Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 8/6/17- Page 2

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 4:58pm

"Bandstand" is likely cheaper to run than "WP" or "GHD."  But isn't it all about advance at this point?  Shows without stars or name (brand) value do not generally see an uptick in August. In September, the business can rebound or not.  I would guess "BS" needs to stay where it is, going no lower, but it's hanging on. I suspect Tuesday is a day we see some decisions reached.  I join those hoping "BS" sails on. My (surprise) favorite 

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 5:41pm

Hope more producers are taking note, realizing that the two most successful new musicals this season are original shows and not based on movies (even though CFA is based on true events, still a brand new story that most haven't heard).

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 6:39pm

^Come From Away also isn't an adaptation of anything.

[bowtie7]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 6:42pm

I know this happens every year at this time, but so sad for so many casts living in limbo, knowing their shows may not last long but not knowing if its a week or two, a month or maybe a little longer.

I know the original cast of The Play That Goes Wrong is scheduled through 9/17, has a replacement cast been hired or not? (It has to be expensive to rehearse a full new cast.)

Updated On: 8/7/17 at 06:42 PM

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 7:34pm

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 7:37pm

One of the problems with The Play That Goes Wrong is that they're not discounting 50% at TKTS. Many people I talk with on line would love to see it, but want a better discount.  Most other hit shows available are discounting 50%.  I totally get that!

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 8:07pm

Couple of contradictory points:

1.  It seems to me -- I have not done any analysis to support this -- that the summer boost didn't really happen this year.  That may be because the earlier part of the year did so much better than prior years and, as a result, the bar was higher than prior years?  Wondering if tourism was down at all from prior years.

2.  Still amazes me that Chicago did better than War Paint, GHD, and Bandstand, grossed $30 less than Miss Saigon.  I assume that is because of tourists.  I am beginning to think that, 5 years from now, ALL of the current long-runs, i.e., greater than 7 years into their ru, are all going to still be opened.  One reason: given theatre prices, audiences would rather see something safe than take a chance with a show that they 'might not like'.

Updated On: 8/7/17 at 08:07 PM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 9:39pm

The summer boost did happen. And your 2nd point has always been that way, at least for the past five years or so. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 9:52pm

To repeat, people go to see shows they like and hear from others they like and don't go to see shows they don't like and that others are not telling them to go to. There are a number of shows that are not (yet) long runs that are doing fabulously. I guess they escaped your attention. And most of those shows that are not attracting audiences in abundance are shows that (despite the sentiments here among some) are just not that appealing to people. There are no rules beyond the obvious.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 10:36pm

hogans wisdom pervails again

ask yourself with each of these shows, who is the ideal perfect fit customer?

War Paint-hardcore broadway fans of lupones and ebersoles, all those fascinated by the makeup fashion wars. not for children/teens really. this was not a good show

Groundhog Day-fans of the movie (35 years ago) fans of andy karl (less) and fans of Tim minchen(far less) could attract kids and teens and was funny. andy was great the music was decent, this was just not a great show and not sure wtf Olivier voters were thinking

Bandstand- people who love big band music (most of whom are 75 or older and on a fixed income; folks who love to hear stories about ptsd (small group). this was a great story with strong actors and superb dancing and music. the music is not to MOST of the general public's taste. not for children  

none of these shows got tony love

none of these shows got NYT and professional reviewer and critic big love.

now look at 

dear evan hansen-everyone who loves pitch perfect and ben platt, everyone who likes to see the tony winner for best show, many people who loved la la land and want to hear more pasek & paul, this show appeals to broad demographics  across almost all major theatre going segments

Come from away-everyone who was touched or affected by 9/11(pretty much everyone), everyone who loves top tony nominated shows, everyone who goes to highly acclaimed professionally reviewed shows, everyone visiting from newfoundland (small group) everyone who loves truly moving, emotional musical theatre

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 11:09pm

neonlightsxo said: "The summer boost did happen. And your 2nd point has always been that way, at least for the past five years or so. 

 

Actually, I think the only way it occurred is that the same old shows sold the same amount of tickets...they just charged more.  Once you got past the sell-outs that simply increased the number of premium seats and the price for those seats, it seemed like a lot of shows were hurting.

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 11:14pm

broadwaysfguy said: "hogans wisdom pervails again

ask yourself with each of these shows, who is the ideal perfect fit customer?

War Paint-hardcore broadway fans of lupones and ebersoles, all those fascinated by the makeup fashion wars. not for children/teens really. this was not a good show

Groundhog Day-fans of the movie (35 years ago) fans of andy karl (less) and fans of Tim minchen(far less) could attract kids and teens and was funny. andy was great the music was decent, this was just not a great show and not sure wtf Olivier voters were thinking

Bandstand- people who love big band music (most of whom are 75 or older and on a fixed income; folks who love to hear stories about ptsd (small group). this was a great story with strong actors and superb dancing and music. the music is not to MOST of the general public's taste. not for children  

none of these shows got tony love

none of these shows got NYT and professional reviewer and critic big love.

now look at 

dear evan hansen-everyone who loves pitch perfect and ben platt, everyone who likes to see the tony winner for best show, many people who loved la la land and want to hear more pasek & paul, this show appeals to broad demographics  across almost all major theatre going segments

Come from away-everyone who was touched or affected by 9/11(pretty much everyone), everyone who loves top tony nominated shows, everyone who goes to highly acclaimed professionally reviewed shows, everyone visiting from newfoundland (small group) everyone who loves truly moving, emotional musical theatre

 

I think both of you have made convincing arguments to dispute my original premise.  The only thing with which I would disagree is that Evan Hansen and Come From Away were sellouts pretty much from the start of previews.  If they got a summer boost, it was the increase in premium seats / prices, which I referenced.

 

 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 11:21pm

War Paint can't have long. 

 

Amazing number for Indecent. Bittersweet. 

 

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 11:22pm

There are 2-4 other new musicals that are not "hurting." That's a lot in any season. Perhaps you could point out a previous season that exhibited what you sense is missing.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 12:04am

HogansHero said: "There are 2-4 other new musicals that are not "hurting." That's a lot in any season. Perhaps you could point out a previous season that exhibited what you sense is missing.

 

I am probably hallucinating, but I really thought that some recent summers have been closer to a series of Christmas weeks, with even the less successful musicals pretty much selling out.  I have not had the time to try to work it out, out of sheer curiosity.

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 12:18am

I really wish "The Play That Goes Wrong" had the name recognition to move to like New World Stages. It cant' be that expensive of a show to run, and it's so great. I wish it would tour or something.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 12:27am

well, Jarethan, I have not made a study of it either but it does seem like an awful lot of "hurting" shows are still running this year and I think perhaps one difference is that in some seasons there would have been a bunch of closures, and that not only makes all of the still running musicals do better in absolute terms, but also the landscape appears filled with shows near sell out because things like GHD and War Paint (and Comet?) would not be around. 

[Sammytravels]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 1:39am

just thinking back to the last couple of seasons, a few new shows closed really early -Disaster, American Pyscho and Tuck everlasting didn't even make 100 performances and Allegience just scrapped past.

Far from an expert as to why that was the case, but to me it seems there are always hits and those that are not (sadly) 

Updated On: 8/8/17 at 01:39 AM

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 2:11am

"Bandstand- people who love big band music (most of whom are 75 or older and on a fixed income; folks who love to hear stories about ptsd (small group). this was a great story with strong actors and superb dancing and music. the music is not to MOST of the general public's taste. not for children  

none of these shows got tony love

none of these shows got NYT and professional reviewer and critic big love."

Yes, it would generally appeal to an older audience but I think saying 75 and above is a little bit of a stretch. You can be younger and appreciate music of a different era. In addition, the dancing is great and that should appeal to all people who like Broadway musicals. While it only got "minor" Tony award nominations, it did win for best choreography. The reviews were not great but they were generally positive and the two leads were highly praised. The people I know personally who have seen the show have loved it and the audience response to the show when I saw it in April was great. I did not expect it to be a major hit but I am disappointed it is not doing better and will probably close soon.  I thought the show helped itself with a good Tony Award performance but it did not get any real bump after the first week - oh well.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 2:13am

2.  Still amazes me that Chicago did better than War Paint, GHD, and Bandstand, grossed $30 less than Miss Saigon.  I assume that is because of tourists. .

Chicago still running amazes me also, lost all respect for the show when they did stunt casting with people like Christie Brinkley. 

[evic]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 3:11am

My take on low summer grosses is that yes tourism is down. I have heard and read that many foreign tourists are avoiding the US to protest Trump and since ticket prices are so ridiculously high, tourists who would normally see 2 or 3 shows are most probably blowing their wad on just 1. 

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 4:52am

I feel like tourism is down this summer, and I'm guesssing the somewhat annoying weather we've been having hasn't helped.

To be honest, it feels like we've had all possible options this season:

- A show destined to be a hit from the start (DEH)

- A show most thought would fail and looked like it would but it eventually picked up a lot of steam (CFA)

- A show that does well for a while on the back of a big name or two (THC, WP)

- A show that isn't catching on despite being fantastic and will sadly shutter (GD)

[mc1227]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 7:04am

I'm surprised that Bandstand didn't have a better week.  I was in the city and hoping to see it with a TDF offer but for the first weekend In a long time, it wasn't offered.  Hopefully I will get to see it before it closes.

[Skimbleshanks2]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 8:11am

How much longer can GROUNDHOG DAY and WAR PAINT hold on?

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Posted: 8/8/17 at 8:11am

Saying Bandstand basically only appeals to people over 75 is a major lie. I'm a younger person myself, and swing is one of my favorite music genres. I'd gladly book a ticket to Bandstand right now if I was in NY, but sadly I'm not. I'm still surprised it didn't really catch on, I thought the teenagers would love it (Corey Cott is another twitter heartthrob) as well as the older folk, but I guess it hasn't appealed to the vast majority.