mostly good reviews. So what is it? Is it the story itself, in that it is centered on race? Is that subject just too uncomfortable in the world in which we now live? I'm not saying that's the reason, I truly have no idea of the reason, but I'd love to know what y'all think.

I’d venture to say that it comes down to the lack of publicity and marketing.  They have no money to spend on any advertising which results in no one having a clue that it even exists not to mention that there is no recognizable name attached which would typically help some. I still can’t figure out why they continue to keep it open or what their end game is. 

 

Bill Snibson said: "RaisedOnMusicals said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "The Tony nominations have had no effect onParadise Squarewhatsoever.Will they even be open on Tony Sunday?

Being "unsuccessful' is one thing, but the magnitude of the failure of Paradise Square is truly mind-boggling. The only show that grossed less was a revival of a 1942 play. I mean it's an EPIC fail on a level I can't remember seeing, ever. And to be completely honest, I'm hard pressed to understand why. I saw the show. Is it great? Absolutely not. Is the book weak? Yes. But it got 10 Tony noms and say what you want, it's fairly entertaining with one great performance. When the show played pre-pandemic in Chicago, it did pretty well, and got mostly good reviews. So what is it? Is it the story itself, in that it is centered on race? Is that subject just too uncomfortable in the world in which we now live? I'm not saying that's the reason, I truly have no idea of the reason, but I'd love to know what y'all think.

I’d venture to say that it comes down to the lack of publicity and marketing. They have no money to spend on any advertising which results in no one having a clue that it even exists not to mention that there is no recognizable name attached which would typically help some. I still can’t figure out why they continue to keep it open or what their end game is.

"

Every week we litigate as to why PS is flopping so hard and, poor quality aside, there is just NO marketing. Like, now is the prime time for shows to be hitting the TV circuit to drum up publicity by performing and I’m seeing A LOT of Company, Strange Loop, Mr. Saturday Night, and Six, along with talk spots for Take Me Out and POTUS.

I’m also very curious as to why MJ isn’t trying to put Myles Frost out there more to boost his Tony chances since it seems to be a horse race between him and Jaquel Spivey at this point.

yeah the show is selling well but MJ might be too controversial for any network to "promote." 

WestEndGal said: "bdn223 said: "I know I am saying this every week at this point but POTUS, seems to be truly turning into a sleeper hit. It’s likely its not going to recoup its capitalization during its limited run, but it also seems unlikely to close early at this point and based on its grosses during previews that is an impressive feat!
I honestly wonder if its producers will consider it transferring to NWS with a rotating cast alla The Play That Goes Wrong, The 39 Steps, and Peter and the Starcatcher."

I’m not asking this to be argumentative, but what metrics are you using for POTUS being a sleeper hit? I know it’s in a large theater but even with a small uptick the past couple of weeks it’s still only at 57% capacity. I’d say that was pretty disappointing."

A sleeper hit is a production that isn't SRO, but at the end is still selling enough tickets to make a profit.  Like you said POTUS is in a large theater, which is a bit of an understatement for a straight play with a cast of 7 or 11 when you include understudies. It is neither an epic production alla Harry Potter and the Cursed Child or War Horse, nor does it have megawatt star power alla To Kill a Mockingbird, All the Way, or the Kevin Kline lead Present Laughter. The is no way it was/is going to sell out the Shubert, so instead of looking at capacity is fruitless effort, we need to look at grosses. Grosses have headily steadily climbed 60% over the past 3 weeks from $300K to over $500K. The producers would committing  fiduciary mal practice if a show of POTUS' size cost more than $500K a week to produce.

For a show during its initial weeks it was a foregone conclusion it would be one of first victims of a lack of Tony nominations and not even make it to June. It's grosses during previews were so anemic that Robert Hofler's review for The Wrap even lead with "The 21st century finally has its “Moose Murders.”  a play famous for only playing a single performance.  Yet positive word of mouth has spread causing audience demand to increase. I know capacity is down significantly since previews, but it has slowly recovered.  This is attributed to the immense amount of papering done during previews as a word of mouth focused strategy to cut through the incredibly busy spring season. Its clearly worked as not only has capacity started to recover in the weeks post opening, but average ticket price is up 80% since its first week of previews. 

Now I am not saying POTUS will recoup its investment, especially with such a limited runway closing in August. What I am saying is that it is slowing finding an audience starting to make a modest profit each week, which is the definition of a sleeper hit. 

cwilliams said: "Glad to see many shows recovering post COVID. I wonder how much longer Chris Harper will be able to pay Patti's salary tho"

Loved her in the role, but I think most people who want to see her as Joanne have had plenty of time to do so.  I'm hoping we see another major theatre name taking over in the months ahead, one who might jumpstart some return visits to the production.