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Thursday, December 01, 2011
Investment in Broadway's 'Book of Mormon' Pays Off
Backstage: Nine Tony Awards, critical praise and some filthy humor has made "The Book of Mormon" a solid Broadway investment. Producers of the hit show said Tuesday that it has recouped its $11.4 million capitalization after just nine months.
I always expected this musical to succeed. With South Park being such a huge and well known hit, many audience members were probably at first curious to see more of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's work. Once they realized it was actually a good and very funny piece of theatre, they told more people and it became the sensation that it is now. And, why should it not be? These two men, beyond their crudeness, are brilliant and inventive humorists who deserve every bit of praise they receive. I haven not yet gotten to see Book of Mormon, but it is high up on my list once availability opens up a bit more. I am sure it is every bit as enjoyable as those I know who have seen it have made it out to be, and that it is a valuable experience in creative Broadway theatre that one would be hard pressed to find in another show.
It is great to hear of a show making back its investment in such a short time. I wonder how much longer they will be getting these record numbers. People need to start to make more shows like this one. With the $11.5 million investment compared to the average $50 million plus investment that Spiderman has been made I wonder how long it will take them to make their money back or if they will even make it back in time. I hope that Book of Mormon continues to make a lot of money and they will go back and invest this money into another show or may be give and support another theater group with the money that is another nonprofit.
This is no surprise to me. I am so glad that I was able to see this show the week before it opened. One of my favorite shows to date and easily one of the most successful on Broadway for sure. I wonder if this set any record or how it did compared to the first 9 months of a show like Wicked or Phantom. I also wonder if it will have the longevity of these shows or if it will just be a fad built on the comedy of our current era and will be defunct in a few years.
It is good to see a new musical being able to be both creatively effective (based upon the awards it received) and commercially viable (based upon the fact that it is not actually creating profit.
However, this is being done through methods such as "premium price" tickets which are in some cased 3-4 times what is originally the price of the ticket. While these plans are obviously effective and obviously sell, it still seems outrageous for and evening at the theatre with a family of four to be upwards of $1400.
4 comments:
I always expected this musical to succeed. With South Park being such a huge and well known hit, many audience members were probably at first curious to see more of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's work. Once they realized it was actually a good and very funny piece of theatre, they told more people and it became the sensation that it is now. And, why should it not be? These two men, beyond their crudeness, are brilliant and inventive humorists who deserve every bit of praise they receive. I haven not yet gotten to see Book of Mormon, but it is high up on my list once availability opens up a bit more. I am sure it is every bit as enjoyable as those I know who have seen it have made it out to be, and that it is a valuable experience in creative Broadway theatre that one would be hard pressed to find in another show.
It is great to hear of a show making back its investment in such a short time. I wonder how much longer they will be getting these record numbers. People need to start to make more shows like this one. With the $11.5 million investment compared to the average $50 million plus investment that Spiderman has been made I wonder how long it will take them to make their money back or if they will even make it back in time. I hope that Book of Mormon continues to make a lot of money and they will go back and invest this money into another show or may be give and support another theater group with the money that is another nonprofit.
This is no surprise to me. I am so glad that I was able to see this show the week before it opened. One of my favorite shows to date and easily one of the most successful on Broadway for sure. I wonder if this set any record or how it did compared to the first 9 months of a show like Wicked or Phantom. I also wonder if it will have the longevity of these shows or if it will just be a fad built on the comedy of our current era and will be defunct in a few years.
It is good to see a new musical being able to be both creatively effective (based upon the awards it received) and commercially viable (based upon the fact that it is not actually creating profit.
However, this is being done through methods such as "premium price" tickets which are in some cased 3-4 times what is originally the price of the ticket. While these plans are obviously effective and obviously sell, it still seems outrageous for and evening at the theatre with a family of four to be upwards of $1400.
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