Grease Revival 2007 Finances

Although I am not a fan of Grease, and did not see the 2007 revival, I have always wondered why the revival never recouped and closed when it did. Looking at its grosses it played to nearly sell out crowds for its first 6 months and then hovered around 80% for the next 6 months, and then hovered around 57% potential gross for its final 6 months with a few weeks dipping into the forties. Yes the shows grosses were on a downward spiral, but it only announced its January closing in December with only 3 weeks of weeks of grosses below 50% gross. Yes the show was on its way out the door upon closing, but considering how commercial the production was, stemming from a reality show, I would think the producers would try and get every last nickel they could out of the production.

More importantly in my mind though was how did the production never turn a profit? It had a cast of no names until Taylor Hicks joined the production 9 months into the run, and even then he couldn't of been asking for that much money. The only reasoning I can think of was the production played the Brooks which is a relatively small house for a non-chamber musical, causing a gross potential to production cost ratio. Any insight would be much appreciated!

...Was it? It ran only a year and a half. With a cast of over two dozen, on top of other expenses, I can't really imagine how it would manage to recoup in that time.

According to Variety, it did.

^The show was critic-proof. Plus it ended up closing because of the bad economy at the time.

"...Was it? It ran only a year and a half. With a cast of over two dozen, on top of other expenses, I can't really imagine how it would manage to recoup in that time."

Without the reality show we would not have Laura Osnes who proved she is beyond a one hit wonder that can do BOTH revivals and new material with ease

""...Was it? It ran only a year and a half. With a cast of over two dozen, on top of other expenses, I can't really imagine how it would manage to recoup in that time."

Without the reality show we would not have Laura Osnes who proved she is beyond a one hit wonder that can do BOTH revivals and new material with ease"

With the kind of talent she has displayed there is no doubt in my mind that she would still have a very great career, with or without the reality show. It may have pushed her forward a bit faster, but she still would have done quite well without it.