Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/31/26 — Page 3

bear882 said: "What is the situation with Ragtime? It’s been a big success, but at a nonprofit, so I don’t quite understand if recouping is even a thing. How does that work?"

Yes, recouping is a thing at a non-profit. Non-profit simply means any profits are reinvested into the organization and not as distribution to owners or shareholders.

Kad said: "carolinaguy said: "Not sure how the thread on the grosses got to this point, but while Arden deserves some credit for saving The Lost Boys from being a complete disaster... it is not possible for me to see him getting a third Tony in the same season he laid that giant Queen of Versailles egg."

He may not be winning for director, but it’s pretty likely he’ll be taking home one for Best Lighting Design as the credited co-designer."

I just think he's a better lighting designer than director at this point! A personal opinion (sue me!!) But yes I agree Kad!

Agrreed. His shows often have sight line problems, as noted by several commenters on these boards. In my opinion, being able to see the action on stage is directing 101. If a large group of the audience can't see what is happening because sight lines were not thought through, that is a poor director. 

 

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "Kad said: "carolinaguy said: "Not sure how the thread on the grosses got to this point, but while Arden deserves some credit for saving The Lost Boys from being a complete disaster... it is not possible for me to see him getting a third Tony in the same season he laid that giant Queen of Versailles egg."

He may not be winning for director, but it’s pretty likely he’ll be taking home one for Best Lighting Design as the credited co-designer."

I just think he's a better lighting designer than director at this point! A personal opinion (sue me!!) But yes I agree Kad!"

 

The Met has nearly returned to pre-pandemic capacity levels. Last season ended at 72% capacity, the 2018-2019 season had 75% capacity. They were up 2% this fall opposed to last fall, we'll see where they land overall when spring figures get released at the end of the season. It's possible we will see they fully recovered in house numbers this season.

The financial problems the Met has do not have much to do with in house ticket sales. Costs have exploded. The donor base is dying off. Loans taken out at the start of covid are now coming due in rapid succession. But the financial hit they've taken is to movie theater attendance for their Live in HD series. Sales for the HD series in America has decreased by roughly 30%. Movie ticket sales in general have decreased by almost 50%. But the Live in HD numbers in Europe have fallen off a cliff. The Europeans did not show up for any of the new operas on the HD series. They've changed programing over there, and numbers have started to rebound.

The HD series used to bring in 15-20M per year in pure profit for the Met. It is currently operating at a breakeven level. That literally accounts for half of their annual budget shortfall.

It should also be noted that Innocence was extremely close to sold out for it's final 2 performances. WOM clearly exists and can more than help. The runs of the individual operas are just too short to fully get the benefit of great WOM. It would be hard to justify scheduling more performances of something like Innocence, but they probably could look at scheduling more time in between performances for buzz to build.

CoffeeBreak said: "GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "Kad said: "carolinaguy said: "Not sure how the thread on the grosses got to this point, but while Arden deserves some credit for saving The Lost Boys from being a complete disaster... it is not possible for me to see him getting a third Tony in the same season he laid that giant Queen of Versailles egg."

He may not be winning for director, but it’s pretty likely he’ll be taking home one for Best Lighting Design as the credited co-designer."

I just think he's a better lighting designer than director at this point! A personal opinion (sue me!!) But yes I agree Kad!"

He HIRED a good lighting director (who designed/plotted the show per usual)with the billing caveat.Half the credit and to have less disagreements with his designer (cough). In this instance it givesArden and Lafferty more control. OnlyJen Schrieverhas the experience to create this design on paper, plot and make it work - and the $$$ others shows didn't. She has done much of what we see in LB in her other work (Power Strip at LCT etc etc)."

 

Well, he'll have the last laugh as a multiple Tony Award winner while you anonymously badmouth him at every opportunity on a message board.