Broadway Hits and Flops for 2008/2009 season

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 3:48pm

Variety did not publish their annual statistics on the Broadway season 2008/09.These are based on reports from Playbill.com. Shows that were undetermined as of the season's end but have since been declared are included.


The Hits: (Shows that recouped their investments):
THE SEAGULL
SPEED THE PLOW
ALL MY SONS
YOUâ??RE WELCOME AMERICA
BLITHE SPIRIT
GOD OF CARNAGE
WEST SIDE STORY (declared Sep 2009)
HAIR (declared Aug 2009)

Holdover shows from previous seasons now declared as having recouped:
BOEING-BOEING
GREASE
IN THE HEIGHTS

The Flops (Shows that closed without recouping):
[title of show]
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
EQUUS
13
AMERICAN BUFFALO
THE STORY OF MY LIFE
GUYS AND DOLLS
9 TO 5
DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS
THE NORMAN CONQUESTS
MARY STUART
REASONS TO BE PRETTY
IRENAâ??S VOW
EXIT THE KING
IMPRESSIONISM
33 VARIATIONS

Holdover shows that closed without recouping:
A CATERED AFFAIR
THE COUNTRY GIRL
CRY BABY
GYPSY
THE LITTLE MERMAID
NOVEMBER
PASSING STRANGE
THURGOOD
XANADU
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

Shows whose status is not determined as yetâ?¦
THE 39 STEPS (commercial transfer)
BILLY ELLIOT
NEXT TO NORMAL
ROCK OF AGES
SHREK
IRVING BERLINâ??S WHITE CHRISTMAS (resuming November 2009)

-The next group of shows are nonprofit/miscellaneous and do not get classified:
WAITING FOR GODOT (Roundabout)
JOE TURNERâ??S COME AND GONE (Lincoln Center Theatre)
ACCENT ON YOUTH (Manhattan Theatre Club)
THE PHUILANTHROPIST (Roundabout)
HEDDA GABLER (Roundabout)
THE AMERICAN PLAN (Manhattan Theatre Club)
PAL JOEY (Roundabout)
DIVIDING THE ESTATE (Lincoln Center Theatre)
TO BE OR NOT TO BE (Manhattan Theatre Club)
SOUL OF SHAOLIN
SLAVAâ??S SNOWSHOE
LIZA AT THE PALACE

I thought I had missed the issue but when I was in NYC I checked at Lincoln Center library and discovered that there was no report published in Variety this year.

Updated On: 10/14/09 at 03:48 PM

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 3:52pm

I'm confused about your placement of 33 Variations.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 3:54pm

It was a limited engagement. I am not sure if the producers got concessions to run it under the "Limited Broadway" contract, but they had little hope for recouping within that short a time frame. By closing it had sold far fewer tickets than they had hoped.

Updated On: 10/14/09 at 03:54 PM

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 4:01pm

It was commerically produced though, so wouldn't it be considered in the same light as shows like Thurgood and The Country Girl that were also commerically produced and limited engagements?

[roseaddams]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 4:02pm

So were SPEED-THE-PLOW, EQUUS, YOU'RE WELCOME AMERICA, and THE NORMAN CONQUESTS, but those are listed under Flops and Hits.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 4:04pm

THE 39 STEPS has to have recouped already, no?

And BILLY is missing from your list of "yet-to-be-determined"s. Updated On: 10/14/09 at 04:04 PM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 4:05pm

You are correct. It was a commercial production, so I will move it to the Flops list.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 4:09pm

BILLY ELLIOT is there now. Sorry must have dropped it when I was copying the list.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 4:12pm

re: 39 STEPS

It should have recouped by now but there has been no official announcement.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 4:20pm

The 39 Steps did have to pay off two theater moves, so that could easily account for the delay in recoupment.

[bryan]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 4:24pm

on the list of shows that means muiscal all but on get a cast cd made i thing cry baby should have made a cast cd

[snarkywannabedreamer]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 5:16pm

Bryan, I suggest taking off the mittens when you type next time.

Posted: 10/14/09 at 5:21pm

It's heartbreaking to me to have to admit that my beloved bryan is a mere sockpuppet after all. Et tu, bryan?

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 5:23pm

I want to believe so badly that's he not a sock.

hi my name is bryan and i am 37 years old and i want to be an actor but just trying to get into schools hurts me because i do not have sat scores and + i am learning disabled . i have doing theatre workshops but the one i go to is not up anymore so what can i do. i love being on stage it makes me happy.

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=14&thread=1003475#3864243
Updated On: 10/14/09 at 05:23 PM

[snarkywannabedreamer]

Posted: 10/14/09 at 6:06pm

aw man, now I feel like a jerk. Sorry, Bryan. My sincere apologies.

[Out In The Sticks]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 4:11am

Why do we have to call them flops? Surely no one in the production team or cast set out to put on a poor show and just because it didn't recoup doesn't mean it wasn't critically a success. Same with "hits" just because something recouped doesn't mean it was good... Can't we just say financial success or not? Hit or Flop just sounds wrong!!!

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 4:19am

Variety came up with the term, and it's the only objective way to measure these shows' success or failure.

The term has nothing to do with the quality of the show, and/or the critical reception. It just reflects how the show did business wise.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 4:26am

Variety has always had its own lingo. A famous headline from years ago: Crix Nix Stix Pix.

Or this one quoted in an old I LOVE LUCY: Parker Preps Prod for Pitts Prem

Many successful shows failed to pay off an many lousy shows have been huge money makers. Variety's Hit/Flop labels have always been concerned with financial considerations.

But why take it personally? Unless your an investor.

[Out In The Sticks]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 4:26am

Firstly can I say I am honoured to have you reply to my message. I am generally a lurker here and occasionally post when something bothers me enough. I always appreciate your posts, don't neccesarily agree but always appreciate your point of view.

Back to the subject, I understand that its just the business side but I imagine most of us here are not here to read about the business side of the shows we patronise. I can't remember the last time I went to a show and said "that was a fantastically managed financial production". Why don't we on here refer to them as critically a success or failure and forget the business side?

Am I looking too deep?

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 4:36am

No, and I think that what you write makes sense, Out In the Sticks.

However, the size and the cost of Broadway productions is not exactly "for-the-love-of-art". Something that needs milions of dollars to be produced, couldn't be considered anything but a business first.

Please, don't think that I'm saying that there is no artistry or quality on Broadway, on the contrary, some, if not, the best.

But, the PRODUCTION aspect, which we talk about here, handles the business first. As people who love Broadway, we receive the performances, but we don't witness all the effort it takes to put them together. If we did, this definition of hit or flop , IMHO, would make perfect sense.

[Out In The Sticks]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 5:12am

I understand the millions of dollar argument and thank heavens for those people who are business minded enough to put on these shows. But I'm sure they are not the majority of people on here, I'm pretty certain the majority o f people who post here are those like me that just enough going to see those shows, yet, they will call them hits and flops based on there financial success. Ah well... I'll go and enjoy listening to my 9 to 5 flop cd and go back to lurking!!!

[Mamie]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:00am

I agree with you Stix - up to a point. While there may be a producer or two lurking here, I can't believe that they represent any kind of significant percentage of BWW posters.

The words "hit" and "flop" were not created by Variety. When Variety posts on the financial status of the shows, they use those words in their reports - but they did not invent them. The words carry far more meaning than that to the majority of people outside of that publication. The people reading those words here are not producers reading Variety, therefore the words take on their larger meanings and those meanings are just not valid in many cases.

[snarkywannabedreamer]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 10:02am

But at the end of the day who really cares... Flop, hit... It's art. It's subjective. And your relationship to it is personal.

So what if your favorite show has been labeled a flop... or a hit? So what if it was a huge embarrassing failure for it's producers... or bought them all villas in France? So what if it only had four performances... or won't go away like Phantom? So what if every critic in the world thought it was garbage... or called it the next Showboat? All of these things don't matter.

The fact is, all live art is transient... the experience is fleeting and like I said before, personal. And it exists only in that moment YOU saw it live. Like the Buddhists say, a rose is beautiful BECAUSE it dies. That's what makes theater great! It dies!

Let's not get hung up on the label, flop or hit. Those two words should only matter to the small percentage of those who have a financial stake in the show... and even then I would argue that those people know what they are getting into when they invest or they would put their money in something far less risky.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 11:42am

Actually, this classification is the one thing that is NOT subjective. It's a fact: A show either makes money or loses money. It's really the only measure of audience endorsement. The people bought enough tickets to make these shows successful.

Reviews are highly subjective. If you look at the books OPENING NIGHTS the number of shows that opened from 1943 to 1981 that received 100% positive reviews totals just 14 shows: BRIGAOODN, GUYS AND DOLLS, SOUTH PACIFIC, MY FAIR LADY, THE MUSIC MAN, WONDERFUL TOWN, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS..., A CHORUS LINE, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, AN EVENING WITH BEA LILLIE, LENA HORNE: THE LADY AND HER MUSIC, WORDS AND MUSIC, the 1976 revival of PORGY AND BESS and the Pearl Bailey cast of HELLO DOLLY! It's a very short list considering it covers Broadway's golden age.

[snarkywannabedreamer]

Posted: 10/15/09 at 7:35pm

I understand your point when you put art into a solely commercial context. MY point is that to Joe Message Board Poster the terms "flop" and "hit" should be irrelevant. Art is personal, commerce is collective. If you aren't making money off one of these shows then who cares? If you enjoyed them then they were successful... to you. There are many facts regarding the commerce of theater that are indisputable. But the fact that sits above all of them is that art is subjective and the theatrical experience is ephemeral. THAT is what makes it unique and special, and THAT is all the average theater goer or even obsessive broadway message board fan needs to really concern themselves with.