This is making me sick:

[henryt]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:01pm

This year, Wicked made over 70,000,000 dollars this year. Yup.
Wicked Grosses

[Mark_E]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:04pm

And why is it making you sick?

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:09pm

It is not saying WICKED is making a PROFIT of $70M, that is just their revenue. It is an expensive show to run with a large cast, orchestra and crew. Yes, the producers of WICKED are probably taking in a pretty penny but they are not dividing up that $70M.

[henryt]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:09pm

A: It's Wicked and doesn't deserve that type of money
B: Just think if that money were evenly distributed between every other show:
70,000,000 divided by 52 weeks = 1,346,153
1,346,153 divided by an average of thirty shows running at a time = 44,871
That money could really help some of the shows that don't do as well.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:09pm

I don't get why it is making you sick either. So what if it grossed a lot? Isn't part of it helping boost NYC economy anyway?

Updated On: 1/4/08 at 01:09 PM

[me2]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:12pm

I think any success for an original musical is great. It means more people will invest in more shows in the hope of getting another WICKED.
Broadway Blog: In Celebration of Wicked

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:16pm

To me, it's very discouraging. Wicked did not get very good reviews (deservedly, I thought) but it made no difference. Thankfully, people still flock to see good shows also (Chicago, Hairspray, The Producers, Jersey Boys). It seems that when the audience expands, the urge to please any and everybody takes over resulting in a lowering of standards. Go ahead and shoot. That's my opinion.

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:18pm

Just think if that money were evenly distributed between every other show

Communist!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:19pm

Wow, Henryt, probably the most immature and bitter post on BWW's main board for a while. And that is saying a lot!

Why should that bother you? So you did not like the show. Don't go. But OBVIOUSLY this show has touched many, many, many people who are returning or sending others to see it. That is what theatre is about. It is not a competition. A good hit helps all theatre. No one looses.

[misschung]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:21pm

Except shows that can't afford to stay open. But that's not Elphie's fault - she just wanted to fly

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:26pm

And Wicked has brought hundreds of thousands of new fans into the world of musical theater.

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:28pm

Cold germs

[sanda]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:29pm

en,I am not a wicked fan. If I was, I would be pretty amused by your post for sure. :)

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:30pm

"A: It's Wicked and doesn't deserve that type of money"


Says who? YOU?!


Wicked earns every bit of it's income. Just because you didn't like it, doesn't make it 'not fair'.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 1:51pm

Sure that's a huge dollar sign, but did you happen to take a look at the article in TimeOut New York last month (there was an image of Shuler Hensley as Frankenstein on the cover)

Inside, there was a graphical break-down of where each cent of a dollar spent on a Bway ticket goes. In spite of the INSANE price of tickets today (which is not Wicked's fault, but the nature of the beast), I can't complain with which pockets my money goes into.

Actors, tech, stagehands (do we want another strike?), designers, royalties, ushers, front-of-house hands, dressers, costume, make-up, standbys, producers, and the HIGH COST OF RENT just to name a few.

Because a show rakes in money doesn't necessarily mean it's raking in profits (though Wicked of course is)

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 2:04pm

WICKED deserves every penny it has earned.

Not only is it a great, fun show, it has excited and brought many young, new fans to Broadway.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 2:14pm

It's WICKED's world, we just live in it. jk :P

[henryt]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 2:22pm

Okay:

I was in a bad mood when I posted that. I guess the message I was really trying to get across is that a show (that many of you think is horrible and commercial) can make that much money while a show like Xanadu (which almost everyone here loves) can make a projected 13,600,000 in a year.

Sorry.

[george95]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 2:25pm

I'm just glad to see people finally hating on another show besides Phantom for once : )

[outdamnwench]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 2:31pm

Who are you to say which show "deserves" anything. The cast and crew works just as hard as any other show. Just because your favorite show is tanking and and Wicked's producers have a better business sense. And since when do critics have anything to do with how good or bad a show is? They just tell us which way the theatre snobs are leaning at the particular time.

[henryt]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 2:33pm

I never said anything about critics. I was talking about the posters on this board, who represent a wide range of theatergoers.

[Neverandy]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 2:38pm

HenryT- Although other industries have adopted profit sharing and Salary caps/luxury taxes to even the playing field (most notably Major League Baseball), those ideas would never work on Broadway.
Because of the competition for audience members, you will never see the producers of a show like wicked agree to sharing money with a struggling show. The competitive market for Broadway shows is to small, both geographically and demographically, to allow any of those things.

[Corine2]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 2:38pm

Chill, people.
I am happy when shows make money.
PS I am home in bed with something terrible! It started off with a headache and has since lead to vomiting.
I hope Wicked makes millions and Avenue Q makes even more.
Now, excuse me while I hurl.
;-(

Posted: 1/4/08 at 3:10pm

Oh well, now XANADU ... THERE'S a work of art deserving of the attendance of every tourist & NYer.

The shows that "deserve" the money are ... um ... whoever can make it. That's why it's called show BUSINESS. If people want to spend their money on Wicked (disclaimer: I didn't love it & didn't hate it - it was just sort of "there" for me), then they should go ahead. There are also people who are absolutely RUSHING to see The Homecoming, which confounds others.

Whatever.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 1/4/08 at 3:19pm

I am actually NOT a big fan of WICKED- but I will say that I am dying right now to see Stephanie J Block, Annaleigh Ashford and that cute David Burnham + Miriam Margoyles in Wicked ...if I wasnt soo busy and I can get cheap tix..

I saw WICKED twice- one in 2004 with Cheno & Idina and last year in LA . I saw a video of Stephanie J Block singing Defying Gravity and I was so impressed..

Maybe one of these coming weeks... I might just do a suprise visit. Well I am going back to see Mamma Mia -3 weeks from now...so anything is possible.

I wanna see WICKED again ..mainly bec. of Stephanie J Block. I am not a big fan of her neither, but I am just soo curious to see her in the role.

Congrats WICKED ! and I hope all Broadway shows make a lot of $$$

J*


Updated On: 1/4/08 at 03:19 PM