Little mermaid sells out for the rest of it's run- Page 2

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 6:11pm

How was the audience on Saturday. Could you tell people knew it was closing?

[wendilin622]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 11:31pm

Good for them.

I was in the city today and saw a group of 5 girls about 7 years old or so (along with 2 boys who didn't look nearly as thrilled) literally skipping down the street singing "Under the Sea" on the way to the show. Probably one of the sweetest things I have seen in a VERY VERY long time. Made me smile.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 12:30am

Horrible production. It deserved better.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 12:42am

Yep.

[bwayfan45]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 2:10am

I'm happy to see it doing so well, but so upset to see it go. I loved the show. I was not the best show by any means, but I enjoyed it very much. I'm also a little upset that Im going to have to SRO the final performance. I hope the cast finds work, especially Chelsea.

[saveusmike]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 2:21am

Im almost positive

Drew, Norm, Chelsea, and Faith Ecsepcially will have no trouble finding work.

[camncal]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 3:19am

i think if the reviews weren't so bad, they might've kept it running longer.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 3:31am

I think that if the show wasn't so bad, the reviews wouldn't have been so bad and they "might've" kept it running longer.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 7:53pm

I was quite interested in the recoupment of this show so I kind of did some math on it. i figured the investment was around $25 million, with a running cost of $675,000/wk. Those may be a little high but it was a rough estimate. So after running for 92 weeks so far, with 2 more to go, it will fall JUST short of recoupment. If my figures are correct it will have needed about $64 million to recoup and by the end of its run, it will have made about $63 million. So if my investment and running cost figures are high, this show may have recouped and they plan to let us know later.
Updated On: 8/19/09 at 07:53 PM

[Just_John]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 8:08pm

I think Disney chooses not to announce when it's shows recoup.

[jagfkb]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 8:30pm

Really? They were quite vocal about Mary, Beauty, Lion King, and Aida recouping, if I remember correctly, press relases and everything...

[Just_John]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 8:59pm

Well I'm not 100% sure but I keep trying to find an article about those shows recouping on google and I can't.

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 9:16pm

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/113285-Broadway_Mary_Poppins_Recoups_North_American_Tour_to_Launch_in_2009

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 10:51pm

I was very disappointed in this show. The only thing I liked about the production was the score. I didn't like the plot changes, especially how they eliminated Vanessa from the show. Not to mention the mediocre sets and costumes (although I did like some of them). I loved the Disney movie, and it had a lot of potential to be amazing on Broadway. Too bad it didn't attract audiences as long as Beauty & the Beast. Glad to see the show is closing on a high note.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 10:53pm

Not to mention the lack of Disney magic.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 12:21am

Yes, when I saw Beauty & the Beast, I was awed by moments in the show and left smiling. I did not have the same reaction with the Little Mermaid. But I suppose younger girls will be more enthralled with the show.

[brad3]

Posted: 8/20/09 at 11:14pm

I loved Beauty and the Beast, it was absolutely fantastic. In my opinion The Little Mermaid needed a lot of work and the costumes and sets were frankly frightening. But I don't understand why they are closing it if when are selling out and why they closed Beauty and the Beast to put it in?
Why does Disney always close the good shows? Aida, Beauty and the Beast? They seem to be doing fine.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 1:22am

"But I don't understand why they are closing it if when are selling out and why they closed Beauty and the Beast to put it in?
Why does Disney always close the good shows? Aida, Beauty and the Beast? They seem to be doing fine."

First of all, Little Mermaid is only selling out now because it is closing. All the people who procrastinated on taking their kids to the show are now rushing to take them before it closes. Little Mermaid probably wasn't pulling in enough to pay its weekly nut and therefore losing money.

They closed Beauty and the Beast to make room for the Little Mermaid, or so I heard. I don't know the long version of the story, but that is what I read on here.

[broadwayomgomg]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 6:39am

“First of all, Little Mermaid is only selling out now because it is closing. All the people who procrastinated on taking their kids to the show are now rushing to take them before it closes. Little Mermaid probably wasn't pulling in enough to pay its weekly nut and therefore losing money.”

This isn't necessarily true. During the summer months all disney and family oriented shows usually do very well and even without the closing notice TLM would probably be doing very good business. The issue falls with the fall and winter months when business is very slow especially in this economy. Disney knowing this let the show run till the end of the summer racking in some last minute cash.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 10:45am

"I was quite interested in the recoupment of this show so I kind of did some math on it. i figured the investment was around $25 million, with a running cost of $675,000/wk. Those may be a little high but it was a rough estimate. So after running for 92 weeks so far, with 2 more to go, it will fall JUST short of recoupment. If my figures are correct it will have needed about $64 million to recoup and by the end of its run, it will have made about $63 million. So if my investment and running cost figures are high, this show may have recouped and they plan to let us know later."

Nope. Lest we forget about Adrian Bailey's accident and subsequent medical bills, OSHA fines, and other expenses, this show actually could NOT recoup...it wasn't closing because they weren't making enough money...they were closing because they would never make enough to recoup. All of that gets added to the show's budget (i.e., weekly running costs) and was just too much for the show to absorb. Plus Disney had to pay high salaries to get people to be in the show. They had a very difficult time finding replacements.

[saveusmike]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 11:05am

I dont think if the reviews were better it would have lasted longer, Look at Wicked in this point.
I love the show but some of the reviews were horrible and it was almost disliked universally by every major critic...It is now Broadways hottest show, Go figure.

But I felt disney did a ok job with mermaid. I saw it during Blickenstaffs run as Ursula and I looked foward to every time I got to see Ursula (And no its not because Im some obsessed [tos] fan, I never even seen the show). But I really enjoyed Ursula so fortunatly I didnt walk out feeling it was a horrible show.

I did however think they dropped the ball with the ending.
The ending with Ariel breaking the shell was just so unclimactic.. They had a huge budget and they couldnt put a giant Ursula balloon or statue on stage (Like in the Movie)?? Just the ending felt extremly rushed and just "put together" by Disney.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 2:04pm

"This isn't necessarily true. During the summer months all disney and family oriented shows usually do very well and even without the closing notice TLM would probably be doing very good business. The issue falls with the fall and winter months when business is very slow especially in this economy. Disney knowing this let the show run till the end of the summer racking in some last minute cash."

Yeah, I am aware of the natural rise in ticket sales in the summer followed by the drop in the fall. I was referring to the fact that it is actually selling out the rest of its run because it is closing. Without the closing, it still would be doing great, but I don't think it would have sold out the rest of its summer performances.

Compare the money it is making now ($1 million+) and the gross percent of potential against what it was making earlier this summer. Earlier this summer, it wasn't doing bad, but it wasn't selling out. You can see a spike in sales between June and August. Yes, the average ticket price is higher, but so is attendance.

And I don't know for a fact if it was making enough money to pay the weekly nut, but if it wasn't earlier this summer, then it probably wouldn't during the fall/winter months. Also, as Fosse76 brought up, it is highly unlikely they would recoup.

Updated On: 8/21/09 at 02:04 PM

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 2:19pm

People clapped like crazy when I saw "Beauty & the Beast" on tour in 1997 at the Dallas Music Hall. It was my first musical that I had ever seen on tour and it was wonderful. What was also so cool about it was that I got to see Patrick Page play Lumiere and then five years later I saw him as Scar in the tour of "The Lion King." From what I've seen of "Little Mermaid" more effort could've gone into it. It was ridiculous to make Carlotta and the maids look like chickens and to have flounder where a yellow t-shirt and shorts. Also, Ursula's death is indeed anticlimatic. From, what I've heard about "Shrek" they at least have the Dragon still destroy Farquadd. "Little Mermaid" really wasn't a good replacement for "Beauty and the Beast."

[camncal]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 2:37am

didn't they at one point plan on having the whole Vanessa story and having Ursula fly up like Elphaba did in Wicked? I wonder why they dropped them both. i understand why they might drop the Vanessa story, because it might be confusing on stage..... but it isn't that hard to fly up a character and have Ursula turn into a giant. Anyone know why they didn't do that?
Updated On: 8/22/09 at 02:37 AM

[TMedeiros17]

Posted: 8/22/09 at 6:33am

Hopefully this tour will hit New Orleans once it launches :)