HONEYMOON IN VEGAS struggling on Broadway- Page 14

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:43pm

stevie3, you don't understand how this works. The only way you can maybe win people over is if you pay for their front orchestra seats. Full price. Pay up now.

[ethan231h]

Posted: 2/17/15 at 11:56pm

HinV as a whole is not Tony winning, though Nancy and Rob could have a chance.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 2/18/15 at 12:23am

Yes, the show is an old-fashioned musical comedy, well done, that tourists should be flocking to. But they aren't. Could it be the dust on the title? A better title for the musical may have been "When You Say Vegas."

[philly03]

Posted: 2/18/15 at 1:07am

I don't think this show has any ill-will coming in from its previous out-of-town engagments; not nearly the amount of hate that shows like Wonderland, Leap of Faith, The Addams Family, etc. have had in the past. It's just polarizing title (as evidence in this thread), with a boring score, based on an outdated film from two decades ago with its unmemorable plot.

I think if anything people have actually seen this (counteractive to the Wildhorn bashers who don't even see the shows as seen with Jekyll & Hyde revival's attendance records but claim they do!) and they don't like it. I am amazed still that this hasn't posted a notice yet.

[saulssweetie]

Posted: 2/18/15 at 8:55am

I went to see this last night and had a great time. Thought it was fun and worth the ticket price. Rob McClure was fantastic, and I really regret not seeing him in Chaplin. The mezzanine was pretty empty though, so it might not last much longer. Too bad.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/18/15 at 9:06am

Is there anything left to say on this subject? I'm sure. Yet even by the standards of this board, this show's prognosis has been mega-parsed more than any other this season. I wonder if any conclusions can be drawn from its trajectory and fate. It doesn't really have anything to do with generalizations about the composer's other scores, or the Papermill Playhouse, or movies made into films, or TV stars returning to B'way. Yet it seems to inspire a thesis a day on this board and The Other One. Maybe that's the issue here: it's a kind of Rashomon show biz experience, one can interpret freely from its grosses, its intermission babble, its (fill in the blank). And project onto it everything from a loathing of certain American cities to a desire to put orchestras back in the pit forever. Rashomon or Rorshach Test, it's quite the lightning rod.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/18/15 at 9:46am

I'd like to read/hear an interview of its producers. That would be far more interesting to me than the show itself.

[bwaybby]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 5:01pm

So now I am able to get tix for the summer...But, I don't understand, last week they were only selling till May now they're selling till November? What happened that allowed for the releasing of all these tickets? Several months?

[philly03]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 5:05pm

Maybe instead of just throwing money at it, Tony Danza & co. are buying actual tickets now and giving to charities (a la Alanis Morrisette for Jane Eyre) realizing they need to not only inflate the grosses, but attendance as well! Ha ha

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 5:32pm

Tony just doesn't give up a fight. I bet their operational costs are actually more like 200,000 dollars instad of 500,000. that means they are making a heft profit.

[ethan231h]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 5:38pm

My friend was at the show last night and said the theatre was barely full.

[bwaybby]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 6:00pm

Jorge...there is no way with a cast, band and crew the size they have that you are even close to being right. No offense.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 6:07pm

Don't they have to pay licensing fees from the film too?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 6:32pm

The weekly running costs are about $550k. Jorge, I hope you are not a gambling man because your bet is a very lousy one. Over 14 frames, they only have revenue of less than $5.5 million and expenses of almost $8 million. That means someone has irrationally put up at least $2.5-3 million in priority loans over and above the capitalization. There is no rational reason this show is running, but of course the theatre is not always a rational place.

Updated On: 2/25/15 at 06:32 PM

[bwaybby]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 6:38pm

there is a cast of 24. Even with half of them making minimum that's probably around 100k with the star's checks considered. Rental of the theater I'm guessing is another 100k. So there's your 200k Jorge before even talking about orchestra, everyone behind the scenes, royalties, pr and more. My guess is they need to be making between 500 and 700k to break even each week? No?

[ethan231h]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 6:48pm

And I am sure the members of the orchestra get payed more for being in full costume and being on stage throughout the show not just underneath the stage where the audience cant see them.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 7:12pm

Hoganshero, it is in fact rational that they are still running

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 7:25pm

Phillypinto, you tried unsuccessfully to sing that song to me a few weeks ago; it's even more offkey now that another million dollars has gone down the toilet. It is in fact insane and embarrassing that the show is still running. I feel so bad for those actors who had to stare at 5000 seat backs last week because Tony Danza never listened to Kenny Rogers.

[bwaybby]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 7:30pm

How is it rational when the money they're losing they could solve child hunger or go to good causes instead of being flushed away. That being said..I've not seen it, I just am able to look at the numbers week to week and I don't see this show being the exception to history

[philly03]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 7:59pm

That's what I don't get it. What is the end game here? The only other musical I can think of in recent memory to bleed so much money was DRACULA, the musical -- but the clear purpose for that was to "transfer" it to an available theatre in Switzerland (where it actually was revised and was incredibly successful). Just because it gets nominated for awards doesn't mean it will win, and just because it wins doesn't mean an audience will magically appear.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 9:22pm

Intermission at the show tonight and the mezz is sadly a ghost town. I am not good with estimating percentages but it's definitely less than 50% full up here.

By the way, Zachary Prince is on for Rob McClure, and he is excellent.

[ethan231h]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 9:32pm

Does the actors/ushers seemed sad because of the very low capacity?

[Nateben2]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 9:36pm

In response to the release of tickets until November . . .

They could release tickets until 2018 if they want, it may help them get a sense of what future sales could be like . . . but opening up more dates puts less pressure to sell tickets on dates closer . . .

We shall see - wishing them nothing but the best - but the numbers paint a bleak picture.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 9:56pm

ljay889,Intermission at the show tonight and the mezz is sadly a ghost town. I am not good with estimating percentages but it's definitely less than 50% full up here.

---
A friend of mine saw it Tuesday night and said the mezzanine looked as if it only had a little over 100 people and those few in the rear mezzanine moved down to front 5 rows. He was seeing someone in the show and said the cast is really dismayed.
What are they waiting for and why are they keeping this open?
At this point it's not fair to the cast etc. playing to empty houses nightly!

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 2/25/15 at 10:02pm

Yes, I feel so bad for all those poor actors making two thousand dollars a week to get to do what they love for a living.