Close, Move or Stay

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 3:15pm

Thinking of two shows that this is definitely an option (Close, Move or Stay) see in the weekly grosses these two shows are struggling, despite great runs.

First one is Rock Of Ages, which has had a glorious run (bet no one on here, thought it would run this long, me included) which has taken a big drop in grosses earning so far this year $3.8m in the same time last year the show took, compared to $4.67m for the same weeks last year.

Rock of Ages could stay and hope a good summer brings a box office boost or move to a different theatre, however Rock plays the smallest theatre on Broadway, but I could see this having a decent after life off-Broadway, at somewhere like New World Stages?

Next up is another show that has done brilliantly but is starting to show signs of slumping, Jersey Boys has grossed $7.53m so far this year, in the same time last year the show had done $9.4m, Jersey Boys could stay put as it is probably just holding its head above water, or move to a smaller Broadway theatre, the only stumbling block is this show is playing in a pretty small theatre as it is and most theatres are perhaps a 100 seats smaller, where a move wouldn't be worth while, unless it went to somewhere like the Walter Kerr, John Golden, Lyceum or Helen Hayes which are all under a 1000 seats.

Or should both productions, say that New York has been a incredible good hunting ground for our show, but it's a good time to call it a day?

Mamma Mia should just close?

[Dessie]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 3:21pm

Jersey Boys may hold out for the movie to open and possibly boost it

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 3:28pm

With ROCK OF AGES, they were actually originally slated to close back in January of 2011, until new producers came on and transferred the show to the Helen Hayes. Also, I believe, once ROA vacates the Helen Hayes, Second Stage Theatre will assume ownership of the theatre and it will either become a Broadway transfer house for 2ST or fall off the Broadway grid entirely.

JERSEY BOYS is likely holding out for the movie, and I have to say, the movie is what will make me decide as to whether or not I'll want to see the stage show. A move may also not be possible as it is in a Jujamcyn theatre, with no wiggle room unless it moves to a theatre owned by the Shuberts.

MAMMA MIA had its fun, but its clear the move has severely damaged an already-falling show.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 3:40pm

As long as there's dollas to be made, these shows aren't going anywhere. I know they've never interested me, though.

[Hackasaurus_Rex]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 3:45pm

Quizking, RoA was never slated to close. That is actually wrong info. However, it is true that they transferred to stay alive longer than they felt it would at the Brooks… and at that time another group of producers came aboard.

As far as the Mamma Mia movie "severly damaging" the show, I don't know how you came up with that. The film grossed over 600 million world wide. It was a massive hit and I think you could make the argument for the exact opposite that the film actually revitalized the brand, keeping it in the public conciousness.

[willep]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 5:26pm

He didn't say the Mamma Mia movie severely damaged the show...he said the MOVE severely damaged it.

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 5:41pm

Let's also not forget the sometimes-silent option in these cases. None of these shows are going to disappear as soon as they close. On the contrary, they will go into licensing (unless for whatever reason, all the music in Mamma Mia! or Rock of Ages is difficult to license for regional and school productions).

A show like Mamma Mia still pulls tons of tourists, so it may make more staying open than closing. But Rock of Ages is certain to be a popular regional choice as soon as it closes, and may well turn a bigger profit in licensing than it will by staying open and eking out its weekly nut.

[tmbyru]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 6:48pm

If Jersey Boys is doing so poorly, how come it's never on TDF? And Mamma Mia hasn't been on there in a couple weeks so it can't be doing so bad either. RoA is a fun show and I think would go perfectly in New World Stages... but I am afraid it will die like Rent did (or could live forever like Avenue Q).

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 7:28pm

There would be an irony in RoA going to New World as thats were it started.

Also whoever said the Hayes would fall off the broadway grid once 2ST took it over, it wont the point of 2ST buying it was to have a house on Broadway, they want to be like Roundabout or MTC...

[Jonwo]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 7:33pm

Mamma Mia! I think will likely hold out for another year or two but clearly the move to the Broadhurst dented the grosses.

Jersey Boys I do agree will hold out until the film is out and see if it will provide a much needed boost.

[Hackasaurus_Rex]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 9:05pm

hahaha… I'm dumb and read too fast. Thank you Willep.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 3:57pm

Haha this thread reminded me of that game F***, Marry, Kill. Is it wrong to play it for everything currently playing? (Close, More or Stay…, I mean)
Updated On: 3/19/14 at 03:57 PM

[broadwayworldreader]

Posted: 3/19/14 at 5:20pm

Say what you want about RoA, but I think any show that "stunt casts" Mark Zuckerberg's sister (who USED TO BE a partial owner of Facebook) to celebrate their 5th anniversary is having a hard time. Nothing against her, but I'd hardly call that stunt casting. Can you imagine the conversation?

Theatre Patron 1: "Oh wow! This flyer says Randi Zuckerberg is in the show for a week."
Theatre Patron 2: "Cool....who's that?"
Theatre Patron 1: "I guess she's the sister of Mark Zuckerberg...that guy who started Facebook."
Theatre Patron 2: "huh....hey look we can see Doogie Howser sing!"

Updated On: 3/19/14 at 05:20 PM

[trpguyy]

Posted: 3/20/14 at 8:51am

Rock of Ages, even with all of its offshoots (tours, Vegas, cruises), has not made money. The rights to those songs are expensive enough that they're still in the red, so I'm betting that as long as a physical production is still making even a little money, it won't go anywhere.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/20/14 at 10:12am

Yeah, it isn't stunt casting if you have to Google who it is...

[bobs3]

Posted: 3/20/14 at 10:20am

Second Stage holds the mortgage on the Helen Hayes Theatre. They have been using the rent from ROCK OF AGES to pay down the mortgage (reportedly about $10 million). If it ever gets to the point that RoA can't meet the rent payments, Second Stage will evict them and move their season to the Helen Hayes.

Updated On: 3/21/14 at 10:20 AM

[bdn223]

Posted: 3/20/14 at 3:23pm

ROA has indeed turned a profit. I made it into the black finally last year, but still for a show that had a relativly small initial cost I think 7 million and taking 4 years to turn a profit is crazy. The show's producers will definitly make more money from regional productions than they are currently making at the Hayes since the royalties for the songs are crazy. The only reason Motown will make money is because all the royalty money is already going to Berry Gordy.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 3/20/14 at 4:11pm

I doubt Rock of Ages is going anywhere. If they really start to struggle there's a laundry list of "stunt" casting they can bring in/ bring back. Dee Snider and Constantine Maroulis come to mind. the reason for the lengthy recoupment is the royalties, as opposed to a standard jukebox musical that is licensing a catalog of a single artist/ composer, they are licensing individual songs from many royalty holders, they don't really et a bulk discount.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/20/14 at 11:55pm

I hadn't realized that 2ST already holds the mortgage. If that's true, and the decision to evict ROCK comes from them as opposed to the old owners of the theatre, I wonder how the decision to evict would be affected by if 2ST is ready to program the Hayes yet or not.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 12:04am

Having an original member of the production doesn't seem like the typical definition of stunt casting.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 3/22/14 at 8:10am

I don't want any cast crew to lose theirr job but if it was not for that would love to see all three close and something new take their place. Some shows may run forever (Wicked, Lion King, Phantom, Chicago) but I don't think the three you mentioned should be shows that continue to run like those mentioned above.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/22/14 at 8:21am

if and when Rock closes/gets evicted. 2ST has already publicly stated numerous times the theater would be dark for a year to renovate and put in a new lobby, etc.

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 3/22/14 at 9:54am

According to 2ST, ROA has an open ended lease and will stay there as long as they want.

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 7:28pm

>>>>>bet no one on here, thought it would run this long,
Maybe a few.
I remember the discussions about how drinking in the theater was the downfall of civilization. LOL
Is there a theater left that doesn't allow drinks in the seats?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/25/14 at 8:12pm

Sticking purely to Mamma Mia! here, it's issue is not that it moved. In the long run, it will be that it has downsized. True, many audiences won't know the Broadway production downsized - it is now basically the second national tour set, but if younlook at the flag ship productions, itbis apparent that the producers are hacking the show down to bits in an effort to save money and profit as audiences get gradually smaller and don't push for more. The original West End production has ,oved theatres several times... The first move, they made the show BIGGER. The last move, they transformed into the bus-and-truck production currently touring the US and originally designed to tour smaller Australian markets and they now use it for numerous sit downs...