Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 3/16/14- Page 2

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 6:29pm

les miz should really not be making that much money.

Yeah, how dare they?!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 6:47pm

>the nominations are always announced in the beginning of may!<

Except when they're not. Like this year (April 29).

[dented146]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 6:50pm

It will be a shame if some of these shows must close early. Hopefully better weather and more tourists will help them survive. There really is something for everyone in the new musicals. I've only seen three: Gentleman's, Rocky, and Bullets. Those alone would make it a respectable year.

[darreyl102]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 8:50pm

Yes, they are filling seats.
Are the right/great in the part? that's another story.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 9:38pm

After Midnight had a bad week as there was no special guest star. I'd expect their numbers to go back up this week with Toni Braxton & Babyface.

I am getting a little worried about Once. They've had several weeks around 50% gross potential since after New Year's. I hope their numbers pick up come the spring.

[BobNC]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 10:07pm

Glad to see "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" posting a gain. Billy Joel once said NYC should build a statue of Ms. King; until they do, this hit show will suffice.

[Jason Shatz]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 10:14pm

Looks like MAMMA MIA is going down. I bet there will be a closing notice this year.

[bobs3]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 10:36pm

BRIDGES is probably losing 40-50 thousand per week. Unless they are paying reduced (or deferred) royalties and rent (would the Shuberts do that?) and unless the producers have a good reserve fund (probably not) I can't see it making it until summer.

It is not getting the tourist business. If Mr. and Mrs. Smith come into town for a convention or trade show, and Mrs. Smith says "I'd like to see THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY and Mr. Smith says I'd rather see ROCKY or that play with the actor from BREAKING BAD, which show do you think they are going to see?"





Updated On: 3/18/14 at 10:36 PM

[avyrocks]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 10:40pm

Mrs. Smith can see Bridges while Mr. Smith sees Rocky/Bullets over Broadway.

[philly03]

Posted: 3/17/14 at 11:49pm

Another commercial JRB flop... that no one will mention he hasn't had a show over 100 performances. (I liked this one, however)

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 1:10am

I may be off in saying this, and please politely correct me if I am wrong… but considering Rocky's opening this week (3/13) was not a sold performance to the public, yet they made more this week than last (with the same number of performances - 8 ) even with that opening performance… dare I say that's a good sign? Like I said, though… I could be totally off.

Updated On: 3/18/14 at 01:10 AM

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 1:39am

No Greased Lightning your right, opening night is all comps and the performances leading up to opening have a lot of press comps. If you go with your thinking, if it were a regular performance they could have made another $90,000.00 ($730k) based on an average of what they made the rest of the week. That still would have only brought them to 50% of their possible gross, but either way its trending upwards. It should continue to go up as the weather loosens up and the tourists descend.

I question whether If/Then can sustain their attendance and gross numbers, I get the feeling the opposite is true. When the tourists descend, unless it gets crazy good reviews, that title will be less attractive. The Idina and Next To Normal fan base is on fire and they've been filling the houses from day one with their excitement. It will be interesting to see how deep that fan base is.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 1:49am

The Idina and Next To Normal fan base is on fire and they've been filling the houses from day one with their excitement. It will be interesting to see how deep that fan base is.

This reminds me of the most recent Follies revival that GREAT the first few weeks when all the Sondheim fans saw it, but then numbers went down. However, I think Idina Menzel's name is going to be a big draw for this.

[binau]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 4:40am

"This reminds me of the most recent Follies revival that GREAT the first few weeks when all the Sondheim fans saw it, but then numbers went down."

Yes that's an interesting comparison and it was so interesting how FOLLIES was so well sold for a few weeks and then had a sharp, sudden decline. But IF/THEN seems to have stronger advance ticket sales than FOLLIES did (I followed the FOLLIES grosses closely), and it's opening at a better time. My prediction is that the strong IF/THEN sales will last more than just a few weeks and there will be nothing to worry about for a few months at least - there are many factors then that may influence the longevity of the show if the fans run out (namely Tony Awards and reviews).

Updated On: 3/18/14 at 04:40 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 8:42am

It seems that the only way Bridges could hope to last until even the announcement of nominations of for everyone to be waiving royalties. Those are exceptionally sad numbers for a musical.

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 10:00am

Out of curiosity, why do some think that “Bridges” will close if it keeps pulling in these numbers (or similar numbers) while “Gentleman’s” has been between 43% - 52% (gross potential) for the past 7 weeks and I haven’t heard much speculation on it closing? Considering that “Bridges” made the jump last week from fairly consistently grossing in the 30s% to grossing 46% and then they were able to hold that same percentage this week, I can’t help but think that this is only a good sign for them. Not enough to keep them running at that percentage, sure, but enough to make it worthwhile to stick around for a little while longer and be hopeful for a continued interest. Even just factoring in the fact that in the coming warm/tourist months there will be more people going to the theatre, it’s likely that that percentage might raise to at least what “Gentleman’s” is grossing (and then, of course, considering what happens at the Tony’s – which I think O’Hara and the score have fairly good chances at winning – they have the chance for even more positive exposure and a bump in sales). I am thinking about all this with the general idea that running costs of each show are about 50% of their potential gross, but perhaps “Bridges” is higher than their 50% and “Gentleman’s” is lower than theirs (hence the talk of “Bridges” closing and not “Gentleman’s”)?

Updated On: 3/18/14 at 10:00 AM

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 12:06pm

I am glad to see 'Cinderella' performing well. It really is a wonderful show.

[Sauja]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 12:31pm

Liza's Headband, you say "Tony nominations will NOT help Bridges. Appealing to a wider audience will. Unfortunately, it can never do that simply because of its source material. As I have said multiple times... There are only so many middle-aged housewives with money to spend out there. There's a ceiling to that demographic." While obviously it isn't finding its audience, you can't really blame the source material--one of the bestselling novels of the entire 20th century (50 MILLION copies sold) that also was the basis for a movie that earned $75M when it came out, which for something pitched at adult audiences is a pretty outstanding number.

I don't necessarily know why it isn't finding an audience. Do people look to Broadway to be more family oriented? More "fun?" Is the marketing not doing its job? Is word of mouth not strong? Probably there are a lot of factors. But the source material not having demonstrated monstrous mainstream appeal simply isn't one of them.

[bobs3]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 12:36pm

"Mrs. Smith can see Bridges while Mr. Smith sees Rocky/Bullets over Broadway."

Oh, that sounds like a really fun date night!

[dreaming]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 12:37pm

It would read more like "Mrs. Smith sees Bridges while Mr. Smith sees Rocky".

[bobs3]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 12:40pm

The book was very popular (mostly with women as has been written on this board) and the film had two movie stars in the leads at the heights of their popularity.

[avyrocks]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 12:43pm

Doesn't have to be a date night. Why do you think it's the woman that will do the compromising? Mr. Smith could compromise. They could see neither. They could see both. That's a huge assumption right there that the woman will be the one compromising and really sexist.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 12:44pm

Amen. I know plenty of girls who'd rather see Rocky than Bridges.

[avyrocks]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 12:48pm

It's not even about the two specific shows. He clearly said Mrs. Smith wants to see Bridges and Mr. Smith wants to see Rocky. Assuming that those are the two that that the two want to see (and rather see). Not necessarily true that Mrs. Smith will be the one compromising.

[ethan231h]

Posted: 3/18/14 at 3:20pm

Mamma mia has been running for 12 years now and they recouped so they probably won't post a closing notice for another 3-4 years!