Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 6/25/23- Page 2

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/27/23 at 6:54pm

Come September their schedule is changing by adding Thursday matinees and eliminating Wed evenings. They have 4 matinee options (Wed/Thur/Sat/Sun) and four evening options (Tue/Thur/Fri/Sat).

[JasonC3]

Posted: 6/27/23 at 8:00pm

Good Night Oscar really seems to be disproving all those who said Sean Hayes isn't much of a draw any longer.

[bear88]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 12:03am

noahseestheatre said: "Good numbers for Kimberly Akimbo, Goodnight Oscar, and Prima Facie (among many).

Really rooting for GREY HOUSE, because I really enjoyed it, but it doesn't look to be selling very well.

Is anyone else rooting for Sweeney to join the 2mill club? Every week it is close, but no cigar"

It’s been a strong season for star-filled plays. And while it may have been a mistake for Leopoldstadt to stay open this long, it appears to be reaping benefits from the combination of its Best Play win and impending closure.

As for Sweeney Todd, the producers are sticking with 7 shows a week, even during the holiday season. I suppose it might get past $2 million during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, but they’re not adding a performance just to put up one big number. Good for them.

[msmp]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 12:22am

Dylan Smith4 said: "hearthemsing22 said: "I don't know why A Beautiful Noise grosses constantly surprise me? I guess it's a big tourist hit?"

You also have to understand that the 50+ age groups are the ones coming in droves to see this!"

Can confirm, at least in my family. My desire to see the show is close to zero, but both of my parents are just about dying to see it this summer. The Tony's performance really got them excited all over again.

[OMG U Guyz]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 2:02am

Updated On: 6/28/23 at 02:02 AM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 11:37am

A few quick things.

1. The large theatres (e.g., Marquis and up) sometimes have a decent number of tickets to sell even with the high number of opening night comps. (And some producers are less generous than others.) Also, because you are not inviting everyone to the party, a lot of people who might have already seen the show and would rather not do it again to sit upstairs in a barn. 

2. Re that 4 matinee schedule, is that a concession or am I mis-remembering the contract?

3. Re what sells and when, there are obviously shows with a demographic that makes matinees better (e.g., ABN) and those that make them deadly (HLL) but another phenomenon is that, in summer, there is an inversion for some demographics on weekdays vs weekends. While tourist shows do well on weekends, shows that target local and regional audiences actually can do better during the week.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 11:53am

ACL2006 said: "Come September their schedule is changing by adding Thursday matinees and eliminating Wed evenings. They have 4 matinee options (Wed/Thur/Sat/Sun) and four evening options (Tue/Thur/Fri/Sat)."

Ken Davenport will be doing 4 matinees a week on his other show, HARMONY, too. Other producers have tried Thurs matinees to minimal success, so it will be interesting to see if the demand is there for two weekday mats a week -- which basically means catering to tourists, seniors, and school groups.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 12:21pm

I'll say it again that I wish more shows spread out the two show weekdays to give options to see more shows in less time. Like honestly, I have no interest in A Beautiful Noise but if it was playing a Thurs matinee this summer, I might choose to go see it since it wouldn't be taking the place of one of my others on the schedule

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 1:19pm

Mr. Wormwood said: "I'll say it again that I wish more shows spread out the two show weekdays to give options to see more shows in less time. Like honestly, I have no interest in A Beautiful Noise but if it was playing a Thurs matinee this summer, I might choose to go see it since it wouldn't be taking the place of one of my others on the schedule"

That'd be great for you. But how many other people would do that? How many other people would be interested? I have a friend who said tours took away Wednesday matinees because they weren't selling. Do you honestly think Broadway would do any better if there were two weekday matinees? And then how would you do the weekend schedule? How would Saturday and Sunday performances work? 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 1:40pm

hearthemsing22 said: "Mr. Wormwood said: "I'll say it again that I wish more shows spread out the two show weekdays to give options to see more shows in less time. Like honestly, I have no interest in A Beautiful Noise but if it was playing a Thurs matinee this summer, I might choose to go see it since it wouldn't be taking the place of one of my others on the schedule"

That'd be great for you. But how many other people would do that? How many other people would be interested? I have a friend who said tours took away Wednesday matinees because they weren't selling. Do you honestly think Broadway would do any better if there were two weekday matinees? And then how would you do the weekend schedule? How would Saturday and Sunday performances work?"

I understand that if it was a more viable option, more shows would do it. Hence, why I said I WISH that happened. I understand the realities of why it doesn't. But sometimes shows do it from time to time so I'd love to see it catch on at some point.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 6/28/23 at 7:52pm

HogansHero said: "A few quick things.

1. The large theatres (e.g., Marquis and up) sometimes have a decent number of tickets to sell even with the high number of opening night comps. (And some producers are less generous than others.) Also, because you are not inviting everyone to the party, a lot of people who might have already seen the show and would rather not do it again to sit upstairs in a barn.

2. Re that 4 matinee schedule, is that a concession or am I mis-remembering the contract?

3. Re what sells and when, there are obviously shows with a demographic that makes matinees better (e.g., ABN) and those that make them deadly (HLL) but another phenomenon is that, in summer, there is an inversion for some demographics on weekdays vs weekends. While tourist shows do well on weekends, shows that target local and regional audiences actually can do better during the week."

No concession needed. The contract does not have a stipulation about number of matinees vs number of evening shows, just no more than five performances over a three day period. So it still falls well within what the Production Contract allows.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 6/29/23 at 12:00am

I wonder how much longer Grey House has.  It doesn't seem like it's ever really found its audience and the reviews were fairly middling.  I guess we'll see if they can tap into any of the summer crowd, but it seems like they'll need a major pivot in marketing or something if they want to continue through the fall.

[perfectpenguin]

Posted: 6/29/23 at 4:58am

chrishuyen said: "I wonder how much longer Grey House has. It doesn't seem like it's ever really found its audience and the reviews were fairly middling. I guess we'll see if they can tap into any of the summer crowd, but it seems like they'll need a major pivot in marketing or something if they want to continue through the fall."

I’ll be the first to say it but their marketing sucks. They need to fire whatever marketing firm they hired because it’s terrible. The social media account is unresponsive other than sharing stories on IG. Have a question about anything related to the show? No answer. They haven’t done instagram take overs or anything yet. No backstage or rehearsal content. And, they’re silent on weekends. Is the account holder off or something? I swear nothing was posted anywhere this Saturday and well into Sunday. There’s time I feel like I could do better. The show gave out bracelets randomly once or twice (?) , have some random girl in a nightgown at post show talk backs but that’s it. They’re doing A TON of ticket give away a right now too. The talk backs are a great idea BUT limited to weekdays? There’s a ton of people who’d attend but live outside of the city so matinees are the only option. Have a matinee talk back and draw in some people. Idk if they’re relying on word of mouth for ticket sales but something needs to change to get people in seats. I’ve seen Grey House twice and it’s such a fun, odd, creepy show. It’s not for everyone which I get and probably shouldn’t have gone to the Lyceum. But I wish this show a healthy run and a new marketing team. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/29/23 at 11:56am

Mr. Wormwood said: "hearthemsing22 said: "That'd be great for you. But how many other people would do that? How many other people would be interested? I have a friend who said tours took away Wednesday matinees because they weren't selling. Do you honestly think Broadway would do any better if there were two weekday matinees? And then how would you do the weekend schedule? How would Saturday and Sunday performances work?"

I understand that if it was a more viable option, more shows would do it. Hence, why I said I WISH that happened. I understand the realities of why it doesn't. But sometimes shows do it from time to time so I'd love to see it catch on at some point."


It all depends on the show. HAMILTON and LION KING and WICKED could have all their showtimes at 1pm and 10pm and they'd still be fine.

Changes to a playing schedule often come at a moment of desperation, and if a show is doing badly it won't make a big difference; ABN is in the unique situation of being a "sleeper hit" that could improve but is still making money each week.

Broadway has worked hard over many years to create an infrastructure surrounding the Wednesday matinee to allow shows to succeed: Group sales agents have sort of conditioned buyers that weekday matinees only happen on Wednesday. TKTS Times Square opens at 11am on Wed but is closed until 3pm on Thur, so that won't drive any sales to the Thur shows. It will require other ways of drawing in day-of buyers (flyering teams at the booth on Weds with b.o. discounts for Thurs, etc). I wonder if it became a free-for-all with mats being equally split between Tue/Wed/Thur/Fri, the numbers for all might go down. School groups would probably benefit the most from a 12pm curtain so they can get back back before the end of the actual school day, but schools aren't the primary audience here.

From the cast-standpoint, 6 shows in 4 days can be a lot more tiresome than 5 shows in 4 days, especially for a vocally-challenging show (HARMONY and BEAUTIFUL NOISE will have 2 shows Thurs, with just a matinee on Weds). That's not a reason not to do it, but it's a consideration.