veronicamae said: "Considering it recouped 14 years ago and is grossing 77% of its potential during the slow season...Wicked's doing fine."
Ha - you beat me to it. Coming here to say the same thing and also that yes, I think the billion dollar, worldwide phenomenon that is Wicked is doing just fine.
The bulk of Wicked’s sales come from tourists who buy tickets the day of from the box office. Its not a show that sells out months in advance. It hasn’t been like that in a long time.
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
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It's following its standard pattern. Fall tends to be a little slower for Wicked, though they usually get a bump at Halloween because they do a lot of events and often TV appearances. In a few weeks, it will also become the 5th longest-running show in Broadway history, so I would expect some publicity around that.
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disneybroadwayfan22 said: "I'm looking at shows for next month since I'm going to be in town and the theater is practically not even close to being sold out"
I think there's a pretty strong chance it will still be around when you're here next month, so worry not.
The Gershwin is Broadway's largest theatre at nearly 2,000 seats... and it still practically sells out more often than not. As others have quoted here, it's not a show that has a lot of advance sales anymore. You also have to think about the time of year you're coming. Height of summer or holiday time? It sells out with the tourist crowd sometimes well before the night-of. Visiting in the off-season? After Labor Day/before Thanksgiving... Of course there are going to be plenty of available seats weeks out.
While this thread is hilarious, it does bring up a decent question - what would it take for a long-running show to close its doors? Wicked, Phantom, The Lion King, and others don't seem like they would leave Broadway anytime soon, even 15+ years after they've premiered, but what would be the warning signs, if applicable, that they could be on the way to closing?
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MollyJeanneMusic said: "While this thread is hilarious, it does bring up a decent question - what would it take for a long-running show to close its doors? Wicked, Phantom, The Lion King, and others don't seem like they would leave Broadway anytime soon, even 15+ years after they've premiered, but what would be the warning signs, if applicable, thatthey could be on the way to closing?"
I’ve always felt that Phantom would transfer to a smaller Shubert house before closing. Can’t see that happening for Wicked or Lion King, but they still have the years of TKTS and then eventually TDF before closing, so it’s too early to tell.
MollyJeanneMusic said: "While this thread is hilarious, it does bring up a decent question - what would it take for a long-running show to close its doors? Wicked, Phantom, The Lion King, and others don't seem like they would leave Broadway anytime soon, even 15+ years after they've premiered, but what would be the warning signs, if applicable, thatthey could be on the way to closing?"
When they begin to regularly lose money, they will close. Is not rocket science.
disneybroadwayfan22 said: "I'm looking at shows for next month since I'm going to be in town and the theater is practically not even close to being sold out"
I think the concern would only exist if you were seeing Wicked in a few days and it wasn't even close to sold out...
I don't know. The show is rarely 100% sold out. They need to offer discounts and put it up at TKTS. Otherwise, I give the show another 10-15 years, max!
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.
I believe it’s the largest theater on Broadway in terms of capacity so I doubt it’s sold out every day but I’d say during peak season it’s probably sold out. Don’t forget it’s a popular show for groups (school groups especially.)
Call_me_jorge said: "The bulk of Wicked’s sales come from tourists who buy tickets the day of from the box office. Its not a show that sells out months in advance. It hasn’t been like that in a long time."
That makes sense! I tried to see it while I was in town last month, but hey. A girl has to eat in the city!
JSquared2 said: "disneybroadwayfan22 said: "and the theater is practically not even close to being sold out"
Huh??? What does that evenmean?
Please tell me yourswas a sarcastic post."
No. There were a lot of empty seats on the day I saw it
AADA81 said: "fashionguru_23 said: "Mark Waltz said: "It depends on how you mean doing okay. There is a rumor that the wicked die alone."
For no one mourns the wicked."
True enough, but the show is still .... "Popular"."
I think Wicked has a lot would draw people to see it, and thus not cause worry about an imminent closing anytime soon. You can drive yourself looking at grosses, seating charts on Ticketmaster, etc. It's not going anywhere any time soon. But I'm also curious about what it would take a show like Wicked, a show like Hamilton, The Lion King, Phantom of The Opera to close. Hmmm.
magictodo123 said: "But I'm also curious about what it would take a show like Wicked, a show like Hamilton, The Lion King, Phantom of The Opera to close. Hmmm."
That's an easy one. It would take ticket sales consistently dropping to the point where it's no longer profitable for the show to remain open.
Once grosses drop consistently below 5 or 6 hundred k a week, THEN you can worry. It grossed 1.8 MILLION bucks last week - it's fine, and will be for quite some time.
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