The struggling SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

[Trish2]

Continuing to spiral downward at it's lowest gross to date. Only 576K--at 40% of it's potential.

With such a huge capitalization (given the music royalties alone) I have to wonder how it can be surviving this long. It'll be interesting to follow this one down the pipeline.

 

[Call_me_jorge]

I wonder if the Nederlanders are giving them a pass, because 1) there’s not much time to bring in a replacement show for the palace and 2) the palace is expected to be renovated at the end of the summer.

I’m sure Nickelodeon’s ultimate goal is just a successful tour

[haterobics]

Call_me_jorge said: "I’m sure Nickelodeon’s ultimate goal is just a successful tour"

So they just came to Broadway so they could eventually tour? How is that more financially sound than just... touring?

[JSquared2]

Even if the show if losing $200K a week (which is highly doubtful), that would be pocket change for Viacom.  They'll keep it running through the summer.

[RippedMan]

Eh, but why keep pumping money into something that is never going to "catch on." It's been months, great reviews, etc. Audiences just don't want to see a Spongebob musical. 

[markypoo]

They'll keep it running through the Summer.
To mostly empty houses.

[IlanaKeller]

Call_me_jorge said: "I’m sure Nickelodeon’s ultimate goal is just a successful tour"

If that was their ultimate goal -- for some reason --  highly doubt the theater/sets would look as they do. Why test run something you'd have to highly adapt for the road or not use at all?

 

 

[markypoo]

Actually, _jorge has a valid point.
It might be a hit touring... the huge arena/amphitheatre circuit.
At a top ticket price of about fifteen bucks.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

I'm sure the producers are hoping they can stay open at least through Tony season to see if they could get some boost from the show's potential nominations.

[BuddyStarr]

I'm sure they're selling lots of merch!  I was there last Thursday and the stuff was flying off the shelves.  It's also huge advertising being in Times Square for the brand.

[Trish2]

Though Variety reported that the musical's budget was between $15 and $20 million, I'm guessing it was closer to the $20 million mark. There are a lot of royalties to go around as well. It's a tough "nut" to crack any way you look at it--especially given it's recent grosses.

Per Gordon Cox of Variety ( June 2017) : "Still, getting those crowds to turn up on Broadway will likely require a canny marketing push by producers. Even with a new title more directly in line with the TV show, the show’s translation of a surreal animated world — in which human actors play deep-sea creatures without the benefit of puppets — could prove a hurdle for potential ticketbuyers to wrap their heads around."

[DooWahDiddy]

haterobics said:
So they just came to Broadway so they could eventually tour? How is that more financially sound than just... touring?"

I don't think this is what they're doing, but sometimes shows will do a short run on Broadway just so they can go on tour and announce "Direct From Broadway".  It gives you street cred on the tour circuit, and the public doesn't need to know it was a short run.  You can raise your ticket prices, too.

--Music Director of the Urban Cowboy tour

[RippedMan]

I just don't think anyone - children or adults - watched Spongebob, and thought "Wow, I want to hear him sing."

[IlanaKeller]

RippedMan said: "I just don't think anyone - children or adults - watched Spongebob, and thought "Wow, I want to hear him sing.""

FWIW, the TV show itself has a pretty solid record of musical numbers, songs written for the show, etc. So, while it definitely took a lot of crafting to transform the premise into a musical, adding music to it wasn't really a foreign step. 

 

[Mr. Nowack]

It's really the only new show right now where it seems super easy to get tickets, and a lot cheaper than most others too.

[darquegk]

Tour, nothing. Licensing! This show will play at schools and regionals for the next ten years nonstop.

[Islander_fan]

Maybe someone with better understanding than I can answer this for me. Considering that the score of the show is done by various pop artists contributing a song, could the royalties on that be part of why the show is struggling financially? 

Also, Nederlander has pretty much ditched the whole construction project that would take five years. Ever since An American in Paris (Nederlander said that when that show closes the construction would begin), it kept getting pushed back and pushed back. That was why it was able to play host to Sunset and now SpongeBob. In fact, Disney wanted The Palace for Frozen since that theatre is a set designers dream. But, at the time, Nederlander was waffling over the project and couldn't get its act together. Thereby, leaving Disney to say thanks, but no thanks and go elsewhere, hence them being in The St. James (and, keep in mind, every other Disney show on Broadway that hasn't been in the New Amsterdam has been in a Nederlander house.)

[RippedMan]

That's fine, Family Guy has a ton of musical episodes, but I'm not sure anyone wants to pay $150 for a 2 1/2 hour Family Guy episode. 

[Jason Shatz]

RippedMan said: "I just don't think anyone - children or adults - watched Spongebob, and thought "Wow, I want to hear him sing.""

I don't think that they don't want to hear Spongebob sing - he frequently does.  

Anyway, I think that this is a refreshing sign, that shows like this flop and more original shows like Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, et al. are smash hits.  This is to say nothing about the quality of either of the aforementioned shows, but I know that most of us on this forum would prefer this trend to continue rather than see Broadway turned into another Disney World/Universal Studios.  (Incidentally, that's where I think the show belongs.)   

[Call_me_jorge]

RippedMan said: "That's fine, Family Guy has a ton of musical episodes, but I'm not sure anyone wants to pay $150 for a 2 1/2 hour Family Guy episode."

Give it to me!!!

[RippedMan]

Oh trust me! I am a HUGE fan of the last two posters. I agree! I think the money is in new original/obscure works. I put "obscure" because things like "The Light in the Piazza" and "The Band's Visit" are already titles, but no one is coming to the theater knowing those sources. No one wants a Spongebob Musical. Sure, some of you like it, but it sucked. And Seth McFarlene probably has a great musical in him. 

[haterobics]

Islander_fan said: "Considering that the score of the show is done by various pop artists contributing a song, could the royalties on that be part of why the show is struggling financially?"

Seems like a separate issue. If the show has a higher nut because it needs to pay more composers, that is unrelated to not enough people going to see it and it making less money every week.

[BeadleDeedle]

RippedMan (one of the cringiest user names on here) it’s one thing to not like it. But to say it “sucked” when it got almost unanimously positive reviews reflects more on your bad taste and boorishness than anything.

[markypoo]

The following is based solely on my humble, humble opinions:

1) The show DID suck;
2) I literally defy anyone to explain its plot to me in anything slightly resembling coherency, and
3) The performers appear to look nothing like the characters they portray.

[LizzieCurry]

1. I disagree

2. It was very simple — friends save their hometown from a disaster!

3. So what?