Why do you think BOM continues to dominate?

[Hellob]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 2:31pm

After seeing a few BOM threads, I was curious for opinions of how the show is still able to sell out and command the highest premium price? It's not a family show like the other long time chart toppers. No stars. Yet, it shows no sign of slowing down. 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 2:32pm

Beats me.

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 2:44pm

I think there are a few reasons why it continues to do well:

 

1. There are no stars.  The show is the thing here, no who's in it, so when actors come and go, the effect is nearly non-existent. The vast majority of "chart toppers" are not "star shows" - look at how (relatively) quickly The Producers struggled when Lane and Broderick departed.  The show that everyone said would "run forever" didn't.
2. It is perceived as a "guys' show," one that men aren't embarrassed to go to.  Its raunchiness appeals to fans of this genre - and South Park has die-hard fans that will see this over and over. 
3. It is a very well put together show.
4. The fact that it isn't a "family show" may actually work in its favor.  There are plenty of tourists who will get tickets to one Broadway show because when you come to NYC, Broadway is something you do.  But a lot of them aren't looking for a Disney movie live on stage for a "sure thing."  Grown ups need a show to see, too. (Probably why Chicago and Phantom continue, too.)

 

[tazber]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 2:46pm

Because it's a great show.

 

Word of mouth continues to be strong.

[Hellob]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 3:27pm

jkstheatrescene said: "I think there are a few reasons why it continues to do well:

 

 

 

1. There are no stars.  The show is the thing here, no who's in it, so when actors come and go, the effect is nearly non-existent. The vast majority of "chart toppers" are not "star shows" - look at how (relatively) quickly The Producers struggled when Lane and Broderick departed.  The show that everyone said would "run forever" didn't.
2. It is perceived as a "guys' show," one that men aren't embarrassed to go to.  Its raunchiness appeals to fans of this genre - and South Park has die-hard fans that will see this over and over. 
3. It is a very well put together show.
4. The fact that it isn't a "family show" may actually work in its favor.  There are plenty of tourists who will get tickets to one Broadway show because when you come to NYC, Broadway is something you do.  But a lot of them aren't looking for a Disney movie live on stage for a "sure thing."  Grown ups need a show to see, too. (Probably why Chicago and Phantom continue, too.)

 

 

"

I never thought of it not being a family show as a plus but it makes sense. I've never been confused about the other top shows' staying power since they are family shows.

[Tag]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 3:31pm

People like crude immature humour.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 3:54pm

I saw it the week before Christmas for the first time and it was great. The cast was top notch and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the tap dancing. Like others have said, there are no big stars and the show does not miss a beat when people are replaced. One other thing is in this PC world of today, people may enjoy a show that does not mind offending anyone.

[Dave13]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 5:54pm

My opinion as to why it is doing great, is just about every Mormon, someone that grew up with friends in the Mormon Church, or someone that has close ties to the Mormon church that visits NYC is seeing the show. 

 

That in itself is enough to push an average show in weekly gross amounts to being one of the top grossing shows. 

[binau]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 6:07pm

I live 18,000km away from NYC (Australia), and this is the *only* show currently running on Broadway that is almost universally well known and respected by straight males in the circles I socialise in. People that have never seen a musical and people that "hate musicals" are willing to dish out large amounts of sums to see the musical 'by the south park creators' that has great word of mouth.

It's extremely impressive that this show has been able to achieve this. In some ways, it makes musicals seem 'cool'. It feels like Hamilton is the only show in recent times to compare to this hype. However, I predict BOM will continue to outlast Hamilton because of its broader appeal to international audiences.

I love that when BOM started previews, you could get discount tickets to front centre mezzanine. Such a great success story.

Updated On: 1/4/16 at 06:07 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 6:31pm

I have a question. Why and how is it harder to sell Matilda than the Book of Mormon. To me I would thinkatilda would be in the top four while the Book of Mormon would already by on its last legs like spamalot suffered.

[binau]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 7:11pm

Matilda has competition from many other family shows (e.g., Aladdin, The Lion King, Finding Neverland, Wicked), and has not become a 'must see' show for straight males (including young males under 35). This is a largely untapped market and Broadway has A LOT of potential for growth if it can appeal to this audience. No other show does besides BOM.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 7:44pm

My family rarely sees musicals together anymore, and if we do, it would usually be just me and a cousin or me and my aunt. For BOM, , my mom, aunt, all of my cousins, their spouses, my teenage nieces and nephews all wanted to see it because, yes, it is the "South Park musical". The only show that comes close for broad appeal is Avenue Q.   Wicked is too pre-teen, Matilda is too pre-teen, Phantom, Les Miz, Chicago are too old, and the Disney shows are too expensive/too childish. 

[itis2l84u]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 7:54pm

Call_me_jorge said: "I have a question. Why and how is it harder to sell Matilda than the Book of Mormon. To me I would thinkatilda would be in the top four while the Book of Mormon would already by on its last legs like spamalot suffered.

 

"

Matilda has a few issues when it comes to ticket sales. It is marketed as a family show so a lot of times older people aren't super interested in seeing it because "it's for kids". It has a young female lead. Unfortunately, some people would rather take their little boys to anything other than a show staring a little girl because apparently it is too unrelatable for them. (This is more a West End issue where parents would rather take their sons to Charlie than Matilda.) Also for the nostalgia factor, Matilda is hit or miss. I've seen a lot of people be disappointed Matilda isn't like the movie they grew up with so these people won't recommend the show to friends. So the word of mouth isn't always fantastic.

 

Personally I love the show but I never had seen the movie or read the book before seeing it so I had zero expectations going in and didn't even know the story of Matilda. In general though what I already said are some of the problems people have had with the show from what I've gathered.

Updated On: 1/4/16 at 07:54 PM

[bdn223]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:17pm

It is due to a combination of 2 factors that walk hand in hand with one another.

1) It sells out and every one knows its sold out and an extremly tough ticket to get.

2) Its constant local advertising. 

These two factors feed into on another to make a perfect storm for ticket sales. You cant watch comedy central for an hour or any late night talk show in NY without seeing an advertisement BOM. Odds are out of those 10-20million+ people that see at least .01 percent will then check out BOMs website. Out of those 100,000 maybe 10,000 will check out telecharge to see if seats are available. These 10,000 see the show is sold out for the next 6 months creating a level of exclusivity for BOM. Then maybe 1,000 of these people will want to be part of the exclusive club that have seen BOM so they will bite the bullet and buy tickets. This equates to essentally selling out another performance, causing the cycle to start all over again.

This also very much helps with day of ticket sales, as tourists are much more likely to pay top dollar for a ticket if they think none are available. The adverstizing saturation very much helps helps to create this mindset as well. 

BOM and Lion King are perfect examples of this advertising/sales cycle. Is this exactly why BOM has been SRO for nearly 6 years now, no but it is a major role. Disney's transformation of Aladdin from a Mary Poppin's level hit to SRO over the past year is another great example of this cycle, as there isn't  a daytime talk show on WABC without an ad for either Aladdin or Lion King.

 

Wicked has also been trying to get into this type of business model, as word of mouth wasn't cutting it as capacity slipped into the 80s last winter/spring. It wasn't until last spring you really saw any major tv/media ad campaigns for wicked in the NYC area the size of BOM or Lion King. 

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 1/5/16 at 11:17 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:27pm

jkstheatrescene said: "

1.  
2. It is perceived as a "guys' show," one that men aren't embarrassed to go to.  Its raunchiness appeals to fans of this genre - and South Park has die-hard fans that will see this over and over. "

 

I never really thought about it this way, but it's true. (The first part.) Jersey Boys is the show you see with your dad. BoM is the show you see with your son.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:35pm

It's a musical that people who hate gays can enjoy.

[Hellob]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:47pm

Charley Kringas Inc said: "It's a musical that people who hate gays can enjoy.

 

"

Lol, despite many cast members being gay. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 12:09am

And it mocks the way the Mormon church  (and many religions) deals with homosexuality.

 

Sold out for the next six months?????? No, no it's not.  Not even sold out for the next 6 days.  Just randomly picked a few dated in the next two weeks and found tix for everything but the Saturday night I clicked on.  Most at regular standard price.

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 11:14am

So, how would a show mocking Islam do on Broadway? Oh, that's' right. Mocking Islam isn't allowed. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 11:28am

luvbrdway said: "So, how would a show mocking Islam do on Broadway? Oh, that's' right. Mocking Islam isn't allowed. "

 

Wow, this a totally original, trite and irrelevant comment I have never seen below reviews of the tour in various midwestern cities.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 12:41pm

 Why and how is it harder to sell Matilda than the Book of Mormon

 

Because Matilda is garbage. 

[Hellob]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 12:47pm

dramamama611 said: "And it mocks the way the Mormon church  (and many religions) deals with homosexuality.

 

 

 

Sold out for the next six months?????? No, no it's not.  Not even sold out for the next 6 days.  Just randomly picked a few dated in the next two weeks and found tix for everything but the Saturday night I clicked on.  Most at regular standard price.

 

"

I know it's not usually sold out in advance but it almost always is by showtime 

[bdn223]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 5:19pm

@dramamama611

The  6 months was an exaggeration for effect. Please note my explaination of their bussiness model was not an exact explaination, but more just explaining its basic concepts for what its based on. 

I just checked ticketmaster and was amazed to see the availability at the end of the month for mid week performances (Monday January 25th-Thursday January 28th). Just looking at availabilty for that last week they seem to have sold maybe 60-65% of tickets for those midweek performances. If you look at the the following are what their current ticket sales for those performances look like:

• Aladdin - 30-40% of Tickets Sold for 3 Performances
• Hamilton - 100% of Tickets Sold for 4 Performances (Only show with a Wednesday matinee)
• The Book of Mormon - 60-65% Tickets Sold for 3 performances
• The Lion King - 30-40% of Tickets Sold for 3 performances 
• Wicked - 70-75% of Tickets Sold for 3 performances 

Although When you look at Ticket availabity for this week's (January 5th-January 7th) ticket availability:

• Aladdin - 90-99% of Tickets Sold for 3 Performances
• Hamilton - 100% of Tickets Sold for 4 Performances (Only show with a Wednesday matinee)
• The Book of Mormon - 95-99% Tickets Sold for 3 performances
• The Lion King - 85-99% of Tickets Sold for 3 performances 
• Wicked - 75-90% of Tickets Sold for 3 performances 

Although I do think Hamilton is definitely cutting into BOM's advance, just as BOM cut into Wicked's. I think we are less likely to see any effect of its grosses in the short term as BOM plays to a house that is only 60% the size of the Gershwin, but I think we might see a week or two this winter or next where BOM does not play to SRO and instead to 99%,

Updated On: 1/5/16 at 05:19 PM

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 6:46pm

bdn23

thanks for all the insider ball as to how these shows stay on top

Love book of mormon and hope it runs forever!

I think it has three things common with other very long running musicals

1) people connect with and identify at the heart with some aspects one or more of the lead characters

and there is a very broad based appeal almost universal appeal (95 of 100 people i talk to love it)

2) Its very entertaining and has some unique hook or multiple hooks(in this case

a) the ongoing contrasts between the very white and sheltered mormons and the africans

b) the south park brand and humor  

c) being a safe musical for strraight guys to go to and love)

d) broad religious satire in a more secular world( i don think this would have been as huge a hit 25 years ago) people would have been pissed off 

3) It got branded as a must see show with uber praise and awards and great follow up marketing

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/5/16 at 6:47pm

Even after Hurricane Sandy when they weren't playing to 100%, they still did SRO (I was in one of those audiences). They technically say they won't do it when they're not sold out, but I don't know if I believe it.

 

But yes, another thank you, bdn23!