Merchandise Question

[JerseyBoy25]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:05pm

Hi everybody. I have a question. This past weekend, a local theatre company where I live did a few performances of Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits. Included in the evening was the Cameron Mackintosh song. Set to the tune of My Favorite Things from SoM, the actor talks about all the show themed merchandise he sells when the grosses get low on a slow week (Les Mis chocolates shaped like orphans, toy helicopters etc.) Which got me thinking: are the sales of merchandise and souvenirs in the theater included in the weekly gross figures for each week, or are they separate entities?

[Pootie2]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 10:19pm

I believe merch and cast recording sales are separate, and the weekly gross is strictly from ticket sales.

I presume this because I asked a producer just how much those sales account for total revenues towards recouping, and he said very little. Elsewhere I had read (can't remember the source) that the cast recordings themselves are costly to make due to union pay requirements, and that separately rarely recoups the initial cost, which I find surprising, but I think that's used for marketing purposes.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/16/15 at 11:44pm

They are not included.