Has a show ever "found its audience?"

[MadonnaMusical]

When a show isn't selling well we often say "I hope they find their audience," but does anyone have any real examples of shows that were about to close that had a sudden turn around in ticket sales? 

If so, what do you accredit the surge in sales to? 

[willep]

Gentleman's Guide was saved by the Tonys.

[carnzee]

There are dozens of examples of this throughout Broadway history. Gentlemans Guide is a recent example. The Humans started out with low grosses that steadily climbed due to word of mouth, I suppose. 

[Skip23]

The original PIPPIN.  Sales grew after a TV commercial was aired.  (a new thing for Broadway, back then).

 

 

[gleek4114]

I think there's a prime example on Broadway right now. When Come From Away was announced to be coming in, a lot of people thought the subject matter would be off putting. The show started previews with modest grosses, and continued to build word of mouth and received good reviews upon opening and is now regularly selling out. 

[ANewBrainn]

Come from Away started out with much more modest grosses than it now has.  Word of mouth and critical praise spread like wildfire.

[BroadwayMan5]

Smokey Joe's Cafe benefited from a prime spot performance on the Tonys and despite no wins that evening, ended up running for years

[CapnHook]

THE MOTHERFKCER WITH THE HAT turned around.

[Jarethan]

The Wiz...saw it three weeks after it opened.  Theatre was half-full...mixed reviews at best, no advance, large theatre to fill.    Nothing like a great TV ad.

Man of La Mancha.  No stars, creatives unknown to audiences, a musical version of WHAT?, out of the way neighborhood.  The Ed Sullivan show saved it.

The Subject Was Roses...did worse business than ADHP2 in previews and even after it opened.  I remember reading that it had its first sold out performance 3 or 4 months after it opened.

And, hell, it took Chicago 20 years to find its audience.

[@z5]

I'd say also the Spring Awakening revival.... initial grosses I remember were meh and wasn't making much and had heavy promotions, towards the end that picked up significantly and they even discontinued a lot of the special promotions that were supposed to last throughout the entire run.

[GavestonPS]

PIPPIN was the first show where I was aware of the turnaround, but according to everything I read, CAMELOT "found its audience" thanks to appearances on ED SULLIVAN as well.

At the time, I even heard the original CHICAGO picked up after Liza Minnelli's weeks filling in for Gwen Verdon. It was as if the buzz over Minnelli made audiences realize there was something running other than A CHORUS LINE.

[MadonnaMusical]

@z5 said: "I'd say also the Spring Awakening revival.... initial grosses I remember were meh and wasn't making much and had heavy promotions, towards the end that picked up significantly and they even discontinued a lot of the special promotions that were supposed to last throughout the entire run.

 

"

I would argue people rushing to see it before it closes is not the same as "finding an audience." The sales for this were dismal almost entirely throughout. Saw it five times myself. 

[MadonnaMusical]

willep said: "Gentleman's Guide was saved by the Tonys.

 

"

Tony definitely changed everything for this show. Still, I was surprised it kept hanging in there before the TOny's. It definitely found it's audience BEFORE the Tony's though. I think this is an example of the Tony's rewarding a show for braving it out from Autumn. I think the TV ad for this one helped a lot. 

[MadonnaMusical]

gleek4114 said: "I think there's a prime example on Broadway right now. When Come From Away was announced to be coming in, a lot of people thought the subject matter would be off putting. The show started previews with modest grosses, and continued to build word of mouth and received good reviews upon opening and is now regularly selling out. 

 

"

Come from away had buzz long before it opened. It had it's audience. I went to the sixth preview and it was already full and the audience jumped to their feet with applause. That's not the same thing as projecting a show is going to fail based on initial sales. This show was in exactly the place you would want a show to be BEFORE word of mouth kicks in. I would argue that if pre-preview sales based on buzz aren't in a place similar to come from away's... that it can't be saved by word of mouth. I guess that's the thesis I'm trying to disprove by asking y'all. 

[qolbinau]

MadonnaMusical said: "willep said: "Gentleman's Guide was saved by the Tonys.

 

"

Tony definitely changed everything for this show. Still, I was surprised it kept hanging in there before the TOny's. It definitely found it's audience BEFORE the Tony's though. I think this is an example of the Tony's rewarding a show for braving it out from Autumn. I think the TV ad for this one helped a lot. 

 

"

I was also surprised they kept it open - the risk ended up paying off but it was losing a lot of money until the nominations and eventual win!



I'm surprised that no one has mentioned N2N - a show that had a VERY slow start (the second week of performances - $47 average ticket $70% attendance in one of the smallest broadway theatres. Barely 200k of revenue). Eventually picked up, had a health run and made a profit.

[yankeefan7]

"I'm surprised that no one has mentioned N2N - a show that had a VERY slow start (the second week of performances - $47 average ticket $70% attendance in one of the smallest broadway theatres. Barely 200k of revenue). Eventually picked up, had a health run and made a profit."

Good point, that was definitely not a tourist show and needed to find its audience.  I am not positive but I thought it got pretty good reviews. It was helped later when it got several Tony nominations including "Best Musical".

[AC126748]

Once and Fun Home were both doing moderate business prior to the Tonys, but once they won Best Musical, they became sell-out hits.