School of Rock Recoup?- Page 2

[bdn223]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 10:02am

Sunset has a very high running cost, in the $800k+ range as it was reported the only way it could transfer to Broadway was if it got a house the size of the Palace. 

Based on the info though it sounds like School of Rock has a nut in the $650k-700k range, and if thats accurate we can pretty much assume that the show has already recouped and there will be no announcement.

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 10:10am

bdn223 said: "Sunset has a very high running cost, in the $800k+ range as it was reported the only way it could transfer to Broadway was if it got a house the size of the Palace."

This being a pared-down, "minimalist" production of Sunset with nowhere near the technological complexity of the original, why is it so expensive to run? Is it because Ms. Close gets a hefty salary, or because the orchestra is so large?

Updated On: 4/11/17 at 10:10 AM

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 10:40am

bdn223 said: "Sunset has a very high running cost, in the $800k+ range as it was reported the only way it could transfer to Broadway was if it got a house the size of the Palace. 

Based on the info though it sounds like School of Rock has a nut in the $650k-700k range, and if thats accurate we can pretty much assume that the show has already recouped and there will be no announcement.

"

I kind of was thinking along the lines of Lot - that it was going to be a bit less than that high.  I remember trying to ball park this a few weeks ago - say 50,000 per week for the orchestra (I believe musicians get about a grand a week) say about the same for actors and actresses - that's 100; could we speculate Glenn gets a 100 a week?  and the other three leads 50,000 a week?  The rest of the costs per week are lost to me.
(BTW - the above was pure speculation and light researching on Google)
At any rate, the other thing is they've never shared how much it cost to mount Sunset.

 

As for School of Rock (since we've veered off that) This discussion does underline ALW's point recently of how difficult it is for Broadway to thrive for producers as opposed to London.  Here we have a show consistently making close to/over  a million a week for a year and a half; doesn't have any of the crazy stage craft of a Phantom or Wicked - and it hasn't recouped yet.  Will be interesting to see if that happens in London before Broadway's production does (btw - I'm pretty sure the ENO Sunset did recoup)

[10086sunset]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 10:47am

PThespian said: "I'm here. Just got a little busy with my pesky day job. I hate when I actually have to do work. "

Happy to hear all is well.

[bdn223]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 10:54am

Also remember Sunset is a limited run, so they needed a large theater to allow them to maximize per week profits. It's nut may be a little lower then that, but it is still not likely to be profitable by the time the show closes come June.  

[devonian.t]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 11:11am

Don't forget the additional running costs incurred by having so many children in the show.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 1:07pm

Exactly, I think that's what was Matilda's problem. Having multiple casts, having to rehearse multiple casts/understudies, it adds up. And School of Rock is pretty technical. They've got a large set and presumably a large tech staff backstage. 

[Dysquith13]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 3:48pm

If not now, it's only a matter of time. And I doubt it's going to close any time soon, especially with recently strong numbers.

I'm hoping to catch it once it tours to my city, but I'm happy for everyone involved. The concept of kids playing the instruments is awesome, and the songs I've listened to have all been really fun.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 4:36pm

chernjam said: "I kind of was thinking along the lines of Lot - that it was going to be a bit less than that high.  I remember trying to ball park this a few weeks ago - say 50,000 per week for the orchestra (I believe musicians get about a grand a week) say about the same for actors and actresses - that's 100; could we speculate Glenn gets a 100 a week?  and the other three leads 50,000 a week?  The rest of the costs per week are lost to me.
(BTW - the above was pure speculation and light researching on Google)
At any rate, the other thing is they've never shared how much it cost to mount Sunset."

 

I don't know what the minimums are for the musicians off the top of my head (but I think $1000 a week is on the low side), but I do know that you are off on the cast, since the current Equity minimum is just shy of $2000 a week now.

 

In addition, there are a lot of costs that people fail to take into account. Take something like dry cleaning. A period show like Sunset is obviously going to have a large number of costumes that are dry clean only, and Equity mandates that dry cleaning be done on a regular basis (it typically works out to once a week on most contracts). I've worked on smaller shows (five or six people) that have minimal dry cleaning requirements and the weekly bill for that was still up around $100. So you're looking at a weekly cleaning cost up in the thousands for a show of Sunset's size. Things like that add up and can really balloon a production's weekly cost, far beyond just the salaries to the cast, orchestra, and crew.

[bk]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 7:07pm

Yes, it was predictable that someone would come in and say that a couple of us were being terrible people for asking a question.  Well, tough.  We weren't.  There was a discussion going on.  But it was predictable and it's always predictable.  I completely disagree that this has always been a thing, this obsession with grosses and recoupment.  It was not, not even two decades ago (when it was kind of starting).  Most people didn't care about grosses or recoupment - this is a movie thing and even that didn't start in a general way until the late 70s, but more when the Internet hit and got popular.  Now it's a THING.  People ARE obsessed with it week in and week out.  It baffles me.  We're all allowed to be baffled.  No one called anyone a name or took anyone to task so why someone felt it necessary to come in here and make that assertion is even more baffling.

[carnzee]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 7:32pm

bk said: "Yes, it was predictable that someone would come in and say that a couple of us were being terrible people for asking a question.  Well, tough.  We weren't.  There was a discussion going on.  But it was predictable and it's always predictable.  I completely disagree that this has always been a thing, this obsession with grosses and recoupment.  It was not, not even two decades ago (when it was kind of starting).  Most people didn't care about grosses or recoupment - this is a movie thing and even that didn't start in a general way until the late 70s, but more when the Internet hit and got popular.  Now it's a THING.  People ARE obsessed with it week in and week out.  It baffles me.  We're all allowed to be baffled.  No one called anyone a name or took anyone to task so why someone felt it necessary to come in here and make that assertion is even more baffling.

 

This board is mainly used by  Broadway obsessives, many of whom care about every detail of the business. I doubt the average theater goer cares about grosses. 

 

 

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 9:10pm

I was curious about the weekly rate for musicians, so I went over to the AFM website and the minimum as I'd 3/2016 was $1725.75.  The rate structure is interesting. You can view it on the link

AFM Broadway rates

[Stinger2]

Posted: 4/12/17 at 12:01am

PThespian said: "SOR does not have multiple casts. 

The 13 kids in the show (almost all of whom are on chorus contracts) do all eight shows a week (and rarely miss I hasten to add). 

There are two male and two female swings for the kids and two adult male/one adult female swings. 

I don't see where that would increase the nut. 

 

Most of the kids are not on chorus contracts

The orchestra is very small and, if I'm not mistaken, the show runs with 12 stagehands. 

All but four of the adults are on chorus contracts. 

It doesn't grip me as an expensive show to run. 

 

"

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/12/17 at 1:34am

Uh, it's for sure an expensive show to run. Maybe not Paramour size numbers, but it is expensive. It's not a one set, one costume type show. It is expensive. It's a fun show, it is doing well. I don't see why you feel the need to harp on it every time it is mentioned. #Calmdown

[cb2addict2]

Posted: 4/12/17 at 6:12am

oncemorewithfeeling2 said: "I was curious about the weekly rate for musicians, so I went over to the AFM website and the minimum as I'd 3/2016 was $1725.75.  The rate structure is interesting. You can view it on the link

AFM Broadway rates

 

"the minimums were actually just raised to somewhere over $1900, can't remember the exact figure.