Gypsy on the 1/2 price line. What can this mean?

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 5/28/03 at 7:09pm

Can It only mean that this show already isnt doing well? Or does it mean that people just buy tickets the day of the show instead of advance? I hope nothing happens to this show. I wanna see it, damn it!

[moljul]

Posted: 5/28/03 at 7:19pm

From the beginning Gypsy has been at TKTS several nights each week. Since it officially opened, the only seats available are usually balcony seats and often bad balcony seats. I think on rare occasion there are rear mezz seats. I would chalk it up to the economy and the less than stellar balcony seats. I would think with this economy a show like Gypsy would not be a sell out like Hairspray. Hairspray is new and almost everyone has seen a production of Gypsy. Also the balcony at the Shubert is so high up, I'm sure they are hard seats to sell so they probably have to send some of them to the TKTS line. And remember that no production of Gypsy has been of the "sell out every night" variety. It does very good business (occupancy for the current production has been in the mid 90 percent since it opened) and usually runs for a little over a year. None of the productions, original or revival have had really long runs. I think it is the nature of the show and revivals in general.

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 5/28/03 at 9:55pm

Lots of shows are up on TKTS nightly, and most of them are far from tanking. Like moljul said, the seats that are usually given to TKTS are whatever's left that hasn't been sold, or what the box office people don't think is going to sell. I wouldn't worry.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 5/28/03 at 9:59pm

I think that some of it is due to Bernadette's recent absences. The show needs to get some money back from ticket returns, and if they can sell some balcony seats at TKTS, then why not.

[bongoboy]

Posted: 5/28/03 at 10:08pm

I've been wondering about this too. Any time a show is on TKTS...it's not a great sign. I don't recall other revivals..i.e. Music Man and Kiss Me Kate being up there right away...but the balcony theory is a good one. In any true, true smash hit, people will take whatever seats they can get.

[MlleDaae]

Posted: 5/29/03 at 9:01pm

By the way...how is Gypsy doing?

~MlleDaae

[magruder]

Posted: 5/29/03 at 9:46pm

What Moljul wrote is correct. There are about 200 not very good seats to Gypsy that are the last seats to be sold, because they are partially obstructed. The choice the producers have is either to pretend (like the Music Man and Kiss Me, Kate revivals did) that the show doesn't need to go to the booth, and take a loss on 200 seats every night. Or let those tickets go to the booth and make something on them.

As far as how the show is doing. The show was the fifth highest grossing show last week as per Broadway.com

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. The Lion King $1,106,834
2. The Producers $989,243
3. Hairspray $978,060
4. Mamma Mia! $977,674
5. Gypsy $782,288

and played to 94.7% capacity as per Playbill.com