#26
Posted: 4/25/05 at 1:09am
A stop clause is in every show's contract with the theatre.
Basically,it says that the theatre owner has the right to bounce the show out of the theatre if it grosses below a certain level on a given week. Frequently, producers will put more money in a show to get the weekly gross above the stop clause if they think the landlord might invoke it, which is usually done if there's another show panting to get into the theatre. these days, with so many landlords being producers, the stop clause is not called into play as much as it used to be. nevertheless, it does happen. The producers of FIDDLER have had a year and a half of middling business with one of Broadway's greatest moneymakers. They would like the show to pay off so they can close it without having the embarrassment of being the only people ever to mount a flop production of FIDDLER. Its prospects for making anything more than a nominal amount once it pays off are very slim. At a certain point, every producer wants to cut his losses and move on.
Basically,it says that the theatre owner has the right to bounce the show out of the theatre if it grosses below a certain level on a given week. Frequently, producers will put more money in a show to get the weekly gross above the stop clause if they think the landlord might invoke it, which is usually done if there's another show panting to get into the theatre. these days, with so many landlords being producers, the stop clause is not called into play as much as it used to be. nevertheless, it does happen. The producers of FIDDLER have had a year and a half of middling business with one of Broadway's greatest moneymakers. They would like the show to pay off so they can close it without having the embarrassment of being the only people ever to mount a flop production of FIDDLER. Its prospects for making anything more than a nominal amount once it pays off are very slim. At a certain point, every producer wants to cut his losses and move on.
