| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | footlight9 09:57 am EDT 09/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - KingSpeed 03:15 am EDT 09/14/14 |
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| Yes, hence how I know the show changed minimally even though the director credit changed consistently. I thought the show was a lot of fun and super-well crafted, but it was a harmless diversion perfectly suited to a tiny theater with low production values. Moving it to Broadway would be completely absurd. The creators should shift their energy toward licensing it to community theaters, where it would have a much more successful life. | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 03:34 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - footlight9 09:57 am EDT 09/14/14 |
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| "I thought the show was a lot of fun and super-well crafted, but it was a harmless diversion perfectly suited to a tiny theater with low production values. Moving it to Broadway would be completely absurd." Not if they moved it to Broadway and deliberately maintained the campy, cheesy quality of the previous productions. I think it could be a riot and big hit. | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 11:54 am EDT 09/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - footlight9 09:57 am EDT 09/14/14 |
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| yes, but getting it on broadway - even briefly - would be shifting their energy toward licensing it to community theaters in the best possible way. it's a smart move. if it comes too broadway i wish it well but out in the real world - this thing could make a fortune. | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | BroadwayTonyJ 04:19 pm EDT 09/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - enoch10 11:54 am EDT 09/14/14 |
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| Has this strategy ever really worked? Have any of these shows like Xanadu, [title of show], Lysistrata Jones, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (that pretty much lost their entire investment on Broadway) ever recouped enough through regional thetare licensing to make back their original investment and thus turn a profit? | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | jbronsto 06:16 pm EDT 09/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - BroadwayTonyJ 04:19 pm EDT 09/14/14 |
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| I can't imagine any of the titles listed there have. However, some of the musical revues possibly have (Leader of the Pack) and I wouldn't be surprised if 13 ends up in the black as well (although they have a long way to go as there licensing is almost entirely to schools instead of regional theatres). A Year With Frog and Toad may also have come close to making money through licensing. | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | BroadwayTonyJ 12:53 am EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - jbronsto 06:16 pm EDT 09/14/14 |
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| I wonder how close Seussical is to recouping its original investment. In the Chicago area alone there have been at least 20 regional productions (probably more) since the original show closed on Broadway in 2001. Historically I have read that Paint Your Wagon, Take Me Along, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Kiss of the Spider Woman all recouped over the years through national tours and regional theatre licensing. Not sure about Once on This Island and The Will Rogers Follies, but if they haven't, I'm sure they are pretty close. | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 01:22 am EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - BroadwayTonyJ 12:53 am EDT 09/15/14 |
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| how are you defining regional production to come up with 20 or more in Chicago alone? There is a HUGE financial difference between a subscription run in a huge regional theatre and a school or amateur production that may pay $100 a show. You would need about a quarter million performances of the latter to recoup Disaster's $9mil cap. | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 01:24 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - ryhog 01:22 am EDT 09/15/14 |
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| do you know why DISASTER has a 9 million dollar cap? what's bumping up the price so much? i hope they aren't planning on adding huge special effects. not only does the piece not need them it could prove counterproductive and scare away some of the smaller regional houses which i see as potentially being this thing's bread and butter. as for whether those titles recouped outside nyc or not i don't know. i questioned the "even if we lose money it's worth it to get a broadway imprimatur" for years but the fact that people still do it leads me to believe it must work. i don't think it makes as much difference for high schools but it makes sense it would help significantly with marketing for regional productions. i know i've asked this before but there used to be some publication that listed shows being done regionally and in colleges. man, i wish i could remember where that was. do i see DISASTER making MAMA MIA kind of money? no. but it is a better play than either XANADU (which i liked very much) or LYSISTRATA JONES and it's easier to do than ANDREW JACKSON and more fun that any of the three. it's nostalgia strikes the right tone and it would be (unless they screw it up with a bunch of big special effects) cheap and easy to do for struggling companies. and if they can turn this into a cult hit all bets are off. but i suspect if that was going to happen we'd have seen it happen off-b'way. regardless, i can see this as something people will be willing to take a chance on and i mean both audience and investors and, especially, small companies looking for something good and fun to do that should be an easy sell and a crowd-pleaser. | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 03:38 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - enoch10 01:24 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
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| "Do i see DISASTER making MAMA MIA kind of money? no. but it is a better play than either XANADU (which i liked very much) or LYSISTRATA JONES and it's easier to do than ANDREW JACKSON and more fun that any of the three." It's also a million times better and funnier than MAMMA MIA! | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 11:35 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - Michael_Portantiere 03:38 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
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| was Mamma Mia supposed to be funny? | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 12:13 am EDT 09/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - ryhog 11:35 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
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| You honestly don't think a great deal of MAMMA MIA! is supposed to be funny? I think that was definitely the goal, but it was...not achieved. | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 12:20 am EDT 09/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - Michael_Portantiere 12:13 am EDT 09/16/14 |
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| I try not to think about it. (I was just being snarky) | |
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| Agreed (n/m) | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 06:19 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - Michael_Portantiere 03:38 pm EDT 09/15/14 |
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| , | |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | BroadwayTonyJ 11:00 am EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - ryhog 01:22 am EDT 09/15/14 |
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| I'm just an avid fan of theatre -- I do not work in the industry, and I'm not an "insider". I define regional theatre in the most basic of terms, i.e, professional theatre in the general region of Chicago and its suburbs (which is quite a vast area including Aurora, IL, Munster, IN, and Milwaukee, WI). There are hundreds of small professional (mostly non-equity) theaters in this area. However, the big 4 equity giants are Goodman, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, and Chicago Shakespeare. Chicago Shakespeare did Seussical this summer (I saw it) -- I don't think it was part of their subscription series. However, it was performed on their main stage, and the cast included at least one well-known actor (Cory Goodrich) who has appeared on Broadway. There was at least one other production of Seussical in Chicago running concurrently with the Shakespeare one this summer. Both Drury Lane and Lincolnshire Marriott have done productions of it also (although I don't think either one was part of a subscription series). The others have all being done by smaller (probably non-equity) theatre groups. The show has been a phenomenon in the Chicago area -- quite frankly I've never quite seen anything like it during my 50 years of going to the theatre. The only other musical approaching Seussical in terms of number of productions over the last 15 years (in the Chicago area) would be The Last Five Years. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that most of the big commercial theaters that primarily do musicals (Drury Lane, Marriott, Paramount, and Theatre-at-the-Center) have ever done The Last Five Years (or any other Jason Robert Brown musical). | |
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| Correction in last sentence: should read "have never done" nmi | |
| Posted by: | BroadwayTonyJ 11:22 am EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - BroadwayTonyJ 11:00 am EDT 09/15/14 |
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| re: Odd. | |
| Posted by: | brown_daryl 08:38 pm EDT 09/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - jbronsto 06:16 pm EDT 09/14/14 |
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| Seussical is probably in the black by now. | |
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| How long do investors collect? | |
| Posted by: | MarkBearSF 09:42 am EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Odd. - brown_daryl 08:38 pm EDT 09/14/14 |
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| Isn't there commonly some limit to the amount of time investors receive payments for later productions (10 years?) | |
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| re: How long do investors collect? | |
| Posted by: | BroadwayTonyJ 10:50 am EDT 09/15/14 |
| In reply to: | How long do investors collect? - MarkBearSF 09:42 am EDT 09/15/14 |
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| I don't know the specific answer to your question. However, I do know that Harold Prince has stated that it took 17 years for Sweeney Todd to pay off its initial investment. I have read (anecdotally reported) that Sunday in the Park with George was a somewhat similar case. Steven Suskin wrote in one of his Opening Night books that a tour with Gene Kelly (at least a decade after the Broadway run) finally put Take Me Along in the black. | |
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