Musicals filmed live onstage

[Dave13]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 12:20am

I know several musicals have been filmed live onstage over the years.

Where can I find information on how well they did on DVD or VHS? I looked just about everywhere and I cannot find the sales of these musicals filmed onstage.

I am just doing some research and trying to figure out how much these releases grossed in sales.

At a minimum, did these releases make a good profit?

Updated On: 7/27/11 at 12:20 AM

[ChiChi]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:05am

Unfortunately I can't help you. But congratulations on such an interesting topic.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:21am

I doubt you'll find numbers on this stuff. Unless it's a big blockbuster release, distributors tend to be pretty tight-lipped about sales.

[ChiChi]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:30am

What would be their reason for that?

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:35am

My guess — and it's just a guess — is that it's all part of the strange mystery that is Hollywood accounting, which liikes to hide profit numbers as much as possible.

Updated On: 7/27/11 at 01:35 AM

[ChiChi]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:42am

Now that's interesting. I would have figured they'd use such information to heighten themselves in the industry. I must say I LOVE the mystery.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:54am

At a minimum, did these releases make a good profit?

No way in hell.

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 2:02am

Into The Woods, Rent and Sweeney Todd probably did well. I'd say Company with that cast would do well if released. But very few would find success.

[ChiChi]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 2:06am

What do you think about Memphis?

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 2:17am

I'm not sure. I heard it didn't do well in theaters but who knows I didn't see it. I don't think it did well because no names are attached. Like Rent is a very famous show. Sweeney had Angela who became a huge television star right afterwards and has a movie. These aren't fact, I'm just guessing,
Updated On: 7/27/11 at 02:17 AM

[Dave13]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 9:05am

I thought for sure I could find it considering Broadway Grosses are released, along with gross sales for tickets and DVD sales for movies are released.

However you might be right that other DVDs with small distributions are not released.

In addition to what is released, do you think shows filmed onstage with original cast members would do well? ie Wicked, Addams Family, Book of Mormon.

Updated On: 7/27/11 at 09:05 AM

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 9:34am

WICKED, PHANTOM, and LION KING would probably make a fortune if sold at the theatre and through limited distribution (and, of course, priced so that they dont cost an arm and a leg, which is unlikely given that tshirts run about, what thirty or forty bucks?). BOOK OF MORMON is too new. ADDAMS FAMILY -- dont think so.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 9:50am

That's why these shows need to be released online only the way the Warner Bros. has their less popular titles. You can buy them directly from the studio and the DVD's are made to order. It cuts down on all additional costs saving hundreds of thousands of dollars. If only Broadway shows would adopt such a practice I'm sure they could make a very nice profit.

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 11:08am

I'm sure there are sales numbers buried around the web - but they may be weekly and not gross.
But, what do you mean "live onstage"?
I think Victor/Victoria was filmed that way, but Cats and Oklahoma were not. Cats/Oklahoma were "onstage" and sort of "live" - do they count? And isn't the Rent filming an edited version of a couple of shows?

[phantom39]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 11:51am

http://www.livebway.com for filmed broadway shows (on stage)...

[Rabekriegerin]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 12:22pm

I don't know if you are restricting this to professional DVD/VHS releases of Broadway shows, but I know a few pieces have been filmed live and released by VBW (which is Vienna-based); for example, Elisabeth (Kunze & Levay) and Rudolf: Affaire Mayerling (Wildhorn).

Rudolf at least was filmed over a series of nights with camera crews right on the stage in front of live audiences; I assume it was much the same for Elisabeth.

I don't have any flat-out sales numbers, but Rudolf hit gold status in Austria on the first day of its release, and spent a few weeks at/near the top of the Ö3 charts. VBW put out a few press releases about it if you are looking for sources.

[here, for example, including links to the Ö3 charts: www.vbw.at/index.php/de/presse/article/40295].

This is a pretty interesting subject, I never thought to go digging for information on it before. =)

Updated On: 7/27/11 at 12:22 PM

[sally1112]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 12:25pm

That database is cool, thanks for sharing that link.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 2:17pm

>> At a minimum, did these releases make a good profit?

No way in hell.

I wouldnt be quite so adamant about that. The production costs wouldnt be too bad: a camera crew, an editing job -- those are your biggest expenses. Copying the disk, creating a shell for it? Those are nothing these days. If anything were to cut into the profits, it would be the royalties and distribution costs. But certainly this has to be considered gravy money for everyone concerned.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 3:03pm

I wouldnt be quite so adamant about that. The production costs wouldnt be too bad: a camera crew, an editing job -- those are your biggest expenses. Copying the disk, creating a shell for it? Those are nothing these days. If anything were to cut into the profits, it would be the royalties and distribution costs. But certainly this has to be considered gravy money for everyone concerned.

If recording a CR costs upwards of $500K then video recording would push that up even closer to $1M. Add to the fact that CRs RARELY ever break even and those are sold almost everywhere (Walmart, iTunes, etc.) Videos are more reserved to Barnes and Noble (Who up the price an arm and a leg), Coconuts (& FYE), a few specialty shops, and amazon.

[ChiChi]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 3:34pm

That's a great site taleoftwo. Wish I could get my hands on The Will Rogers Follies.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/27/11 at 5:41pm

>> If recording a CR costs upwards of $500K...

... which uses additional musicians to sweeten the sound, studio rental time, studio catering, sound engineers, all manner of technical staff, not to mention paying the performers for what's usually a two- to three-day non-performance enterprise.

Recording a performance already scheduled? Even two for additional camera angles?

Apples and Tabasco sauce.