SPRING AWAKENING Advance Approaches $2 Million

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 3:48pm

After opening to nearly unanimous rave reviews Dec. 10, SPRING AWAKENING's advance is approaching $2 million, says Jeffrey Richards, a producer of the Broadway musical.

"We're very pleased," Richards says. "It looks like we're settling in for a substantial run."

Richards would not reveal specific box-office figures for Dec. 11, the day the reviews came out.

On Dec. 6., just four days before opening, The New York Post reported advance sales as "well under $1 million."

The show grossed $182,541 and filled 39.8 percent of the seats with paid ticket buyers during the heavily comped critics preview week that ended Dec. 10. It grossed $199,827 and was at 44.7 percent of capacity the week before that.

Boasting a rock score by musician Duncan Sheik (the song "Barely Breathing") and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, Spring Awakening began previews at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre on Nov. 16. It transferred from its world premiere at Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theatre Company, which opened June 15 and enjoyed several extensions.

Read on...
Spring Awakening Advance Approaches $2 Million

Updated On: 12/12/06 at 03:48 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 3:49pm

Already posted sweet pea.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 3:50pm

Well, it's a new article with more specific, updated figures.

:/

Updated On: 12/12/06 at 03:50 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 3:52pm

No, it's the same one.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 3:54pm

This one?

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/104146.html

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 3:55pm

NO!

Read through the other SPRING AWAKENING thread. I believe Yankee posted it.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 3:58pm

Thanking you kindly for the continued support!

S P R I N G
A W A K E N I N G
- a new musical -

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 4:02pm

YEEHAW! Spring Awakening is brilliant. I'm thrilled to see it succeed!

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 4:07pm

So can someone answer this for me...

I checked Telecharge last night and I was able to find dates to buy On Stage seats in December...but nothing turned up in January-March.

Is it that those seats have yet to be released? Or are they sold out?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 4:15pm

They haven't been released online yet. They're still available at the box office. Sometime before January they'll release them online.

[sundaymorning6am]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 4:37pm

does anyone know how much this show cost to produce? i'm just curious. it seems like it'd be a minimal cost show, but the lighting, i think, makes it really costly.

but again, YAY spring awakening and it's succeeding! i'm ecstatic.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 6:48pm

I'm awaiting Margo's commentary on this.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 6:50pm

Thank you, God!!!!!!!!!!!

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 6:52pm

This is my third time reading this today and I still feel like dancing.

[IssaMe]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 6:58pm

$6 million (that's the cost, not the advance).

[Phantom2]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 5:46pm

Where in the world is Margo?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 5:54pm

If a show like Wedding Singer costs about $600,000 a week to produce, figure Spring Awakening costs about $300,000-$400,000. The mounting cost was $6 million, much cheaper than other show. Remember that the show has to recoup the mounting cost before it makes any money. If the show goes above it's weekly break-even point, everything else goes to paying back the initial investment. If it doesn't break even, the producers pump $$ into it to keep it floating weekly and there is no profit.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 6:35pm

Well, I have no insider knowledge on this one, but......

The previous tenant of the O'Neill was SWEENEY TODD which I believe was capitalized at around $5.5 - 6 million (with minimal set and costume costs). I heard through the grapevine that its weekly cost was in the vicinity of $415,000 -- that's for a show that only had ten actor/musicians and (at least initially) 4 standbys. After it opened to mostly favorable notices, it was able to stop discounting for several months (though it appeared occasionally on TKTS and tdf) and had an average ticket price typically in the $70s and $80s and grosses well over $500,000 (and several weeks over $600,000) which allowed it to recoup in just a few months.

Spring Awakening is capitalized at $6 million (also with minimal set and costume costs). It has 17 actors, 7 musicians and I think 2 swings (though it might be more) -- roughly twice the weekly salary cost of SWEENEY (even factoring in whatever LuPone was making), so I would guess that its weekly nut is probably close to $450,000, give or take a few thousand -- and so far it has yet to make even half of that. It's still currently discounting very heavily, with an average ticket cost last week of $52 -- which is unlikely to increase too much as long as that 40% off offer is out there (plus tdf, plus TKTS, plus rush, plus $30 on stage seating). Without crunching all of the numbers, I'd estimate that with that low of an average ticket price they'd need to more than double the number of seats that they've been selling up to this point and/or sell a significantly higher number of tickets at full price just to be able to start breaking even (let alone turn a profit).

Basically they have a very uphill climb ahead of them. Even if their advance is, in fact, $2 million, most musicals that eventually recoup usually have 5 to 10 times that amount in the bank at this point. I'm not sure how much more press coverage they're going to get from here on out (beyond their ads that'll be in the Times this Sunday) and we'll be in January in just a few weeks when the box office tradionally drops off precipitously until the tourists return in March -- even established hits have been known to struggle during the winter months.

Mind you this is all guesswork on my part, so I could be a bit off on their exact financial situation.

I wish them well, but the next few months are probably going to be rough for them.

Updated On: 12/13/06 at 06:35 PM

[lite2shine]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 7:12pm

Thanks, Margo for your guestimate. One question, you said that SA's weekly salary is twice as ST but the weekly nuts are very similar?? Is that b/c Patti and Michael earned a lot more than these kids?

I totally concur with Margo about selling more top dollar tix, not discounted one. I posted the following to another SA thread but I think it's worth repeating:

You know what, I know most of you posting here may not be able to afford other than rush tix, BUT if you really want the show to have a long run, you need to come up with some $$ to buy the regular tix, especially if you think this is the second coming of the musical theatre. Yes, $110 (even the discounted price $65) is really expensive knowing you can get $25 student tix, but to support your favorite show's survival, you need to pay the top dollar if you can. That will prolong the life of this show, and in turn you could be able to enjoy rush tix time after time (like RENT) if the show can survive the winter.

Think of it's your personal investment for the musical theatre. If you do it once, at least you can sleep better knowing you've done your share. Yes I've paid $111 for SA.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 7:50pm

Because weekly salary is only one portion of the weekly nut. Larger portions go to renting the theater, staffing the theatre, paying for advertising, etc.

[Broadwayboy2631]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 8:00pm

I have a need to see it
From Seats on the stage
They are already sold out
Updated On: 12/13/06 at 08:00 PM

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 8:01pm

No, they're not.

[Broadwayboy2631]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 8:02pm

I can only see it on weekends

[xM3L24x]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 9:31pm

I just bought on-stage tickets for a Saturday in January. They're not sold out.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 9:32pm

Online or box-office?