Nuts (running costs)
Nuts (running costs)
Broadway Star Joined: 3/27/04
Nuts (running costs)#1
Posted: 12/28/06 at 10:40pmAll this talk of different musical grosses and running costs have made me want to revisit the article that appeared in the NYT a few years back that broke down the weekly expenses of a particular musical. (I want to say that it may have been "Caroline or Change," but I can't remember exactly which show it used as an example). I thought I had saved the article on my computer but I can't seem to find it. Can anyone point me towards it on the internet (google came up empty for me) or happen to have saved it?
re: Nuts (running costs)#2
Posted: 12/28/06 at 10:55pm
Whew! This took some looking, but here it is!
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Picking Up A Broadway Tab
New York Times, The (NY)
February 27, 2005
Author: JESSE McKINLEY
Estimated printed pages: 3
IT'S just like your regular old grocery bill. That is, of course, if your grocery bill included items like hair care, makeup and Teamsters. These are the expenses, large and small, paid by producers on Broadway, where running a big, splashy musical like "Wicked" can cost up to $600,000 a week. The precise breakdown of spending is usually shrouded in secrecy, especially for a show that's still running. "Caroline, or Change," the civil rights-themed musical by Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner, closed Aug. 29, and its weekly budget was significantly lower than most musicals. But a look at its itemized expenses shows some of the ways costs can start to pile up. Between cleaning costumes and paying accountants, housing the star and keeping the lights on, "Caroline" needed more than $350,000 to run every week.
Where did the money go? The production's preliminary operating budget, provided by one of its producers, shows a raft of weekly expenses, from the backstage tutor for the cast's children to the stagehands -- more than a dozen -- required to man the light and sound equipment and maneuver the props and sets.
While some costs could vary depending on, say, how many advertisements are bought in a given week, many of the expenses listed on the "Caroline" receipt are the same for every Broadway show, including most of the salaries for actors, musicians and stage managers. All of which demonstrates how Broadway productions can sell thousands of tickets a week and still lose money. About 8 in 10 shows on Broadway flop, and "Caroline" was no exception, closing after four months and at a loss of $5 million. JESSE McKINLEY
RENT: On Broadway rent can be a fixed number, a percentage of the gross weekly sales, or a combination of the two. Because Jujamcyn Theaters owns the Eugene O'Neill, where "Caroline" played, and had a stake in it, the production was given a good deal. But it still paid rent based on percentage, a figure that hovered between $15,000 to $20,000 on good weeks. Theater owners also generally charge a fixed overhead fee, regardless of sales.
ADVERTISING: It's one of the biggest expenditures on any Broadway show and often the most contentious. Producers gripe that newspapers and other media outlets are greedy when it comes to ad rates, especially The New York Times, which can charge more than $100,000 for a full-page ad on Sundays. The Times says that its rates are fair. Regardless, "Caroline" earmarked nearly a fifth of its weekly budget to try to lure potential ticket buyers.
THE STAR: Tonya Pinkins, who received a Tony Award nomination for her work in "Caroline," was considered vital to the production, but initially wanted more money than producers were willing to pay. A compromise was reached: in addition to her weekly salary, she received a stipend for housing, a per diem and a weekly sum for child care, an important part of the deal because Ms. Pinkins had recently endured a bitter custody battle.
THE CAST: Without actors, it's tough to do a show. On "Caroline," most of the 17-member cast worked for a little more than union minimum ($1,354 at the time, with additional benefits). Actors agreed to those fees because the production, which had fair to good reviews during its initial run at the Public Theater, was not considered a box office slam-dunk on Broadway. The major exception was Ms. Pinkins, who earned $2,500 a week, plus perks (see "The Star").
HAIR: Set in the 1960's, "Caroline" was a wig-heavy show. (No one onstage sported their own hair.) To help outfit the actors, two stylists were used, both of whom showed up hours before curtain to help rebob the bobs, clean the curls and buoy those bouffants.
TUTORING: You would think doing a Broadway show would be a decent way of avoiding homework, but no. With two school-age actors (Harrison Chad and Leon G. Thomas III) and their understudies, the producers turned to On Location Education, a private tutoring service, to help the kids bone up on algebra and the like during rehearsals and on matinee days.
STAGEHANDS: Another common peeve of producers is labor costs on Broadway. Stagehands, with their powerful union -- Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees -- don't come cheap. On "Caroline," the producers budgeted nearly $40,000 a week for stagehands, who handled everything from the sound board to the show's minimal automation to the props.
UTILITIES: Every drop of water in the bathroom, every amp of electricity in the footlights and every scrap of paper used in the box-office printer must be paid for by producers. These costs, of course, are passed on to ticket buyers. Orchestra seats for "Caroline" went for $101, but toward the end of its run the show usually fell short of breaking even.
Caption:
Photos
Edition: Late Edition - Final
Section: Arts and Leisure Desk
Page: 6
Column: SPRING THEATER
Copyright (c) 2005 The New York Times Company
Record Number: 2005-02-27-398101
Broadway Star Joined: 3/27/04
re: Nuts (running costs)#5
Posted: 12/29/06 at 10:30amActually the Times has run a couple of articles like this over the years. Several years ago, I remember reading about the expenses breakdown of Cats. The only reason I remember the article is because they listed how many condoms they had to buy.
re: Nuts (running costs)#6
Posted: 12/29/06 at 10:39am
I can't believe Tonya Pinkins was only making $2,500. I remember the rumors at the time about how she was making a big stink with all these salary demands. Everybody was saying, "who does she think she is, she's not a name" etc. I'm sure the rumors would have stopped if people knew she was being offered $2,500. Then the rumor would have been, "did you hear the producers of Caroline or Change are so cheap they're giving their leading lady $2,500?"
Wow. Just wow. I hope that "stipend" was more than her salary.
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