Here’s an update about the current state of Broadway.
While it’s true that many shows are closing soon, and some prematurely, it’s not true that 75% of Broadway will be closed this month or in January, a rumor that Cloris Leachman started a few weeks ago when she apparently said that on Dancing with the Stars.
For one thing, new shows will continue to be opening, despite the current economy, so there will still be many shows available come 2009.
Also, it’s not unusual for shows to be ending their runs in Dec. or January. The holiday season is usually a robust time. Typically ticket sales are considerably slower right after the New Year during the blisteringly cold, quiet winter months of January and February, and since it’s a matter of expenses outweighing income, some shows need to close.
Of course the current economic climate has had a great deal to do with lackluster sales for some shows and premature closings for other shows. Some shows are ending when they had planned to (if they had a “limited engagement” rather than “open run” and were only being shown for a few months), but rather than choose to extend their release and re-sign their talent or hire new replacements (which can happen in better economic times), they are shuttering right on schedule. It takes a great deal of capital to produce a show (which is why more than one producer or investor is involved), and even during non-recession times, it’s difficult to make a return on the initial investment and actually not lose money. In fact, according to this article, 80% of shows don’t recoup their investment!
So the feat of recouping their initial investment has enabled some shows, such as Boeing-Boeing and All My Sons, to end in January as scheduled but also to “end on a high note rather than forge through the challenges of January and February in a weak economy,” Playbill reported.
Fewer people are attending the theater because fewer people want to spend $110 or more on a ticket (especially when they can see a film for $10). I recently walked by the Times Square TKTS booth — everyday it offers discounted tickets to Broadway and off-Broadway shows (typically 25% or 50% off) for same-day performances — and was surprised to see the high number of shows and some of their discounts listed on the marquee. Typically newer shows don’t make the TKTS marquee, but instead older shows with middling sales so that the theater will be filled up; so that’s why I was at first surprised when I saw Shrek and Equus (which both just came out) up there. Equus tickets were already being sold for 50% off.
Here are the ones slated to close in early January as of now: Young Frankenstein, Boeing-Boeing, 13, Spring Awakening, Hairspray, Grease, and Spamalot. Some like Young Frankenstein and Boeing-Boeing have plans for national tours. Hairspray and Spamalot have had much longer runs than Young Frankenstein (one of the most exorbitant productions in recent Broadway history), but all three are splashy musicals and popular among tourists (and prematurely closing). Yet compared to Wicked and Jersey Boys, these shows only have middling sales (they are always at TKTS and being marketed with discounts) and it’s become too difficult for them to survive in the current economy.
Here are some shows scheduled to open in February and March 2009: Guys and Dolls (previews start on Feb. 3 and it opens on March 1); Blithe Spirit, starring Rupert Everett and Angela Lansbury, beginning Feb. 26; 9 to 5 (previews from April 7, open-ended run begins April 30), with Allison Janney; Mary Stuart (previews from March 30, open-ended run starts April 19); Vanities, A New Musical; Dividing the Estate (runs November 20 to January 4); Hedda Gabler (previews from January 9, runs January 25 to March 29), with Mary-Louise Parker; and maybe, just maybe, a Flintstones musical in the future!
Go here for a complete list: http://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/whatson/closing.htm
And here for Playbill's inside track:
http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/80060.html
No comments:
Post a Comment