According to Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune, the Second National Tour of The Book of Mormon will be exiting Chicago on September 8 after a 10 month run and resuming its national tour. The Book of Mormon chose not to establish a dedicated sit down company here as did Wicked (3 1/2 years) and Jersey Boys (2 1/4 years.)
Interesting article discussing the cost of different contracts and local versus national versus Broadway company costs. Note: The Book of Mormon company has consistently sold out in Chicago but it does not seem to have the advance sale cache as the previous two shows. Good seats are available now for performances during the summer months. Article below:
yep, starting in October is when the dates start to overlap. The Chicago run might extend another month before heading out on tour.
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
Makes sense. I don't think this show has the repeat visit that the other two shows have. It's a fun show, and it's great, but it's sort of like Avenue Q. Once you know the jokes, it's just not as funny the second time around.
Very interesting article. I, too, was a little surprised when I got the Broadway In Chicago e-mail in my inbox giving a calendar of recent dates where the most tickets are available.
Along with everything Jones mentioned in his article (in terms of production costs), I wonder if BOM got a little too overhyped by the time it hit here in Chicago. I have yet to see it, but friends of mine who I have talked to (avid theatre goers and untraditional theatre goers alike) have all given a similar reaction of “It was really good, but nothing amazing.”
What I have noticed as a difference between “Book of Mormon” and “Wicked”/”Jersey Boys” is that I feel like with both “Wicked” and “Jersey Boys” the Chicago productions created their own word of mouth. Yes, they were both well-known outside of NYC before the tours/sit-down productions started (I have no delusions about the popularity of either), but my non-theatre going friends started asking me about “Wicked” and “Jersey Boys” after they became huge hits here in Chicago (and established a large fan base here). With “Book of Mormon,” these same people were asking me about it before it even won the Tony. Perhaps this created an over-hyped effect for the show (where it sold well at first, but starting slowing) as opposed to fostering its own community IN Chicago.
Obviously, “Book of Mormon” is having no problem selling right now and, as said in the article, the exit will allow “Book of Mormon” to sell every seat at full price – I am not trying to act as though it’s not doing well. It was just something I noticed and wondered what kind of an effect it might have had on sales here in Chicago.
Yes- word of mouth here was not as strong for BOM. And, tickets were much more expensive than for Wicked. There were no "cheap seats" with the top balcony going for $50+. We went to Wicked 3 or 4 times with different groups and usually paid less than $40 a ticket after all service charges.
Add to all these reasons the fact that it's not even remotely a "family friendly" show, ruling out tourists and area residents who make travel/entertainment plans with kids in tow. Also, the theater subscriber crowd (loaded with seniors and conservative Lake County folks) aren't as likely to dig the humor...
Sorta makes you wonder then how it's going to fare in London. Great advance sale, but you know that was based on the hype. Now that it's actually there and people are seeing the product for themselves, I wonder if the hype will sustain it.
1st National Tour Dallas, TX - Aug. 21 - Sept. 1 Houston, TX - Sept. 3-15 San Antonio, TX - Sept. 17-29 Austin, TX - Oct. 1-13 New Orleans, LA - Oct. 15-27 Orlando, FL - October 29 – November 10 Tampa, FL - Nov. 12-24 Fort Lauderdale, FL - Nov. 26 - Dec. 22 Charlotte, NC - Dec. 26, 2013 - Jan. 5, 2014 Cincinnati, OH - Jan. 7-26, 2014 Atlanta, GA - Jan. 28 - Feb. 9, 2014 Durham, NC - Feb. 11-23, 2014 Baltimore, MD - Feb. 25 - Mar. 9, 2014 Schenectady, NY - Mar. 11-16, 2014 Hartford, CT - March 18-30, 2014 Providence, RI - April 28 - May 11, 2014 Columbus, OH - May 13-25, 2014 Louisville, KY - May 27 - June 8, 2014 Indianapolis, IN - June 17-22 Memphis, TN - June 24-29
2nd National Tour(Chicago cast) Omaha, NE - Oct. 12-20 Denver, CO - Oct. 22 - Nov. 24 Los Angeles, CA(Pantages) - Jan. 21 - Feb. 9 Costa Mesa, CA - May 13-25 San Diego, CA - May 27 - June 8 Las Vegas, NV - June 10 - July 6 Portland, OR - July 8-20 Seattle, WA - July 22 - August 10
A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.
Anyone know if the Chicago cast will be re-cast before they go out on tour? I can't imagine Nic and Ben will stay with the tour, but I can hope, I suppose.
Its doing exceptionally well in London so far, a reported £10,000,000 advance sales.
However, it has just upped its ticket prices to a West End record (£74.50 and £127 for premium) and although thats not as bad as Broadway, it is high for British theatre goers.
However, when I saw it the audience was made up of many tourists (especially American and Chinese) and I think a large partof their market will be tourists, especially Americans who werent able to get tickets in their own country (Wicked had the same market too)
The test will be how its doing after its first year and if it can sustain those sales after the advance has run down from the initial hype.