Broadway Hits & Flops:2006- Page 2

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 5:31pm

It seems unlikely that Jersey Boys is completely sold out for the next two months since it's played few, if any, sold-out weeks thus far, though it's come extremely close. This probably has to do with the fact that some of the seats are partial view. I'm told that some of them are very partial view. So much so that they are basically not sellable. The producers might as well just remove a few seats that are really bad and then they can actually post 100-percent attendance.

Anyway, a show's future grosses have no bearing on whether it has already recouped. Jersey Boys will undoubtedly recoup but it does take time. There was a time when most musicals could recoup in six months of full houses, but now it usually takes longer. Sometimes a lot longer. Jersey Boys is not in a theatre with a particularly large number of seats so even with near-capacity houses it takes a while for the weekly profits to add up to return of the investment.

I should add that I don't know definitively know that the show hasn't yet recouped. But most shows do announce when they recoup, and unless I missed it, Jersey Boys has made no such announcement.

Btw, back in the '40s, I believe that As the Girls Go and the 1946 revival of Show Boat were the first shows to run a year or so without recouping. There may not have been any shows that managed that unfortunate feat in the '50s, but (as frontrowcentre said) in the '60s several shows managed to run 500 or more performances without recouping. And it's just gotten worse since.

[The W.A.N.D]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 5:35pm

I hated the Color Purple but I'm glad Sweeney and GlenGarry from last season were hits.

[WiiCKED x3]

Posted: 6/8/06 at 5:48pm

I also hate the Color Purple. I love Sweeney though.

[MAC]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 1:35am

I LOVE THE COLOR PURPLE. I'm so glad that in America we can all have different opinions. This show will have no problems recouping its investment.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 3:03am

I think Color Purple's 6-Month sit down in Chicago next year will be a big sell-out.

What makes Jersey Boy's seats partial view? The set isn't that obstrcutive? Or is it just the way the theater is set up?

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 3:18am

Not really sure. Some friends tried to get tickets for it a few months ago, and the box office told them that all that was available were orchestra seats that were extremely partial view, really bad. And the tickets were full price. They decided not to see it that weekend.

At least the box office was upfront about it.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 3:25am

I sat partial view for Jersey Boys. It's on the far sides of the orchestra. It's not really that bad unless you're the very last seat I guess. You can only see parts of the screens and since I was on the left side, I couldn't see the left staircase too well. It's really not that bad at all.

~Steven

[SirLiir]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 11:25am

I hate thinking this but I do feel DRS enjoyed a much better boost when John Lithgow was there. I have deep respect for both him and Mr. Pyrce but I feel the celebrity factor did have a significant effect on the box office. I work hard to promote the show and 9/10 when I mention the show to someone, they have no idea what it is about or where it is even playing! Once people are there seeing the show, then they enjoy it. However, getting people in there has been the struggle. As Margo mentioned, as talented as Brian D'Arcy and Keith Carradine are, they aren't going to see the box office on fire.

[TLKfan]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 3:11pm

I too an surprised that Hairspray didn't do that great on tour. I saw the show last night and it was basically packed and the audience had a great time...and that was a weeknight.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 3:53pm

Where have you been TLKfan???

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 3:59pm

Wait, DRS hasn't recouped?

I thought variety categorized DRS as a hit holdover from last year?

How much longeruntil it recoups?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 4:36pm

That's what we were discussing on the last page. Variety declared it a holdover hit, but it's quite a ways from recouping and with James and Carradine joining the cast soon, it's questionable whether it will ever recover from its recent box office doldrums and recoup. It could very well close as a flop.

[AJ1985]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 2:32am

Margo was right (as usual..how does she get all her inside info?)

So DRS was a flop. Too bad. But what a great cast album. Its one I will enjoy for years to come.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 9:09am

DRS has one of the best scores in years. It was certainly the best of its season, sadly losing the Tony it deserved.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 11:13am

DRS has one of the best scores in years? Maybe it had the (2nd) best score that season. But one of the best scores in years? How many years are we talking?

[folkyboy]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 11:31am

see DRS' book is what sold me. the music was only mediocre

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 11:48am

In my opinion, DRS had the second-best score its season (after Piazza) and the second-best book (after Spelling Bee), but overall was probably the best musical of the year (my devotion to Piazza notwithstanding). I am still surprised it closed as a flop and can only hope Yazbek made enough to keep himself afloat and write another great score.

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 2:32pm

I agree with everything Ourtime992 just said. I also don't get the Hairspray tour thing --I saw the tour a week ago and thought it was spectacular! The cast was great, and I was frankly surprised that I enjoyed the show so much.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 2:46pm

Honestly, I think Hairspray and Avenue Q failed in Las Vegas because they're too smart.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 2:49pm

All I can say, frontrowcentre2 is

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN!!!!!

And that's a real amen, not the final words of The Color Purple.

[jv92]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 10:53pm

Scoundrels had a great score, but something easy to find. (Extremely clever lyrics, tuneful music). Piazza's score is such a rare gem. Scoundrels book is on par with Piazza's though. The two of them are excellent.

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 9/22/06 at 11:13pm

Fiction Writer, I have to disagree. Frankly, I think Las Vegas tourists and "audiences" don't give a S-H-I-T about Broadway musicals. Nevermind you're putting a show like AVENUE Q in a 2000 seat theatre. If they wanted a Broadway musical, they'd go to Broadway. PHANTOM is yet to be prove it can make it in the city. I can see that surviving perhaps but only because of its reputation.

Just my two cents.

[littlelotte64]

Posted: 9/23/06 at 1:49am

Jersey Boys has recently recouped it's investment, or so i have heard

[Smaxie]

Posted: 9/23/06 at 2:06am

Jersey Boys actually recouped about four months ago, shortly after the Tony Awards, but only announced the news recently.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 6/7/09 at 3:39am

Of the holdover hits from 2006 only DROWSY CHAPERONE paid off.

-The following shows are not yet determined:

THE WEDDING SINGER
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE
TARZAN

For the current season only WEST SIDE STORY and BILLY ELLIOT seem solid bets to pay off.