#26
Posted: 10/30/07 at 1:37pm
....but 1/4 of the theater was empty last week. not as good.
it's not how much money a show is making that determines it's success. If that was true, Spelling Bee would have closed during previews. The amount of money is all relative to the size of the house.
Actually, you're both wrong and sort of right. If you really want to compare each show to the here and now, look no further than the average ticket price. That will give you an idea of which shows are more successful in regards to current ticket sales. A show could be at 90% but heavily discounted, which could increase its attendance, but not necessarily its weekly gross. Another show could be at 75% capacity, but have few to no discounts, which could result higher weekly grosses than comparable shows running at 90% capacity. Then there are the issues of theatre capacity and weekly running costs. Xanadu can have a relatively high attendance, but will never reach high grosses simply due to the theatre's capacity. But it can still make a profit and be defined a "hit" simply because the running costs are considerably lower than that of something like Legally Blonde. Shows with higher capacities can usually take a slight hit in average ticket price if their running costs are not astronomical. The problem is, once you start discounting, you have to be either very confident or very committed. Should you stop, audiences may turn their backs on your show knowing it used to be available for considerably less.
it's not how much money a show is making that determines it's success. If that was true, Spelling Bee would have closed during previews. The amount of money is all relative to the size of the house.
Actually, you're both wrong and sort of right. If you really want to compare each show to the here and now, look no further than the average ticket price. That will give you an idea of which shows are more successful in regards to current ticket sales. A show could be at 90% but heavily discounted, which could increase its attendance, but not necessarily its weekly gross. Another show could be at 75% capacity, but have few to no discounts, which could result higher weekly grosses than comparable shows running at 90% capacity. Then there are the issues of theatre capacity and weekly running costs. Xanadu can have a relatively high attendance, but will never reach high grosses simply due to the theatre's capacity. But it can still make a profit and be defined a "hit" simply because the running costs are considerably lower than that of something like Legally Blonde. Shows with higher capacities can usually take a slight hit in average ticket price if their running costs are not astronomical. The problem is, once you start discounting, you have to be either very confident or very committed. Should you stop, audiences may turn their backs on your show knowing it used to be available for considerably less.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Updated On: 10/30/07 at 01:37 PM
