Spiderman Preview Thread! — Page 37

And the $1 million dollar nut (whatever that means) -- I've not seen anybody actually acknowledge that number.

That number came directly from an interview with Julie Taymor...I believe the 60 Minutes one, although I could be mistaken about that part.

"But you need to be able to put aside "your vision" at some point and your "I'm right and the audience is wrong and they wouldn't know true art if it sat on their face" attitudes and make the necessary changes, which theatrically Taymor (at least to date) has not shown she is capable of doing."

Of course you do, all you have through the creative process is your vision and that is what you want to bring to life. However once in front of an audience they will tell you what they like and what they don’t like. From what i can tell changes are getting made to the show. It may seem slow but with such a tech show it's not as easy as a swap in and swap out, all the design has to be reprogrammed to assist the changes.

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Songand dance - "It shows how little people know about producing."

And THAT shows how condescending and presumptive some comments can be.

With almost 30 years in this biz, i do know quite a bit about producing. Plus having actually been in the audience for the first performance I can tell you that the problems with the show are not things that needed an audience in order to find out if they work. When there's not a story for an entire act, you don't need an audience. When you have music that just plain sucks, you don't have to wait for an audience to know it. When you write a song about shoes and your cast, crew, and musicians have been laughing about it before there is an audience you know there's a problem.

I agree with you. There are certain things that need an audience to test them out to gauge reaction. The problems with this show should have been seen long before they sold a ticket for the first round of cancelled performances. And yes, I will call them performances because the show itself advertises them as performances not as "Previews" or "working rehearsal performances". Ticketmaster doesn't distinguish any show as being different from another, so neither should the public or the press.

When you are dealing with a budget of $65 mill at some point those producers needed to have step in and demand a better accountability of money. They also should not have given in to the "visionary" with a track record of box office failures .

Someone posted saying the producers may not have had that kind of power. Trust me. When you front a show more than $1 mill your voice is listened to. If a lead producer says, Julie you're out of control with spending, Julie there's no story in Act 2, Julie these songs suck. With $65 mill on the line you do not take "No one wants to see a $25 mill Spiderman" as an answer. Or "These songs are part of my vision" or "my vision is of an art greater than u can understand". No a producer says, fix it!

People also are starting to question the $1 million weekly operating cost. Saying they think it's exaggerated or questioning where the number came from. On the 60 minutes piece as she sat with Taymor, Bono and Edge, Leslie Stahl said the show has a weekly operating cost of $1 million. The director did not bat an eye. She did not try to spin the statement by saying that the number is exaggerated. No one acted as though that number was anything less than accurate.

"Here is my question . . . It is seating. Available seating seems to be pretty limited in spite of the reviews. The tickets are horribly expensive for families. We cant chance rush, so we are going for the 150 or lower tickets. From reading the thread, it seems that the back rows are out due to very limited visibility. tickets. If you have gone to the show, would you please share where your seat was located and the + and - of the view you had. Thank you soooooo much:o)"


To motherofone:

I saw it from the rear of the theatre, center, and didn't have many visibility problems at all. The only thing I missed was when they flew under the balcony, but I believe I saw the greater part of the flying, including the aerial fight scene,and saw it well.

In any case, let's hope they fix the show before you see it. I hope you and your family will enjoy it.

If Bono and The Edge were here in New York writing new songs, the new songs would sound just like the old songs.

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If you are referring to YBP's "review" on CNN, that's pretty much what people have been saying here in this thread. Was there something more that I missed?

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Updated On: 12/7/10 at 12:44 PM

We paid $88 for orchestra N row just off the aisle in preview. Those seats probably cost a lot more now. We could see everything and were not bothered by the lights. However, there was a stage hand that came and crouched just next to us during the fighting in air scene in Act 1, even though he did not do anything. I don't know if there was some risk associated with that spot, or if he is there just to keep the audience in place.

In my post I was just nitpicking at the fact that during a scene in the show you can hear the song "Vertigo" from U2

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I'd appreciate 1. General explanation of the recouping process, and 2. Application to the specific Spider-Man numbers (whatever those numbers really are).

I will try. I don't know anything specific about SPIDER-MAN, but I can explain generally how it works.

Is the (so called) $65 million all used up, or is there some left still to be used? Could it really already be $70 million, and growing? After all, the show is still being developed.

Every experienced producer builds a contingency into their original budget - about 10% of the overall budget is pretty standard. Who knows if these producers did that, but they definitely should. Of course, their expenses could continue growing until they are well past $65 million, but if they had any idea at all how to budget, they should stay at or under that number.

Also, the preview period is part of the initial capitalization budget, so the $65 million budget SHOULD include enough money to run the show for the whole preview period. It's entirely possible they knew they would have enough income during that time to offset their preview running costs, so they did not include it in the budget (or at least not all of it), but usually, it is included.

That means that any money made during previews is USUALLY profit (or, more accurately, goes back into the budget as more contingency).

And the $1 million dollar nut (whatever that means) -- I've not seen anybody actually acknowledge that number. Will it turn out to be closer to one and a quarter million? 1.4? 1.5?

At this point, especially after running for a few previews, they should be pretty much settled on that $1 million number. Rehearsals and changes and any extra costs that happen during previews are NOT added to the operating costs - they are included in the capitalization budget. Of course, as they make changes to the show, costs can always go up, but I doubt they'd go up that much.

Finally, assuming, for example, a future steady $1,500,000 reported weekly gross -- what portion, part or percentage of that is actually available to be applied to the weekly nut? And is the remainder then applied in full amount against the production advances (ongoing paybacks to the pure investors)?

As someone else stated, the operating costs (nut) are paid back before anything else, then whatever profit is left is split between the creatives and the investors (usually 40-60 until it recoups, but this totally depends on whatever agreement they made for this show).

Except for a relatively tiny amount built into the weekly budget, producers usually make NO money until the show recoups and starts earning a profit (unless, of course, they are also investors).

Someone can correct me on this, but after studying under and working for Broadway producers for the past few years, this is pretty much standard in my experience.

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Ah, Bundy5000---thank-u! :)

Good points Devonian.

Regarding budgeting. Be aware that no numbers spoken or unspoken are necessarily the "truth". The show is not required to report weekly payroll/rental/etc or capitalization. It could be more than $65 million or less. It could be more or less than $1 million a week for running costs. Cirque du Soleil regularly spends even more than the numbers that float around their Las Vegas spectacles and doesn't correct the press. Would you really want people to know that your show cost more than $150 million? The math regarding running costs is "funny" as well when the show includes a major producer/investor who is also a major vendor of the scenery, sound and lighting equipment on the show.

I wouldn't place much credence in the financial speculation regarding Spiderman in other words.

"We hope you enjoy the flowers. It was cheaper than a cease-and-desist.""

Well I wonder if whoever sent Conan those flowers is cowering in a corner, because Conan's third sneak peek was absolutely merciless tonight. Heavily emphasizing the accidents and the budget, it featured Spider-Man in a neckbrace; Doc Ock with one arm and one octopus arm in casts; Green Goblin rolling across the stage and crashing into the scenery, which fell on him and the stagehand coming to help him being crushed by a falling beam; and a Spider-Man double falling from the rafters during the curtain call. Oh, a Black Aquaman in wheelchair and a leg brace.

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Thank you for posting that link robjohn99.

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