Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 8/20/23- Page 2

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 5:29pm

JoeW4 said: "Absolute knockout number for Alex Edelman's final week! Extremely impressive for a comedian without mainstream fame. For a point of comparison: Mike Birbiglia (who has more of a following, and is a producer on this show) never grossed $800K in either of his Broadway runs.

Their margins must have been pretty enviable too. I wonder if they recouped?"

The show was filmed Aug 15 & 16th.  I bet a Netflix, or other streamer,  announcement is around the corner - if a limited tour isn't already planned.

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 5:47pm

A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is really leaning into gimmicks to try to upsell the bridge-and-tunnel crowd.

- They have a promo for a $100 Uber credit with the purchase of select pairs of premiums (I suppose better for them to shell out $100 to Uber than sell those for a lesser price)

- They're doing a $200-per-person bus trip organized by the show from the Garden State Mall in Jersey. Includes travel and show ticket (dinner on you).

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 5:47pm

I think a lot of people underestimate how truly enormous Lea Salonga is in the Philippines. She's basically Taylor Swift over there.

And seeing her in this show means a lot to that audience, because it's their history (albeit a horrifying chapter in it) being partially told by arguably their biggest icon. It's a massive deal.

It will be very interesting to see how the show does without her.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 6:02pm

BroadwayRox3588 said: "I think a lot of people underestimate how truly enormous Lea Salonga is in the Philippines. She's basically Taylor Swift over there.
 

Sure, and if the show were playing in the Philippines, that might actually mean something.

 

[OhHiii]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 6:27pm

JSquared2 said: "BroadwayRox3588 said: "I think a lot of people underestimate how truly enormous Lea Salonga is in the Philippines. She's basically Taylor Swift over there.


Sure, and if the show were playing in the Philippines, that might actually mean something.

"

Clearly it did mean something for Here Lies Love given the drop in grosses. But I know this comment was only made to be snotty, so you already knew that.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 6:50pm

OhHiii said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I reckon HLL's drop has more to do with softening interest in the piece, a decrease in tourists, and people getting ready to go back-to-school. Only 5 shows had grosses that increased last week from the week before.

Lea Salonga has never been a ticketseller in any other Broadway show and hasn't been widely advertised in HLL."

HLL's decline is ALL to do with Lea's departure. Her Filipino fanbase isavid. And while she isn't a ticket seller for other shows, her inthisshow is different.

Also, I thought Josh Groban only did the one Wednesday matinee performance, wasn't he out the evening perf last Weds? Could be misremembering Thursday, though.

The word on the street is not many shows are eager to throw their hats in the ring this Fall and are holding out for Spring. Smart business sense, but it seems like this fall is going to be rather sparse in terms of new shows. I'm frankly surprised there aren't any star driven plays announced. With the strikes, you would have thought Broadway would've jumped on the phones immediately."

I find the incoming fall inventory dreary as hell.  Re recent shows that I haven't seen, I have no interest in HLL (can't stand David Byrne music), The Shark is Broken, The Cottage. 

I have 6 slots in October (my semi-annual trip) and have only filled two (Harmony and Merrily), and I only purchased Harmony because of the NYTimes review of the off-Broadway run.  Re the first show at the MTC, I am figuring that I will wait to see the reviews or BW word-of-mouth before I jump in. Nothing else holds any interest for me at this point.  I have my name on a list for the new Sondheim, but have no real expectations there.

I agree with the prior poster that I would have expected to see some announcements re limited runs of some popular movie and tv actors in revivals of classics.  

Last fall and winter did not see the usual doldrums as seen in many years.  Hopefully, that will be the case again.  If not, SLIH, ABN, Shucked, HLL and KA will not make it past October, unless their producers are willing to continue to lose money, in hopes of What?

Updated On: 8/22/23 at 06:50 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 7:35pm

The lack of new musicals coming in this Fall might help the struggling ones like A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, SOME LIKE IT HOT & KIMBERLY AKIMBO. It looks like SHUCKED is doing okay for now.

[RWPrincess]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 8:18pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is really leaning into gimmicks to try to upsell the bridge-and-tunnel crowd.

- They have a promo for a $100 Uber credit with the purchase of select pairs of premiums (I suppose better for them to shell out $100 to Uber than sell those for a lesser price)

- They're doing a $200-per-person bus trip organized by the show from the Garden State Mall in Jersey. Includes travel and show ticket (dinner on you)."

Here Lies Love is offering free childcare at the September 23 matinee. I see it more as marketing creativity rather than a gimmick.Hopefully, the shows will find something that works.

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 9:34pm

RWPrincess said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "A BEAUTIFUL NOISE is really leaning into gimmicks to try to upsell the bridge-and-tunnel crowd.

- They have a promo for a $100 Uber credit with the purchase of select pairs of premiums (I suppose better for them to shell out $100 to Uber than sell those for a lesser price)

- They're doing a $200-per-person bus trip organized by the show from the Garden State Mall in Jersey. Includes travel and show ticket (dinner on you)."

Here Lies Love is offering free childcare at the September 23 matinee. I see it more as marketing creativity rather than a gimmick.Hopefully, the shows will find something that works."


I don't use "gimmick" as a negative word. Though for what BEAUTIFUL NOISE is doing, it seems more like a thought experiment than something that's going to move mass tickets. But it's worth trying if it covers the cost of the bus and serves as a work-creation project for the show's Concierge person.

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 9:41pm

quizking101 said: "No wonder ONE MORE TIME announced their closing yesterday - probably to get ahead of the view that’s it’s, by the numbers, pretty dead in the water. Truly a shame because it’s a fun show and people need to embrace fun more (and producers need to embrace more common sense).
 

No.  No one needs to embrace Vegas crap renting Broadway theaters.

 

Updated On: 8/22/23 at 09:41 PM

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 10:15pm

JSquared2 said: "BroadwayRox3588 said: "I think a lot of people underestimate how truly enormous Lea Salonga is in the Philippines. She's basically Taylor Swift over there.


Sure, and if the show were playing in the Philippines, that might actually mean something."

Ah yes of course, because as we all know, the only place Filipinos live is the Philippines.

My eyes rolled all the way to the back of my head at that ridiculous statement.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 10:47pm

I agree that Lea Salonga's appeal extends beyond the territorial border of the Philippines but lets be real: she didnt sell out Once On This Island, she didnt sell out Allegiance, and she isnt going to be selling out Here Lies Love either. 

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 11:00pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "I agree that Lea Salonga's appeal extends beyond the territorial border of the Philippines but lets be real: she didnt sell out Once On This Island, she didnt sell out Allegiance, and she isnt going to be selling out Here Lies Love either."

You have a point, but she is so so so talented! HLL problem isn’t that it’s a bad show. I think the problem is selling this show to the average theatre goer who is a little past middle aged and white (who also can afford those ticket prices!)

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 11:20pm

This could be my memory playing tricks on me, but...

When HERE LIES LOVE was at the Public, the buzz for Ruthie's performance as Imelda was nearly equal to the buzz for the immersiveness. It was also something of a comeback for David Byrne.

Now on Broadway, the leading lady's performance is professional but not otherworldly. The advertising sort of underplays Imelda's role and David Byrne's involvement unless he's surrounded by Filipino people for optics purposes. We've also seen a lot more immersive theatre since its days at the Public. And when you combine all that, I have to wonder how that impacts the WOM and its ticket-selling problems.

Updated On: 8/22/23 at 11:20 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 8/22/23 at 11:31pm

RE: Lea Salonga 

We've seen several times in recent years that the right role/show has the potential to amplify an actor's star power. Particularly when it comes to musicals. You'd think that if a star has a fan base, the specific show would be arbitrary, but precedent has shown that's simply not the case. Narrative/context often plays a part.

In this case - yes, it's true that Salonga hasn't demonstrated meaningful box office power in the past - but there's a narrative here. For the first time in her career, she's playing a character with the same nationality as her. She's a producer on the show. And maybe most importantly of all, this is a show about the Philippines specifically. So if her fans are from the Philippines, it seems much more likely that they'd show up for this show in greater numbers than they showed up for Allegiance or Once on this Island.

Again, I recognize that on paper you wouldn't think these subtle distinctions would make a meaningful difference, but I think it does anyway - and that fickle unpredictability, of when star power works vs. when it doesn't, has seemingly been a point of difficulty for producers in recent years. It's like trying to catch lightning in a bottle sometimes.

Yes, there are always multiple variables at play with grosses, and diagnosing is always a game of speculation. But the fact that the grosses saw a considerable spike that was limited to the exact dates of her engagement? Not unconvincing, for me at least.

[MisterJT07]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 12:39am

Not saying Lea Salonga can single-handedly save a show like HLL, but her being in it in a cameo engagement didn't (and wouldn't) hurt. Her largest fanbase are Filipinos and they're aware she's in it. And based on what I've been reading on other sites/boards, her number usually gets the largest applause to the point of overshadowing the lead stars. Most importantly, the data itself show that ticket sales went up when she started her run, then dropped after she left.     

I know Allegiance was a huge flop, but honestly if Salonga wasn't in it, I feel like that show would've closed in 1 week because of the subject matter and the poor to middling reviews. I'm surprised that show even made it to Broadway given the zero mainstream appeal.  

And it's hard to put Once on this Island's poor ticket sales on Salonga's shoulder given that she was barely advertised being in it.  

[OhHiii]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 8:10am

RUkiddingme said: "No. No one needs to embrace Vegas crap renting Broadway theaters."

Actually, like it or not, Broadway does need mass market shows with big IPs for it to even exist. Without them, more artistically ambitious work wouldn’t exist on Broadway either. Y’all whine about this movie adaption that jukebox musical, but in reality, commercial theatre is still just that. *Commercial*

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 8:30am

I hope Lea Salonga comes back to the show.

David Byrne fans came out to see American Utopia. I think if they market his name more, his fans would go see HLL too.

[Sammy232]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 8:43am

Wick3 said: "I hope Lea Salonga comes back to the show.

David Byrne fans came out to see American Utopia. I think if they market his name more, his fans would go see HLL too."

On Saturday she posted on her Insta story "last show for now" while winking at the camera, so I would think she is planning to return after old friends?

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 9:17am

Sammy232 said: "Wick3 said: "I hope Lea Salonga comes back to the show.

David Byrne fans came out to see American Utopia. I think if they market his name more, his fans would go see HLL too."

On Saturday she posted on her Insta story "last show for now" while winking at the camera, so I would think she is planning to return after old friends?"

It certainly wouldn’t hurt, especially in the winter doldrums.

While American Utopia was an unmitigated (and surprise) success, people got the experience of seeing David Byrne himself live and in action. Optically, it does not look good if they were pushing the all-white creative team for a show about Filipino history and starring and all-Filipino cast. 

I like what they’re doing now where Byrne is making some appearances, but it’s keeping balance with the other main cast (Mainly Ricamora and Salonga, but also Llana and Jacobs) making the rounds.

Also, at the stage door last night, Conrad told us that he had a bad flu that knocked him down the entire week, so yesterday was his first show back. 

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 10:32am

OhHiii said: "RUkiddingme said: "No. No one needs to embrace Vegas crap renting Broadway theaters."

Actually, like it or not, Broadway does need mass market shows with big IPs for it to even exist. Without them, more artistically ambitious work wouldn’t exist on Broadway either. Y’all whine about this movie adaption that jukebox musical, but in reality, commercial theatre is still just that. *Commercial*"

I'm ok with commercial theater - decent commercial theater.  The crap happening at the Marquis right now is not commercial theater.  It's a bad vulgar cash grab that doesn't belong in a Broadway Theater.  If we the audience tell producers we accept it, they will produce more.  If we reject it, they will do it less.  

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 10:38am

My assumption has always been that Lea will return to HLL in March or April and stay through the Tonys.

But they’ll need to improve the numbers first.

Also wonder how the uptick in COVID cases will impact the standing section. You are really up close and personal with people, and in close close proximity to the actors. 

[Kad]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 10:48am

The main issue HLL has is that it’s trying to capture lightning in a bottle- nearly impossible most of the time, but even harder when that lightning is now a decade old. And unlike a decade ago, it doesn’t seem to be becoming a must-see, buzzed about event. 

[OhHiii]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 11:07am

RUkiddingme said: "OhHiii said: "RUkiddingme said: "No. No one needs to embrace Vegas crap renting Broadway theaters."

Actually, like it or not, Broadway does need mass market shows with big IPs for it to even exist. Without them, more artistically ambitious work wouldn’t exist on Broadway either. Y’all whine about this movie adaption that jukebox musical, but in reality, commercial theatre is still just that. *Commercial*"

I'm ok with commercial theater - decent commercial theater. The crap happening at the Marquis right now is not commercial theater. It's a bad vulgar cash grab that doesn't belong in a Broadway Theater. If we the audience tell producers we accept it, they will produce more. If we reject it, they will do it less."

If you look at threads on this board, you'd see that quite a few folks love the show and think it's a blast. Is it Shakespeare? No, but art is subjective. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 8/23/23 at 11:45am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "My assumption has always been that Lea will return to HLL in March or April and stay through the Tonys.

But they’ll need to improve the numbers first.

Also wonder how the uptick in COVID cases will impact the standing section. You are really up close and personal with people, and in close close proximity to the actors."

 

People stand in close (or closer) proximity with crowds of others all day in in NYC, in the subway, in stores, etc.  People who are more comfortable wearing masks will continue to do so.