Wicked was over 14 million dollars. I thought it was the most expensive musical. You would think with that much money they would have actually gotten a lead who could actually sing...Stephanie J. Block *cough* cough*
OK I am just gonna say it...IDINA WAS HORRIBLE AS ELPHABA!!!!!!
oh, let's not start THAT argument again...good god...
wicked was incredibly expensive, but i would guess that spamalot was quite a bit as well. it took wicked and a half (i believe) to recoup its investment.
There is no way that All Shook Up cost anywhere near $20 million...if it did I think we're looking at Bialystock as the producer, embezzling funds. I can't imagine Spamalot being the most expensive either. I would say Wicked or Chitty...
are you only interested in Broadway shows? everytime this is brought up I feel the need to mention the fact that the original mounting of EFX at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was, at the time, the largest most expensive show in the world capitalized at over 40 million dollars...
I don't think wicked is THE most expensive musical. I think it is Lion King or Chitty.
and Spamalot is only expensive because of the actor's salary. The sets and effects were not that amazing.
"Chicago is it's own incredible theater town right there smack down in the middle of the heartland. What a great city! I can see why Oprah likes to live there!" - Dee Hoty :-D
The most expensive musical of all time was DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES... CHITTY comes close, but Crawford's weekly take was so high for DOTV that the show lost money left and right. He had a 2 year contract, to do the show in England and elsewhere as well as on Broadway were it a hit. By the time it closed it was over $20 million in the red. The cpitalization was $15 million, but many directly involved with the production claim much more money was thrown at it, and much money was wasted in creating set pieces that were never used (the silver staircase, the giant growing white snake, etc.), and orchestrating/staging songs that were cut ("Is Nothing Sacred?" "Read My Apocalypse", "The Devil May Care", "You Learn To Live With It"). If you don't believe me, ask Mr. Sonenfeld.
The odds are that THE LION KING is the most costly show ever. We will never know exactly how much it cost, because Disney doesn't have to reveal the amount, since there are no outside investors. Estimates are from 21 to 25 million. And it's a good thing there are no "star" salaries to pay, because the weekly running costa are huge. They have a staff of over 25 people just to deal with props, wigs, masks and costumes. That doesn't include the stage hands.
i think wicked is the most expensive for costumes, effects, lighting, and such.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
not on broadway but a well done regional production of damn yankees could cost a ton. When i was designing a version of it we ended up cancelling due to the fact that the effects for the devil and lola alone were going to cost $100,000 for the mechanics and then all of the expendable pyro costs
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
Gee, the original version in the 1950's had NO fancy pyrotechnics. Oh - the Devil make a lit cigarette appear in his hand. That trick costs about 20 bucks at any magic store.
BATB cost around $16-17 million. Disney has put $23 million into Poppins and Cameron has matched that. Mary Poppins is the most expensive musical the World has seen.
I love it when people talk about how expensive the ship was in TITANIC. THERE WAS NO SHIP in that show. Everyone LOOKED at it and they were ON it but the ship wasn't shown. The stage florr tilted to an 80 degree angle to represent the sinking. This cost a fortune?
