Broadway Hits & Flops: 2008

Variety published their annual statistics on the Broadway season 2007/08 that wrapped up May 25th.

First the good news:

-5 shows that opened this season have paid off and are classified as hits:

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
A BRONX TALE
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
MACBETH

-Joining the above are the following holdovers from last season which have moved into the "hit" category:

FROST/NIXON
MARY POPPINS
SPRING AWAKENING
(The revival of LES MISERABLES was technically an extension of the “Marius” tour that paid off in 1989)

-The following shows are not yet determined:

BOEING-BOEING
A CATERED AFFAIR
THE COUNTRY GIRL
CRY BABY
GREASE
GYPSY
IN THE HEIGHTS
THE LITTLE MERMAID
NOVEMBER
PASSING STRANGE
THE 39 STEPS (commercial transfer)
THURGOOD
XANADU
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
- 2 holdovers from last year that are still undecided:
CURTAINS
LEGALLY BLONDE

-The next group of shows are classed as nonprofit/miscellaneous and do not get classified:

COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA
CYMBELINE
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
MAURITIUS
OLD ACQUAINTANCE
PYGMALION
THE RITZ
SOUTH PACIFIC
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
THE 39 STEPS (Roundabout engagement)
TOP GIRLS


-And finally the FLOPS....

DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (2007/08 remount was separately capitalized from the production that ran on 2006/07)
THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION
GLORY DAYS
THE HOMECOMING
IS HE DEAD?
ROCK 'N' ROLL
THE SEAFARER

- and these holdovers from last season that closed in the red:

COMPANY
DEUCE
GREY GARDENS
INHERIT THE WIND
RADIO GOLF
TALK RADIO
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING
TARZAN

The top 10 grossing shows of the 2007/08 season were:

1. WICKED ($71.4 million)
2. JERSEY BOYS ($58.8 m.)
3. THE LION KING ($58.2 m.)
4. MARY POPPINS ($52.1 m.)
5. MAMMA MIA! ($43.1 m.)
6. LEGALLY BLONDE ($36.4 m.)
7. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA ($35.9 m.)
8. SPAMALOT ($35.6 m.)
9. HAIRSPRAY ($35.1 m.)
10.CURAINS ($31.9 m.)

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Company? A flop?

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What was Curtains' production cost? I'm surprised it didn't recoup.

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"The fact that Is He Dead? was considered a flop kills me a little on the inside..."

I feel the same about The Seafarer

Still disappointed "Farnsworth" was a flop. It felt to me like it was running for months by the time I saw it in February.

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Disney DOES report teh show costs and weekly grosses to Variety.

There is nothing personmal about shows being declared "flops." It simply means that the lost money.

I don't know why people take it so hard when a show they like loses money for the investors. After all, it's not YOUR money.

This list is merely a collection of stats, like the weekly grosses.

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I find it so upseting when no one goes to see amazing shows. The fact that Grey Gardens, The Year of Magical Thinking and Company all closed in the red is very depressing.

frontrowcenter, thanks for your input.
Can you point me to a link stating how much TARZAN or THE LITTLE MERMAID cost to mount on Broadway including out of town costs?

You have to go through Variety's pages and look in reviews or articles aroudn the time a show opens and they usually mention the capitalization costs.

It is more upsetting to see people supporting crap shows, though as discussed many of them simply become tourist attractions and the people that attend go because of name recognition. Even if GREY GARDENS had run an extra 6 months I doubt it would have caught on with the tourist trade.

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Updated On: 6/13/08 at 04:19 AM

I don't usually pay much attention to how nominations affect shows, so I can't really comment on the substance of that assertion, but hasn't it become more a matter of who comes across well on the telecast? I've seen some fabulous shows tank after they chose the wrong number or scene to present & some AWFUL shows see an uptick in sales after coming across very well. After all, that's why we see these dogfights every year over airtime. I know that quite a few people are annoyed that The Lion King is getting any time, for example. Like me. :)

Of course, these are only flops financially. Some of the "flops" were actually successes in entertaining audiences. Although I guess that's just naive of me to think that shows are produced for anything more than money.

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No, it (I'm really superstitious, haven't said or typed the name of "The Scottish Play" in 7 years), just recouped.

Frontrowcentre I agree this year the win for best musical really matters but I wonder why that award in general matters so much more than revival. All 3 revivals this year (i dont like including grease) are incredible and are equally deserving but in the past shows like La Cage have won the award and then announced closing the next day not not even allowing ticket sales to increase. so if the award matters so much why dont shows wait a little longer to see if the ticket sales increase. For instance passing strange, if it does not win will that mean that right away its going to announce its closing?

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