The Broadway League and American Theatre Wing indefinitely postponed the 2020 Tony Awards, which was scheduled for June 7 at Radio City Music Hall.
CUOMO ORDERS BROADWAY SHUTDOWN AS MAYOR PREDICTS ‘LONG BATTLE’
Broadway will go dark for at least a month — its longest shutdown in modern times — as U.S. performing arts and professional sports screech to a halt in an attempt to limit the public health threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
With Broadway in the thick of its annual spate of openings to qualify for Tony Awards, sixteen new productions — including Six, scheduled to have opened tonight — must reset as all eligible theaters go dark. Most off-Broadway shows also close beginning tonight.Continue Reading
N.B.A. SUSPENDS SEASON; BROADWAY USHER TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19; ‘HAMILTON’ SUSPENDED IN SAN FRAN: ROUNDUP
The National Basketball Association announced it will suspend its season, after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus. Los Angeles Times story here. The announcement may put pressure on New York City and state to order Broadway to go on hiatus.
Other developments related to the outbreak:
A Broadway usher who worked recent performances of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Six tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. New York Times story.
THE AGE OF THE BLOCKBUSTER MUSICAL (GRAPHIC)
Hit musicals are running longer and making more money than ever — which is illustrated by two fascinating interactive charts.
CHEAP ‘SIX’ COULD MAKE INVESTORS WHOLE IN RECORD TIME
EXCLUSIVE: Six, the sizzling pop musical in which British Royals meet #MeToo, may be able to repay investors within 11 weeks of its first preview. That’s according to a projection distributed to investors, and assuming the production can sustain the momentum it’s built up through four stops in the U.S. and Canada, more than a year on the West End and ongoing tours in the U.K., Australia and at sea via the Norwegian Cruise Line.
Capitalized on Broadway at $5 million to $6.5 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Six could potentially make its backers whole faster than Hamilton. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster took seven months after previews began on Broadway, in July 2015, to recoup its $12.5 million and make its first profit distribution. Should Six become another New York money machine, credit a witty and contemporary score about the divorced, beheaded and otherwise beleaguered wives of King Henry VIII. And its relatively tiny budget.Continue Reading
‘HAMILTON’ PITCHES GROUP SALES AS BOX OFFICE SOFTENS
EXCLUSIVE: For the first time in more than three years, Broadway’s biggest blockbuster is opening its doors to bus tours, schools from out of town and other groups.
Beginning on Monday, Hamilton offers group sales for performances from Jan. 7 to June 4, 2020, according to a memo the production sent to group sales agents that was obtained by Broadway Journal.
RIDING HIGH WITH ‘HAMILTON’ PROFITS, THEATER PLANS ‘PUBLIC STUDIOS’
EXCLUSIVE: The Public Theater has earned tens of millions of dollars for its role developing Hamilton — and is spending as little of it as possible on two ambitious projects.
The venerable nonprofit is fundraising for a new rehearsal and audition space — dubbed Public Studios — that’s scheduled to open early next year across the street from its Astor Place headquarters. It’s also renovating the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, to be completed around 2022.Continue Reading
THE DEVIL MADE THEM DO IT: ‘HADESTOWN’ RAISES PRICES
EXCLUSIVE: With investors to repay and resellers on the prowl, the producers of Hadestown increased ticket prices by as much as 47 percent, coinciding with the show’s best musical win at the Tony Awards on June 9.Continue Reading
TOOTSIE’S INSIDER ADVANTAGE AT THE TONY AWARDS
EXCLUSIVE: In competitive Tony Awards contests, can producers who vote for their own shows have an outsized impact? Apparently.
I obtained a list of voters in the 2017-18 season — which I’m told is largely current — and cross-referenced it with names above the title of this year’s Best Musical nominees.
I counted 17 Tootsie producers and co-producers who were eligible to vote, 16 on Ain’t Too Proud, 12 on Hadestown and nine on The Prom. With just 831 voters, those margins aren’t negligible. Continue Reading
BROADWAY POSTS RECORD SALES, RISING ATTENDANCE
Thanks to Hamilton, The Lion King, Harry Potter and other blockbusters that draw fans from around the world, Broadway reported a record $1.8 billion in sales — up 7.8 percent — for the season that ended on Sunday.
