Has there ever truly been a show that had a total financial turnaround after the Tony's?- Page 2

[quizking101]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 3:46pm

goodlead said: "Plays could get a boost from the Tonys, but the show's producers have never found an effective way to present play excerpts."

Some shows have in the past, case in point being Viola Davis’ blistering monologue from King Hedley II

https://youtu.be/nq8cDUklmQE

[joevitus]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 2:11am

Is The Wiz an example? I know it opened to terrible business despite great reviews. Had the box office already turned around before the Tonys?

[BJR]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 7:42am

Something like LuPone's GYPSY opening in the spring, getting rave reviews, winning 3 acting awards, and having a dynamite Tony performance certainly helped –– but it still didn't make it through its full run and lost money.
 

It was also the victim of the Great Recession. That January day it closed saw something like 9 shows close. It was a bigger bloodbath than normal Januarys, for obvious reasons.

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 12:41pm

GlindatheGood22 said: "In the recent Spring Awakening documentary the creators talked about the show being in financial danger until the Tony nominations."

I remember how we used to post here back then, when grosses came out, that Spring Awakening was doing so bad it wouldn’t even make opening.

It was the glowing reviews that turned it all around, and the Tonys just guaranteed its success.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 3:23pm

joevitus said: "Is The Wiz an example? I know it opened to terrible business despite great reviews. Had the box office already turned around before the Tonys?"

THE WIZ had a great television ad stating:  "THE WIZ is a Wow". I think that had a greater effect on the box office than the Tony Awards.

[zainmax]

Posted: 5/15/22 at 10:20pm

Gent's Guide is the best recent example.

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/16/22 at 10:12am

For financial turnaround for shows that DID NOT win best musical/play that had a financial turnaround after the Tony's...as someone already mentioned Next to Normal, part of it definitively has to do with its performance and its surprise win over both Dolly Parton and Elton John, which left many asking "WHAT IS GOING ON? IS HE DEAD? IS SHE SLEEPING WITH HER SON?" I am not kidding, being one of the few people in my friend group who had seen Next to Normal pre-Tony's all of them had asked me those questions in the days that followed, with my answer being, "Just see it, trust me its worth it." 

Beetlejuice, is a more recent example and had it not been for Covid, and The Music Man, it likely would have recouped. 

On the play front, there's The Play that Goes Wrong, Hand to God, Peter and the Starcatcher. The running theme with all of these shows outside of Beetlejuice, is they were shows minimal running costs that were loosing money pre-Tony's, but were able to use the exposure from the Tony's to boost sales just enough to remain profitable. 

So the bottom line is if you are producing a small production that is loosing money or barely making ends meet before the Tony's it is possible for the show to loose Best Musical/Play/Revival, but ride the exposure from Tony's to a sustained period of profit. Note I am not saying it will make the production recoup, but it can cause a show that's at risk of loosing its entire investment and instead to loose only 25%-50% of the capitalization costs.  On the other hand if you are producing a  big budget musical that is loosing money pre-Tony's and don't win Best Musical, the odds of the Tony's making enough of an impact on sales to turn the finances around is slim. 

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/16/22 at 11:24am

joevitus said: "Is The Wiz an example? I know it opened to terrible business despite great reviews. Had the box office already turned around before the Tonys?"

The Wiz was selling out by the Tonys.  It had one of the absolutely best TV ad campaigns EVER.  That was what made The Wiz a sellout.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 5/16/22 at 9:05pm

''I remember how we used to post here back then, when grosses came out, that Spring Awakening was doing so bad it wouldn’t even make opening.''

I remember the same kind of dire predictions for ''Memphis.'' Its detractors also said it wouldn't make it through the winter, let alone make it to the Tonys. During awards season, ''Memphis'' won Best Musical from the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama Desks and the Tonys, and wound up running nearly 1,200 performances.

[OrchardAndRivington]

Posted: 5/18/22 at 8:24pm

While never a mega-hit,Urinetown saw a major uptick in business thanks to Tony attention that helped it run 2.5 years and outrun 2002 Best Musical winner, Thoroughly Modern Millie by 55 total performances (990 for Urinetown, 935 for Millie).

-WE 5/5/02 - $214,734 - 62.28%

Tony Nominations Monday 5/6/2002, receives 10 Nominations

-WE 5/12/02 - 267,587 - 82.33% 

Tony Awards Sunday 6/2/2002, wins 3 Tony Awards: Best Book, Score and Direction

-WE 6/9/02 - 367,974 - 94.63% - *9 perfs

-WE 6/30/02 - 355,452 - 95.42% 

-WE 7/21/02 - $355,269 - 96.63%

Gross potential according to Playbill Grosses was $386,346, so the attention from the Tony Awards definitely had a positive impact.

[theatregeek25]

Posted: 5/19/22 at 7:06am

In the Heights and Avenue Q were not in danger of closing but they did not particularly look like big hits until after winning the Best Musical Tony.

[thatdarnzach]

Posted: 5/19/22 at 12:47pm

Anecdotally, from selling merchandise at VANYA AND SONIA umpteen years ago, we were empty until Best Play and then audiences began to slowly grow and became several sold-out extensions with nary a seat to be had.