Updates: November 2021
Chapter 5 (Promotion) and Chapter 9 (How to Sell a Flop)
Reports abound about trouble with ticket sales as Broadway tries to sell itself as “Broadway is Back"
1- "The source adds that Aladdin won't be the only show taking a hit, saying the slow months of January and February could see 15-20 Broadway shows shutting down for good. "The pandemic has wiped Broadway out," spills the source. "If you are not a long running show with deep pockets, you are dead.”
2- “As Broadway shows reopen, theatergoers are waiting longer to buy tickets. Unlike prior seasons, many ticket buyers are purchasing Broadway tickets one to two weeks before or even the day of the show, rather than several weeks ahead of time, according to ticketing companies and producers. The buying trend underlies the uncertain and evolving landscape of the industry’s return as Broadway shows vie to attract non-tourist audiences. Wickedand Hamilton are exceptions and are selling well. Although it should be noted that Wicked is offering discounted tickets.
3- From Celebrity Access: COVID ATTENDANCE
“The old people aren’t going.
We live in an era of data transparency, just check availability of seats for boomer shows om Ticketmaster, they’re plentiful. They may be expensive, but in the old days the gigs went clean, now they don’t.
It’s unclear what is happening in Covid world. Infections are going down in most places, as are deaths…
It’s a conundrum. On so many levels America is open for business. Look for masks at sporting events, it’s hard to find ’em. But despite so many out in the world, there are so many who are still trepidatious, and they’re hurting business, in the concert world, the restaurant world… The boomers are the ones with money, and they’ll spend it, but they don’t want to risk dying to have the experience.
Talk until you’re blue in the face, you can’t convince them otherwise. It’s an internal feeling, which is different from an antivaxxer belief. They’d prefer to stay home and be safe rather than sorry. Get old enough and you can miss anything. A youngster needs the cereal in the grocery store, an oldster can pass it up, they know life is long and they want it to be longer.
So the concert business is not back. So many of the dollars are generated by acts appealing to oldsters.
And it’s not only concerts, it’s movies too. (And theatre too.)
The hype is so heavy you’d believe that the Bond return is a triumph, proving that Covid is in the rearview mirror, that happy days are here again, BUT THAT IS UNTRUE!
But we live in a world where nobody will speak the truth. Britain is reeling from Brexit, but no one will use the B-word.
People are stupid, and those in control won’t speak the truth and they’re kept stupid, if not delusional.”
Chapter 10 (Producers and Investors) – New Tax Credits
Many returning Broadway productions have been using their millions from the SAVE OUR THEATERS bill that Congress passed. They are also are vying for a $3 million tax credit that the state hopes can jumpstart the industry. The New York City Musical and Theatrical Tax Credit Program is intended to support commercial productions through the industry’s uncertain return and to encourage greater diversity backstage and in the audience. However, because the credit can only be monetized as part of a tax return, it may not help struggling productions when they need it most.
The tax credit program has a total allotment of $100 million to distribute to commercial productions in New York City. Since its launch in July 2021, Empire State Development, the state agency behind the program, has approved 20 productions. The credit can be used to cover costs incurred in the 12 weeks before the first paid public performance. The up to $3 million in covered costs can include the design and construction of sets, all salaries and payroll items up to $200,000 a week, technical and crew production costs and up to 50% of advertising and marketing costs in New York.
Chapter 10 (Producers and Investors: Subsidiary Rights)
"Playbill’s 10 Most-Produced High School Plays and Musicals of 2020–2021" – Notice which are Broadway hits, flops and non-Broadway shows…
Full-Length Musicals: 1. The Addams Family … 2. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown … 3. The Theory of Relativity … 4. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee … 5. Little Women … 6. Godspell ... 7. (tie) Disney's High School Musical ... 7. (tie) Little Shop of Horrors ... 9. (tie) Bright Star ... 9. (tie) Into the Woods ... 9. (tie) Disney's The Little Mermaid ...
Full-Length Plays: 1. Clue … 2. Almost, Maine … 3. It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play … 4. A Midsummer Night’s Dream … 5. She Kills Monsters …6. A Christmas Carol (Various) ... 7. The Laramie Project ... 8. The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon ... 9. Alice in Wonderland ... 10. (tie) Our Town ... 10. (tie) Peter and the Starcatcher ... 10. (tie) Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic ... 10. (tie) Radium Girls ... 10. (tie) Twelfth Night ... 10. (tie.) Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play
Chapter 16 (Stagehands)
While this story is not directly about Broadway, the same parent union (IATSE) oversees Broadway’s Local One Stagehands, Wardrobe, ATPAM and more.
IATSE sets October 18 Strike Date if Contract Talks aren’t resolved. IATSE also announced that more than 98 percent of eligible union members voted to authorize a strike should it be deemed the best course of action with negotiations at an impasse.
The union has told members that sticking points in talks centered on establishing adequate rest and meal periods, higher minimum rates for certain crafts, more compensation from streaming and “new media” projects, and funding for its pension and health plan.
The strike was averted just hours before the deadline (as usual). However, the union members have not ratified the new agreement yet (as of November 1, 2021).
Chapter 10 (Producers and Investors: Subsidiary Rights)
"Playbill’s 10 Most-Produced High School Plays and Musicals of 2020–2021" – Notice which are Broadway hits, flops and non-Broadway shows…
Full-Length Musicals: 1. The Addams Family … 2. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown … 3. The Theory of Relativity … 4. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee … 5. Little Women … 6. Godspell ... 7. (tie) Disney's High School Musical ... 7. (tie) Little Shop of Horrors ... 9. (tie) Bright Star ... 9. (tie) Into the Woods ... 9. (tie) Disney's The Little Mermaid ...
Full-Length Plays: 1. Clue … 2. Almost, Maine … 3. It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play … 4. A Midsummer Night’s Dream … 5. She Kills Monsters …6. A Christmas Carol (Various) ... 7. The Laramie Project ... 8. The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon ... 9. Alice in Wonderland ... 10. (tie) Our Town ... 10. (tie) Peter and the Starcatcher ... 10. (tie) Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic ... 10. (tie) Radium Girls ... 10. (tie) Twelfth Night ... 10. (tie.) Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play
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