Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 7/16/17 — Page 3

massofmen said: "Yes you did.

Like 3 weeks ago you said their numbers were sustainable until January. You even replied to me on July 9th when I asked if you wanted to amend your January statement and you said you would wait a little bit. "

What I said was that, at that moment in time, I thought they would hold it together until the end of the year. That of course is not what you said above. And what I then said July 9 was that I would withhold judgment for the time being. And that of course is not what you said above. You made that up. If it makes you happy to make crap up, then be my guest. I don't care and I doubt many others do. But when you do it, you will be called out. That's how it works.

I can see Roundabout trying to hold on to Beautiful as long as it can to make some extra money. As it has been discussed, their big musical of the year hasn't been announced so maybe they are waiting to see how long Beautiful lasts, so they can use the theatre for their musical?

Keep in mind that LAST summer Kinky Boots's numbers weren't too stellar either and they had a pretty lean three months but here it is today with high numbers (well partly thanks to Brendon Urie as Charlie) but still I think we forget A LOT is that shows have their good weeks with grosses and their not so good weeks....it's normal....they all can't be Hamilton......like if a show has one very meh lean week everyone jumps to conclusions and just says "oh well there goes that one! Wonder whats gonna replace it at that theater!"

like jeez calm down

Jarethan said: "bear88 said: "I agree that it's not a perfect comparison between Hello, Dollyand Dear Evan Hansen. Bette Midler's absences have been well-publicized, far in advance, while Platt's vacation caught people off guard, I am sure. But people still could have bailed in greater numbers. One show is all about the star. The other is more about the show than I expected.

I think Hello Dolly is too much about the star. I am surprised that the advertising campaign isn't starting to reduce focus on Bette and increase it on the show, since most of her contractual period is pretty much sold out. The show received great reviews, and is a love letter to musical theatre audiences, who seem to love it whether Donna or Bette is on, but only seem to want to pay for Bette. It is a bad omen for the future if a five time nominee, 2 time Tony winner can't sell tickets so early in the run...unless Bette is going to play the role until she drops dead after giving about 4,500 performances. Ticket buyers seem to have concluded they are seeing a star vanity production instead of a wonderful production of a great show.

Re Evan Hansen, I think we are going to have the same discussions that occurred when the original Hamilton cast left. Some people were direly predicting -- not me -- that ticket demand was going to be impacted as soon as the next new set of tickets came on the market after the departure of the original cast. We all know what happened when the next block surfaced. Grosses are incredibly higher than the original cast because of all the people who are willing to pay higher premium prices, regardless of the cast. Anywhere it is playing is the same way. Hamilton is the only star...if Lin happens to be in the cast for awhile, as rumored for the London production periodically, then that is just a bonus. And, despite the incredible performance Ben is giving and the fact that the show has made him a star, Dear Evan Hansen is the star, not Ben Platt.

One final note, Evan Hansen and Hamilton are viewed as must-see new productions that have entered the zeitgeist. I think Hello Dolly is incorrectly being viewed by most of the ticket buying public as a (legendary, much loved) star turn of a tired old musical. Without that star or a new advertising campaign, there may be trouble a lot earlier than there should be. Hamilton, Evan Hansen (and CFA, for that matter, if not at the same frenzy level) are the stars. Hello Dolly is not, and it should be...at least a lot more than it is today.







"

You'd be surprised how many people don't even realize the Hamilton OBC is gone. Of course people on here and a lot of Broadway fans know, but I've had conversations with a few people (I live in Kansas City) who were looking to buy tickets to Hamilton and were expecting to see the OBC. A lot of them were shocked at the prices when I told them they were all long gone. I also know a lot of people who bought tickets for around now that bought them when the OBC was still there and weren't sure if they would all be gone.

Now obviously the show isn't going to be in any financial trouble for a very long time, but I'll be interested to see if/when they drop the price of tickets

I am the target audience for Groundhog Day. Middle-aged married guy, likes Bill Murray, blah blah blah. I think the film is one of those underrated comedy gems that I always watch when it shows up on TV. I'm the right demographic, and I like Broadway musicals, and heard good things about the show and Andy Karl.

But I didn't see it when I had the chance, on a Monday, in April, at the TKTS booth.

Because I listened to one song from the show and just sort of gagged. So I went along with what I knew my wife wanted and saw Phantom for the first time in 27 years. And then I watched the Tony performance and felt zero regret about not seeing it.

I admit to one bias: I don't really like musicalizations of films I actually know and like. Because I assume they will just sort of annoy me.

It is a complete misconception to represent GHD as a huge success in London. It won the Olivier in a weak season, and struggled to sell out for much of its run.

It received respectable reviews but buzz was minimal.

Let's not forget that Scott Rudin pulled out ahead of its transfer- he knew there were problems.

The transfer was founded on bravura vanity and bluff in the hope that Broadway audiences could be bounced into thinking this was a hot ticket.

The plan hasn't worked, I'm afraid.

I honestly, truly believe that GROUNDHOG DAY's biggest hurdle was prejudice... I've raved to many of my friends about it and their reaction is always, "....Wait... They turned GROUNDHOG DAY into a musical?? WTF?" And I can see a lot of the people at, say, the TKTS booths thinking the same thing...

Not even a TONY for ANDY KARL could have saved it...

Wick3 said: "Is it possible to calculate roughly the weekly operating costs of Dear Evan Hansen given we have the total gross of roughly $41 million over 35 weeks and the recent announcement that they recouped the initial capitalization of $9.5 million?"

I don't know. Using your numbers, a quick calculation would put the weekly cost at roughly $900k ($41M - $9.5M = $31.5M/ 35 weeks). That seems awfully high.

GeorgeandDot said: "Why spend $100+ on a [Groundhog Day] ticket if you can just watch the movie on Netflix instead for free?"

Because the $100+ ticket is for a Broadway musical and the "free" Netflix option is a straight movie. This isn't Les Miserables the Broadway Musical vs. Les Miserables the Movie Musical.

chernjam said: "bear - I'm with you - middle aged guy - GD is one of my favorite movies... but yeah - nothing's been able to sell me on it."

I've observed on this board that you and I often have overlapping tastes, and I urge you to give Groundhog Day a try. I've seen it twice and liked it even more the second time.

Dang. I got tickets for GHD Labor Day weekend, hope it makes it !!

Updated On: 7/18/17 at 09:41 AM