Musicals are expensive to run (weekly nuts)- Page 3

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 9:31am

Assuming that $455k figure is even close to correct, I am saying it's a very safe assumption that it's actually higher because this poster's calculations do not include any money taken out of the gross revenue, which would technically be considered an 'expense' (author royalties, star BO shares -- if any, landlord BO shares -- if any, etc.). 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 9:31am

Liza's Headband said: "^ You're not taking royalties, box office percentage shares (if any), and landlord BO percentage shares (if any), into account so that number is most likely not accurate. "

That's why it's approximate. Gosh.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 9:31am

Thanks, understood.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 9:35am

I would really like to know what the average operating costs are for Hamilton. Didn't they say they were at 1/4 of the way to recouping in October?

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 9:40am

$550k - $650k per week, NOT including any royalties or share of box office gross receipts. 

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 9:50am

That's why it's approximate. Gosh.

 

An approximation is a "a value or quantity that is nearly but not exactly correct." It's more likely than not that at least a handful of the OP's approximations are not even "nearly" correct, since their calculations do not include some of the largest factors in determining the actual weekly running costs (source material royalties, author percentage shares of gross box office receipts, any contingency fund monies spent, non-budgeted sundry or maintenance or upkeep, etc.). It's impressive... That's for sure. But I don't want people to get the wrong impression here on what it costs to run a show every week. When considering all of the add-on expenses the OP isn't even accounting for, it's damn expensive. No matter the actual size or cost of the production. Someone comparing and analyzing publicly available data cannot make an accurate determination of actual running expenses because many of the largest deciding factors are confidential (i.e. contractual obligations between the producers & authors, or the star, or the rights holder, etc.) 

[binau]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 2:55pm

If those expenses are incurred during the initial recoupment period, if shows do not announce recoupment until those expenses are paid and if those expenses are not already taken out of the box office grossss before they are published (I.e., the figures truly reflect the gross revenue), many are likely accounted for (though averaged out across many weeks) in these calculations. 

 

[skies]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 3:21pm

I would think that expecting a musical to run over 18 months in order  to recoup costs is a tough road to hoe, though again I'm not an investor with deep pockets.

The royalties discussion I find interesting and I'm wondering if those are guaranteed fixed  amounts regardless if the show is losing money on a regular basis, or if those are negotiated  on a sliding scale .

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/14/15 at 4:00pm

"The royalties discussion I find interesting and I'm wondering if those are guaranteed fixed  amounts regardless if the show is losing money on a regular basis, or if those are negotiated  on a sliding scale ."

It depends on the show and its producers, but I can think of a few instances where it was at LEAST sliding scale, if they didn't give up their royalties completely (that's happened).

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/17/17 at 12:25pm

This is an extraordinary thread from 2014 that popped up in a second tier Google search, not a traditional BWW search engine. I learned so much, Golbinau. Any chance of a partial update?  So much info here worth mulling anew. 

[P-E]

Posted: 7/19/17 at 10:30pm

Auggie27 said: "This is an extraordinary thread from 2014 that popped up in a second tier Google search, not a traditional BWW search engine. I learned so much, Golbinau. Any chance of a partial update?  So much info here worth mulling anew. "

I agree. I teach economics to college students and found this thread fascinating.  (Ok, so maybe economists aren't known for having the most interesting preferences, but this analysis was awesome!)

[binau]

Posted: 7/19/17 at 10:49pm

Thanks - doing a quick search and might be able to do Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, School of Rock, Waitress, Sweeney Todd (LuPone) revival. Any requests? We essentially need to know the capital/upfront expenses and the date of recoupment. 

[LJD123]

Posted: 7/20/17 at 6:53am

This is extremely interesting to us number nerds!  Fun to apply what we know to what we love.  Thanks for all that research!