Yeah, I hear you. I’m never quite sure what to do with previews. When a show closes it’s always noted it played x performances with x previews, so obviously the industry doesn’t count them (nor does IBDB). But to the actors and the audience they’re a performance like any other. One of the great inconsistencies.
I didn’t even notice the—even by today’s standards—long preview periods for the Lapine musicals. I know Sunday in the Park only had one act off-Broadway and Passion opened cold on Broadway, but Into The Woods had an out of town. It’s surprising they needed 43 previews to work it out.
Also, what I meant by the Jake/Sunday was they were really banking on him not missing any performances, they purposely didn’t invite awards groups, they couldn’t have weathered lagging ticket sales, etc. Those margins were razor-thin and there was no room for error. To me that feels like a narrow recoupment, as opposed to a show that readily recoups well before the run ends. |
