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| I don't think so, unfortunately | |
| Posted by: NJGUY 03:09 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: Will Spongebob survive ? - MikeP 02:25 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| Have not seen it, yet the millennials who grew up watching it are mostly not in a position to spring for A $180 ticket and a family of four may not want to spend $700 to see it either. The pricing is what is killing this show. Too bad. Broadway is now for the elite and the show does not display "ELITE" but rather fun! | |
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| Are they poorer than the young girls endlessly buying tickets to Wicked? | |
| Posted by: aleck 01:42 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: I don't think so, unfortunately - NJGUY 03:09 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| Having seen SpongeBob (and loving it) and having seen the audience, I think there's another dynamic going on here. I would say that the audience I was with was made up in an inordinately skewed way to young men in their 20s. It's rare to see that many men at a Broadway show in that age group. The only time I've seen such a phenomenon was at the James Franco Of Mice and Men and Rocky. I mean to say --without getting strung up and battered with bricks -- that these young men were, um, different than the crowds of men who went to see Patti in Gypsy or War Paint. You know what I mean? These SpongeBob guys are not particularly attuned to paying these kinds of prices for B'Way show when a similar amount of money could be spent on a hockey, basketball, football or baseball game. If you know what I mean again. The guys who did show up had a great time -- cheering on SpongeBob as he saved the integrity of his community and ultimately through his bravery -- and basic innocence -- brought all the forces together in one happy conclusion to celebrate the "Best Day Ever." | |
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| Yes. Tweengirls' tickets are purchased by their parents. Twenty-somethings' are not. n/m | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 06:01 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: Are they poorer than the young girls endlessly buying tickets to Wicked? - aleck 01:42 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
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| n/m | |
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| millenials are poor?? | |
| Last Edit: KingSpeed 08:03 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 08:02 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: I don't think so, unfortunately - NJGUY 03:09 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| The ones I know are creating their own companies, using social media to their advantage, investing in bitcoin, and doing very well off. | |
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| spoken like a true non-millennial | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 12:03 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 12:00 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: millenials are poor?? - KingSpeed 08:02 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| oh well if the ones you know are creating their own companies and "using social media to their advantage" then I guess that all the Americans born between 1980 and 1990 must be doing the same. I'm guessing you know hundreds of millennials... or even thousands... to have been confident applying that to the entire group? And yet even still it's a broad and completely incorrect and irrelevant assumption. As a millennial myself, I know millennials who are making money and those who are struggling, I myself am successful and make money and am also swimming in student loan debt. I choose to spend a lot of money on theater but most of my friends do not. Also "using social media to their advantage" is such a bizarre thing to say to explain why they should be able and willing to afford pricey tickets to a Spongebob musical. Are you trying to claim all the (seemingly many but probably, in reality, few) millennials you know are so popular on social media that they've monetized it or turned it into lucrative career opportunities? Sorry, maybe I'm overreacting, but I can't even begin to tell you how ignorant your statement is about my generation, despite what you think you know about the ones you know. Also, P.S., one doesn't need to be rich or have a lot of disposable income to "invest in bitcoin." I certainly doubt the ones you know are choosing to buy bitcoin now while it's $18k or more per coin... my friend "invested" in it when it was a fraction of that cost, does that mean they had to have disposable income to do so? I spent a few hundred investing in litecoin, maybe that means I could spend a few hundred on anything I want every week, or it means the bit of extra money I had went there cause it was a potentially good investment, or it means I had no extra money but didn't want to miss out on the potential profit if it gets big and so I spent money I couldn't afford to buy it. You could know that I, a millennial, invest in crypto currency and that still could mean any number of things about my financial situation. |
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| re: spoken like a true non-millennial | |
| Last Edit: KingSpeed 10:59 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 10:55 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: spoken like a true non-millennial - Chazwaza 12:00 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
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| No I don't know thousands of millenials but I can't imagine you do either. I have two millennial siblings. One got a great job after college by using social media to win a contest for a job at about.me. He parlayed that into a job at Disney's mobile video game division. He met a famous athlete through social media and started running his company as well. Two millenial friends of his started companies and my brother bought both one of which is very successful. His ex-girlfriend started a company and then, using social media, won a contest to be on the cover of Seventeen magazine. She then sold her company for millions. My other millenial brother started a humor website for Catholics that has gone global and is now in several different languages. In the meantime, he invested $25K into bitcoin that is now worth $4.5 million. So there you go. That's why I questioned the generalization that all millenials are poor. | |
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| re: spoken like a true non-millennial | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 04:25 am EST 01/20/18 | |
| In reply to: re: spoken like a true non-millennial - KingSpeed 10:55 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
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| Your siblings have interesting, supremely blessed/lucky, and I assure you quite anomalous stories. And I'm not sure if I know thousands of millennials, but I do know at least a thousand... and I am also fairly aware of things of and for and by millennials, and stories about people in my generation... certainly stories like, or with similar luck/success/etc exist, but they are by no means the norm. |
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| Gracious, is it possible you and I might have been separated at birth? If not, will you adopt me? | |
| Posted by: garyd 11:00 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: re: spoken like a true non-millennial - KingSpeed 10:55 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
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| 75 million souls | |
| Posted by: ryhog 08:32 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: spoken like a true non-millennial - Chazwaza 12:00 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
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| The bottom line, and the unmitigated truth, is that painting all or even a lot of millennials as a monolith is preposterous. Yes there are billionaires, millionaires, comfortables and those diving into trash cans for meals among the 75 million. (And that's in the U.S., btw.) As a stereotype, it ranks up there with the worst. There are enough millennials in or visiting NYC to keep Spongebob, Dolly or any other show afloat. But the thing folks don't like to confront is that you can't make people go see a show they don't want to see. We do this, less grandly, all the time, and it is no less silly. |
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| it's all about marketing | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 09:27 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: 75 million souls - ryhog 08:32 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
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| Especially with this show I think. Usually when you take a beloved (by some... i have never seen a full episode, but have nothing against it) property and say "it's now a BROADWAY MUSICAL", most people who aren't big broadway fans are hesitant at best or fully assume it will get the "broadway treatment" which to them means making it corny and lame and MUUUUSICCAAAAALLLL. Jazz hands, blag blah musicals/gay cliches, etc. They need to make it clear that it's smart and fun and in the right hands (if it is, or just convince people of that). Their biggest obstacle selling tickets I think is getting over the mountain that is the eye-roll when someone hears the title and that it's a musical. Or assuming it's going to be very much for children and they don't have children. |
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| re: it's all about marketing | |
| Posted by: ryhog 09:53 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: it's all about marketing - Chazwaza 09:27 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
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| agreed. They have/had challenges from all directions lol. Marketing is almost always critical, but in this case you have a lot of people to convince that the show is not what they think it is. (Honestly, for me, it IS what I thought it would be, but I probably fall out of all of the targets.) | |
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| re: millenials are poor?? | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:15 am EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: millenials are poor?? - KingSpeed 08:02 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| The ones I know are carrying six figure student debt, getting paid roughly minimum wage to work in education and the arts, and living in a city where a sandwhich costs $10. Times is hard if you aren't in one of the few fields that actually pay well. | |
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| re: millenials are poor?? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 12:08 pm EST 01/19/18 | |
| In reply to: re: millenials are poor?? - Singapore/Fling 12:15 am EST 01/19/18 | |
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| Let me tell ya, times are hard even if you are in a well paying field. Especially if you live in a city like NYC, or any other major city. The cost of everything, especially rent, is insane, and not reflected in the salaries. The salaries in my field are only a wee bit more than they were for people who worked in my job 10, even 20 years ago. But everything else one must buy, or wants to buy, has risen in costly substantially. And forget investing in property! And then if you have kids... or family who need help (a lot of people now also have older parents because earlier generations started waiting to have kids until they were in their mid 30s/40s, rather than early 20s like the "old days", so millennials' parents are older than other generations, healthcare is not a right and prohibitively expensive for all especially the sick, and also grandparents who are living a long time are outliving their savings, etc etc) And even as a massive theater fan who makes fairly good money ... spending more than a rush ticket's cost on a Spongebob musical is not my priority. |
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| Some are poor; all have different ideas of how to spend disposable income. | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 08:31 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:28 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: millenials are poor?? - KingSpeed 08:02 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| Since we're generalizing: If these much referenced millennials head to the legit theater, it's for an event (I won't name the shows; we got 'em covered, here), not just a night out. Theatergoing as a recurring entertainment option is the bigger question, not their salaries. Ask Hollywood: the movie-going audience awaits home viewing access, not opening weekend, other than for event films. One of the biggest topics this new year is the fact that no one has seen any of the movies likely to be nominated for the Oscar. So how does a show like "Sponge Bob" recruit? They have to make the show unmissable to those who recall the TV show. Make it their ... what? ... "No No Nanette?" Which is hard to imagine. No one else gives a damn. | |
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| re: I don't think so, unfortunately | |
| Posted by: Deirdre 07:39 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: I don't think so, unfortunately - NJGUY 03:09 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| It's just not good enough. I saw it with discount tix in previews. I felt I overpaid even with the discount. I took 3 teenage Spongebob fans. They didn't even love it all that much. I don't think word of mouth was strong enough. I hate to see things close - even things I didn't like, but I felt like I was being screamed at the whole time: "You're having fun, RIGHT! Look at all this money we spent! This is FUN!" The material simply needed to be better. | |
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| re: I don't think so, unfortunately | |
| Posted by: Jackson 04:34 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: I don't think so, unfortunately - NJGUY 03:09 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| It's on TDF for a variety of dates through mid-February. J |
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| re: I don't think so, unfortunately | |
| Posted by: CCentero 04:11 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: I don't think so, unfortunately - NJGUY 03:09 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| If younger kids and millennials really wanted to see this show, they undoubtedly would get mommy and daddy, or grandma and grandpa to pony up the credit card for tickets. | |
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| re: I don't think so, unfortunately | |
| Posted by: sirpupnyc 03:42 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: I don't think so, unfortunately - NJGUY 03:09 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| Look at their average ticket in the gross reports. It's $80-$90. The posted prices are high, but a lot of the tickets are being sold with discounts. (And shows set their prices high so they don't lose money when they discount.) I'd guess that as long as the grosses stay over 50% of potential, they're keeping their heads above water. Viacom ought to have enough marketing power to make that happen. If it starts having losing weeks consistently and they can't turn it around, they'll close and look to make their money back on tour. |
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| Dumb question, maybe, but can the market sustain 5+ 'kid' shows at any one time? | |
| Last Edit: GrumpyMorningBoy 04:03 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 04:00 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: re: I don't think so, unfortunately - sirpupnyc 03:42 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| I've never been a box office / numbers guy. So forgive my ignorance here -- I honestly just never have paid attention to box office / grosses / that kinda stuff. Looking back over the last, say, 15 years... post-Disney renovation of the New Amsterdam... How many "family market" shows typically can stay open at any one time? If we were to look at patterns, would we notice that maybe 4 or 5 of those shows is about as much market demand as Broadway can sustain? I'm just trying to think through the years, and considering that Disney typically has two SOLID runs at any one time. LION KING as standby, and then a rotating 2nd slot for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST / THE LITTLE MERMAID / MARY POPPINS / ALADDIN... (acknowledging that there was some overlap there...) But If we've currently got SCHOOL OF ROCK and ANASTASIA in in long-running mode, is there maybe just not enough market demand for a CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and SPONGEBOB to survive? I recognize that some of these shows are pitched more towards teenagers (AIDA, LEGALLY BLONDE, WICKED, NEWSIES), but are undeniably kid and tween-friendly... But are five or so 'kid shows' about as much as any one period can handle? - GMB, who honestly doesn't know what the audience demographics were like for CATS, MATILDA or BILLY ELLIOTT, but would happily learn if you happen to know :) |
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| re: Dumb question, maybe, but can the market sustain 5+ 'kid' shows at any one time? | |
| Posted by: summertheater 04:33 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: Dumb question, maybe, but can the market sustain 5+ 'kid' shows at any one time? - GrumpyMorningBoy 04:00 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| Perhaps if they had weeknight 6pm or 6:30pm curtains for a kids show, they'd do better business. With subways shutting down at 9:30pm most nights, you need to be back on the train by 8:30pm now to get home in time (to avoid the dreaded "shuttle bus" or lengthy reroutes/backtracking). Mommy & Daddy don't want their kids to get home at 11:30pm since the show starts at 7, gets out 9:30pm, and it takes 2 hours to get home on the subway & shuttle bus. | |
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| re: You're nothing if not consistent. nm | |
| Posted by: SuzanneR 05:49 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Dumb question, maybe, but can the market sustain 5+ 'kid' shows at any one time? - summertheater 04:33 pm EST 01/18/18 | |
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| nm | |
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