CNBC Article: Nobody wants to see a Broadway show

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 12:27pm

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/14/with-hamilton-disney-wicked-ticket-sales-slow-broadway-isnt-back.html

I saw this article today on social media. First thing that surprised me was that Hamilton only has one sold out show between September and June 2022?  I have tix for it in October and that show is sold out. 

The main point of the article is that Broadway is rushing to come back and that since people are not buying tix to the biggest hit shows, then people are not ready to return to Broadway. I think that's hard for us on this board to hear since a lot of us feel like we've been waiting ages and ages for theaters to reopen. 

The worst part, for sure, was the comments as usual. On FB, many people were commenting on how  New York crime is out of control and nobody wants to go back, and how ticket prices are too high, and even how Hamilton "sucks" so nobody wants to see it. Generally a very negative reaction to Broadway's predicament.  

Updated On: 8/14/21 at 12:27 PM

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 12:38pm

Phantom4ever said: "https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/14/with-hamilton-disney-wicked-ticket-sales-slow-broadway-isnt-back.html

I saw this article today on social media. First thing that surprised me was that Hamilton only has one sold out show between September and June 2022? I have tix for it in October and that show is sold out."

Well we know that at least that part isn’t true - the opening performance is for sure sold out and I’d imagine most of the first week + the performance you are attending. I’m sure there are others, but it is true that there are a number of performances you can still get a regular priced ticket to. 
 

I honestly don’t think that’s surprising to anyone on this board - it’s die hard theater fans rushing back to see shows, not casual tourists. And even then, it’s a subset of theater fans as many people still aren’t comfortable. 
 

As far as the comment section - save your sanity and skip them altogether. The vermin of the internet lives in comment sections. 

Updated On: 8/14/21 at 12:38 PM

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 1:00pm

The writer of that article clearly doesn't know or doesn't care about the difference between standard and resale. Sure, there's "plenty of opening week availability" if you include the overpriced resale seats, which have already been sold. Taking that into account, calling Hamilton's ticket sales for the first few months "slow" is an exaggeration, in my opinion.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 1:14pm

One thing that is interesting is the refunds that are available to ticket buyers right now. Many shows are offering refunds or exchanges through January.

Before when ticket resellers had purchased tickets, there was an incentive to drop the prices as the performance got closer or else they would have to eat the total cost of the ticket. Now with being able to get refunds, I’d imagine they will just start canceling tickets.

I know before producers didn’t get the money from ticket sales until after a performance, but still if your show was sold out it didn’t matter if it was resale or not - you’d get the money as long as the performance went on.

If there are large swaths of last minute cancellations that could be troubling.

Of course all of this is totally hypothetical and I’m not typing it and calling it journalism.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 1:21pm

I had forgotten about the refund element, thanks for reminding. Too bad the actual journalist wasn't insightful enough to mention it.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 1:25pm

I also think that after everything that has happened, people are hedging a little more. My wife and I have plans to go to NYC sometime around the New Year but I haven't bought any tickets yet for a hotel or Broadway shows because I'm sort of waiting to make sure everything goes smoothly with the reopening and that the Delta isn't still raging. That wouldn't necessarily be a reason we don't go, we are both vaccinated of course but it is a reason why I haven't pulled the trigger on tickets yet.

The article mentions hedging like I described but that is NOT the same as "not wanting to see a Broadway show." That's sensationalizing.

Updated On: 8/14/21 at 01:25 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 1:54pm

I think the truth lies somewhere in between. On the one hand, the article is obviously written by a person who does not know what they are talking about. On the other hand, delusional posts here about how robust ticket sales are also written by people who don't know what they are talking about. There are a lot of shows opening because they have SVOG money burning a hole in their pocket; no one I have spoken to thinks that (paraphrasing Kevin Costner) build it they will come is going to be the operative maxim of this season. The greatest concern is what the failures that are inevitable are going to have a damaging ripple effect longterm in terms of a healthy new normal. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 1:57pm

It's true, international tourists cannot come back and spend money (at least that reside in China, all of Europe, UK, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa, and India) and there are is a large part of this country that watch Fox News and read the NY Post which has a murder headline daily about the City. 

So, it's a combination of a lot of things but I for one thinks that shows should get real and start offering some discounts. 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 2:04pm

To echo what Mr. Wormwood said, I have a friend coming into town in late September who wants to wait until she’s here to get tickets for shows. There’s definitely a sense of “wait and see.” Also there’s no real urgency because things aren’t selling out completely.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 2:10pm

I know I don't speak for everyone, but I am a HUGE Broadway fan who lived in NYC five years before the pandemic. I now live and work out of state. I had a trip planned for November (show tickets were bought), and I decided this last week to cancel it. I got full refunds for all my tickets. I hated to do it, but, honestly, I am fine to wait until the spring when there are A) more new shows (hopefully) and B) COVID cases are not as bad (hopefully). I am in no rush to get back.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 2:14pm

I'm sorry you had to do that, but I hope you enjoy New York in the Spring, it's lovely (as you already know!). 

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 2:18pm

Personally, as an avid theatre-goer pre pandemic, I’ve looked at how shows were selling and due to many having TONS of availability, I’m waiting for the shows to pop up on TDF or for them to offer discounts before I buy anything. One show I did buy was flying over sunset, but it was $35 via LincTix.

I also don’t know how comfortable I will be sitting shoulder to shoulder with a stranger, but the vaccine and mask mandates definitely make me feel more at ease. I live in NJ and haven’t been back to the city since March 2020. While the headlines are daunting, I have asked a handful of friends who actually work in the city and are telling me it’s pretty bad. If I can’t feel safe walking from the theatre district to Port Authority, or to Penn Station, I’m not going to come in. So, I’m just waiting. Waiting to see what the city looks like come September in terms of crowds and crime. Waiting to see how the first few weeks go. Just waiting.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 2:24pm

Sutton Ross said: "I'm sorry you had to do that, but I hope you enjoy New York in the Spring, it's lovely (as you already know!)."

Thank you, Sutton! I am very excited for April :)

[binau]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 2:30pm

It might help if the US open their borders to the EU and UK! Im trying to roll the dice and visit to see FLYING OVER SUNSET among others but what normal person would book anything right now when they are not even allowed in?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 2:35pm

Before COVID, my family bought same-day tickets for B’way shows all the time, either from TKTS or StubHub at decent last-minute prices. Very rarely did we get tickets far in advance, as people are doing now.
Locals are going to want to wait for cheaper tix to start popping up. Wait until October when more shows reopen and let’s see what happens.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 2:48pm

binau said: "It might help if the US open their borders to the EU and UK! Im trying to roll the dice and visit to see FLYING OVER SUNSET among others but what normal person would book anything right now when they are not even allowed in?"

Great point. 

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 3:10pm

Sutton Ross said: "It's true, international tourists cannot come back and spend money (at least that reside in China, all of Europe, UK, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa, and India) and there are is a large part of this country that watch Fox News and read the NY Post which has a murder headline daily about the City.

So, it's a combination of a lot of things but I for one thinks that shows should get real and start offering some discounts."

I agree completely about the discount calculus that seems to have caught on, in which producers seem to have collectively decided to eke out what they can at full price before offering discounts. I understand it: they need more revenue than the discounts will yield. But I also think it is going to backfire. That said, a lot of people who have never watched or read Murdoch BS are not comfortable inside a theatre right now regardless of protocols. This has nothing to do with murders (coincidentally, some of those same Fox news watchers are aced out of Broadway due to the vax requirement anyway). This is true for large swaths of the regional audience as well. It is indeed a combination of a lot of things that conspire against a robust recovery. I stand by my long ago prediction that opening too many shows too soon is going to create some unhappy results including, I think, the closing of some of the sacred cows.

[stoptheworld38]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 3:11pm

Keep in mind that there’s a big difference between wanting to see a Broadway show and feasibly being able to see a Broadway show. Even with Covid entirely aside there’s any number of perfectly legitimate reasons why someone wouldn’t be able to go. (Cost, distance, scheduling, the list goes on...)

My family has tickets to Hadestown late next month, rescheduled from end of March 2020. Considering we’re all fully vaccinated and vaccines are required we aren’t too concerned. We’ve been planning to see it for over a year and a half now and for us going to Broadway is pretty rare. I mean, if I lived in the area and had unlimited money I’d go all the time but given the cost and the fact that I don’t like in/close to NYC it’s much more of a special, fairly unusual occasion.

[LetTheSunshineIn2]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 3:12pm

I haven't bought any tickets yet and for me it is partially about Delta of course, but because of their vaccination policies I'd feel okay going.  Mostly, I've balked at buying tickets and planning a trip because at least for the shows I've looked at I can get a decent seat for a reasonable price.  Almost the entire orchestra and the front of the mezz are premium tickets.  If I'm going to go, I'd like a good seat and I'm not willing to pay those premium prices right now.  I know it's how shows were being priced pre-pandemic and I was either wiling to pay if it was something I really wanted to see or sit in a not so good seat then (I live outside NYC so lotteries and things are hard when you are only in the city for a couple of days and want to see specific things) but I'm just not willing to throw down that much money at the moment.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 3:40pm

Yeah, the writer didn't seem to do any due diligence. The number of available resale seats for Hamilton is pretty insignificant...I doubt it accounts for more than 5% of seats in the house. Though to be fair, if scalpers have grabbed a significant number of seats and are selling them on other platforms, it won't show on TM. But, that said,
Hamilton had very limited availability through October (I stopped looking). Though it is a bit disingenuous, even resale seats are technically "available" seats, so they can't be discounted when discussing tourism trends.

The anecdotal evidence (i.e., looking at seating maps in TM and Telecharge), definitely does show weaker sales after the first week or so of a shows return. Unlike Hamilton, Wicked's advanced sales after that first week aren't that good (but might be "just" good enough). Even The Lion King has a big drop in advance sales after the first two weeks (but look a little better than Wicked). Aladdin looks weak, and Phantom, Chicago, and Come from Away don't look to have even sold more than 1/3 of seats past their first week or two of performances.

All that is only based on what the maps look like when you go to the ticketing sites. With no currently available discounts, and the fact that many tourists don't buy tickets until they arrive in the city, it remains to be seen if this anecdotal evidence can predict each show's viability. But with low tourism, and the fact that these particular shows have long since exhausted the local audience, I'd say there probably won't be much upward movement in sales. Maybe just enough for Lion King and Wicked, but I'd say the others won't make it.

[binau]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 3:44pm

It kind of makes me wonder whether shows like Flying Over Sunset, Company or Assassins at CSC off B will be surprise hits of the season since they probably rely more on local audiences than the tourist shows…

Updated On: 8/14/21 at 03:44 PM

[Wick3]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 4:21pm

The only show I bought tickets for is Flying Over Sunset. I had tix for the show back in March 2020 so this is the show I'm most excited to see right now. I did notice that their prices increased. Back in March 2020, I paid $119 for my orchestra seat but now for the same seat it is $167. Happy to pay given my theater budget in 2020 was not spent. In addition I'm now over age 35 and not eligible for those $35 LincTix tickets anymore. 

The article didn't mention the Music Man revival nor Springsteen which I believe are doing well in the box office.

[Theater3232]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 4:53pm

I wish these producers would speak to the "average" person and realize how much hesitancy there is. One of my friends has no problem walking back to the late night A train at 23rd St from the Eagle in a harness, but doesn't want to attend a show since he feels it'd be uncomfortable to wear a mask for 2.5 hours (he's vaccinated).  Friends in Long Island say things have gotten way worse along the 8th Ave corridor b/t Penn Station & Port Authority recently (assaults, robberies, aggressive panhandling, etc) & they don't want to go since they no longer feel safe like they always did.  Others tell me they don't want to go since they hear how catchy Delta is and they don't want to chance it (they're vaccinated, but have kids or visit kids/family who aren't vaccinated.)  Out of all friends/family I've spoken to, only ONE person is still open to attending theater, and he's single, retired, vaccinated & lives by himself.  My head is spinning when I see how many off-off-Broadway, off-Broadway & Broadway shows are planning to open over the next several months.  I'm still hoping for the best since so many jobs are involved here, but I think there was a HUGE miscalculation here.

[bway0]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 6:22pm

Never mind

Updated On: 8/14/21 at 06:22 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/14/21 at 6:38pm

I had a ticket for $35, great seat (thanks LincTix) and now I'm pasted 35 and have to pay full price. Ugh. But hey, happy to support theater.