Broadway Journal

THE BOOK OF MORMON’S EARLY-DAY WRITER

June 6, 2016 by Philip Boroff

P1030096 — Jeff Marx in 2013, at an event marking the tenth anniversary of Avenue Q. Photo: Broadway Journal

EXCLUSIVE: Accepting the best musical Tony Award for The Book of Mormon in 2011, co-director and co-writer Trey Parker broke up the Beacon Theater audience by thanking “a co-writer who passed away” — Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon religion. “You did it Joseph, you got the Tony!”

Smith, who presided over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until he died in 1844, apparently had company. After Avenue Q won three Tonys in 2004, its composers, Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, disclosed that they were working with Parker and Matt Stone of Comedy Central’s South Park on a musical about a religion they wouldn’t identify. Marx told the Los Angeles Times in 2005 that he and Lopez had spotted Parker and Stone in the audience at Avenue Q, at the Golden Theatre, and went up to them at intermission. “They thought we were really weird, until we whipped out our Playbill and showed them our bios, where we list them as one of our inspirations.”

‘HAMILTON’ LEADS SEASON TO RECORD SALES & ATTENDANCE; PLAYS PLUNGE

May 23, 2016 by Philip Boroff

UPDATE WITH DRAMA SALES DECLINE: The Broadway season ended on Sunday with record attendance and sales, thanks to Hamilton. But grosses for plays in 2015-16 retreated 27 percent as star vehicles fell short.

Overall, Broadway sales rose a record 0.6 percent from a year earlier to $1.37 billion, according to the Broadway League. Attendance was up 1.6 percent, another record. Musicals carried the day, led by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s wildly popular cultural phenomenon that’s on track to run for years.

Plays without music were another story. Sales for dramas this past season declined by $66 million to $182 million, according to League statistics. It was the lowest play tally since 2010-11. As in 2014-15, 20 new plays and revivals opened in 2015-16 but they didn’t run as long or command as much. Play attendance fell 14 percent as average admission dropped from $104.46 to $89.59.

Prices for musicals increased slightly, but not enough to compensate for dramas. Broadway’s overall average ticket price fell by $1.07, or 1 percent, to $103.11. It was Broadway’s first price drop since the League introduced its grosses database in 1984-85. The decline doesn’t take into account the four-figure sums Hamilton commands in the secondary market.

BROADWAY SET TO REPORT RECORD GROSSES, LOWER AVERAGE PRICES AS ‘HAMILTON’ & MAGIC SHOWS THRIVE

May 16, 2016 by Philip Boroff

Hamilton Richard Rodgers Theatre Cast Lin-Manuel MirandaAlexander Hamilton Javier Muñoz Alexander Hamilton Alternate Carleigh Bettiol Andrew Chappelle Ariana DeBose Alysha Deslorieux Daveed Diggs Marquis De Lafayette Thomas Jefferson Renee Elise Goldsberry Angelica Schuyler Jonathan Groff King George III Sydney James Harcourt Neil Haskell Sasha Hutchings Christopher Jackson George Washington Thayne Jasperson Jasmine Cephas Jones Peggy Schuyler Maria Reynolds Stephanie Klemons Emmy Raver-Lampman Morgan Marcell Leslie Odom, Jr. Aaron Burr Okieriete Onaodowan Hercules Mulligan James Madison Anthony Ramos John Laurens Phillip Hamilton Jon Rua Austin Smith Phillipa Soo Eliza Hamilton Seth Stewart Betsy Struxness Ephraim Sykes Voltaire Wade-Green Standby: Javier Muñoz (Alexander Hamilton) Production Credits: Thomas Kail (Director) Andy Blankenbuehler (Choreographer) David Korins (Scenic Design) Paul Tazewell (Costume Design) Howell Binkley (Lighting Design) Other Credits: Lyrics by: Lin-Manuel Miranda Music by: Lin-Manuel Miranda Book by Lin-Manuel Miranda — *Hamilton* photo by Joan Marcus

Broadway’s poised to report its third consecutive season of record sales — by a nose.

With the official 2015-16 season ending on Sunday, grosses are up 0.6 percent from a year earlier to $1.34 billion. Attendance is 1.6 percent higher to 13.02 million, also on track for a record. While Hamilton has generated daily headlines since previews began in July 2015, its sales this season were eclipsed by stalwarts The Lion King and Wicked. That should change as producer Jeffrey Seller and colleagues continue raising ticket prices amid feverish demand.

The average Broadway ticket is on track to decline for the first time in decades. So far this season it’s down by almost a dollar, to $103.24. But given those ever-rising Hamilton prices — not to mention the astronomical numbers in the secondary market, which don’t show up in Broadway League stats — it’s early to cite a trend.

‘BRIGHT STAR’ PRODUCER PLANS PRIORITY LOAN AS FIVE TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS OFFER PRICEY IMPRIMATUR

May 6, 2016 by Philip Boroff

Photo by Nick Stokes — Publicity photo by Nick Stokes

Tony Award contenders often say it’s an honor to be nominated. For Bright Star, like any struggling nominee, it’s an expensive honor.

Instead of potentially folding after ten slow weeks, Joey Parnes, the lead producer of the original Steve Martin and Edie Brickell musical, is betting on the marketing muscle of its five nominations. The production will borrow money to run at least through the Tonys on June 12, he said, as well as to advertise the nominations and stage a number on the CBS telecast. The last expense typically runs in the six figures.

“It’s not a secret that we’ve been having less-than-robust grosses,” Parnes said earlier in the week. “To say we’re an underdog is an understatement.”

‘MORMON’ PAYS MILLIONS TO WORKSHOP CAST AS ACTORS DEVELOPING NEW SHOWS FIND ROYALTIES IN SHORT SUPPLY

April 15, 2016 by Philip Boroff

UPDATE to include Hamilton accord: As the cast of Hamilton looks forward to a portion of profits from the blockbuster, The Book of Mormon has paid its workshop actors about $3 million to-date for helping to develop that Broadway smash.

The estimate of royalties is based on financial results for Mormon obtained from the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman via a Freedom of Information Law request. (Royalties include only the Broadway production, as data from the London production and two national tours weren’t made available.) Chris Boneau, a Mormon spokesman, declined to comment.

FROZEN COMPOSER’S A CAPPELLA MUSICAL ‘IN TRANSIT’ SEEKS EXPRESS TRAIN TO BROADWAY

March 21, 2016 by Philip Boroff

A musical without musicians is an untested concept on Broadway. Janet B. Rosen, the freshman lead producer of In Transit, a long-gestating a cappella romantic comedy circling Broadway, says she’s undaunted.

In Transit employs the subway as a setting and plot line and is arranged by Deke Sharon, the arranger and music director of the a cappella movies Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2 (worldwide gross $400 million). A national a cappella tour he oversees, Vocalosity, appears to be selling well. And Kristen Anderson-Lopez — who wrote In Transit with Sara Wordsworth, James Allen-Ford and Russ Kaplan — co-wrote Disney’s Frozen ($1.3 billion). “We are ready to take it to Broadway,” Rosen, who holds the rights to In Transit, told Broadway Journal last night at a concert presentation at Feinstein’s/54 Below. She said it would be Broadway’s first a cappella musical. “A cappella is huge right now.”

‘HAMILTON’ RECOUPS, SETS $549 TICKET RECORD, EXCLUDES GROUP SALES AS SECONDARY MARKET EXPLODES

March 18, 2016 by Philip Boroff

Outside 'Hamilton" during a September lottery — The ‘Hamilton’ lottery last Fall. Photo: Broadway Journal

EXCLUSIVE: Hamilton, the Broadway blockbuster endorsed by the president and first lady, has repaid its investors.

Two people with direct knowledge of the musical’s finances confirmed that it recouped its $12.5 million capitalization. Normally, producers announce when a show breaks even, but Hamilton, “the hardest ticket to get on the planet,” as Michelle Obama put it, has little to prove. Since recouping it’s already begun distributing profits, according to one production source. Reached by phone Friday morning, Sam Rudy, a spokesman for the show said: “I’m not aware that we’ve recouped,” adding that he would check with the producers.

‘BEAUTIFUL’ REAL ESTATE AIDS ROUNDABOUT REVIVAL

March 18, 2016 by Philip Boroff

Todd Haimes at the Tony Awards/Photo by Philip Boroff — Todd Haimes at the 2015 Tonys. Photo: Broadway Journal

EXCLUSIVE: On September 15, 2008, hours after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, the Roundabout Theatre Co. signed a lease to take over a third Broadway house. Given the expense of producing and its thinning ranks of subscribers, some in the business questioned whether the company, founded in 1965, overextended itself.

Seven and a half years later, the Roundabout can make a convincing case that adding the Stephen Sondheim Theatre inside the Bank of America tower constituted shrewd investing in a downturn.

STING’S ‘LAST SHIP’ PREVIEW BUOYS PUBLIC THEATER COFFERS

March 18, 2016 by Philip Boroff

EXCLUSIVE: The Last Ship, a failure on Broadway, was a hit for the Public Theater .

In the fall of 2013, a year before the musical’s brief run at the Neil Simon Theatre, Sting played ten concerts of its songs at the downtown nonprofit, coinciding with the release of his album The Last Ship. According to the Public’s latest tax return, its benefit income after subtracting for direct expenses surged 60 percent to $3.2 million. That suggests a roughly million dollar gain in 2013-14 from the Sting engagement. (As in previous years, the Public also held a gala in Central Park.)

The Public paid $900,000 to Sting’s Steerpike Productions, according to the return. A theater spokeswoman said the star performed for free and the money covered rehearsal, performances, travel and lodging for his 14-piece band, including musical director Rob Mathes.

The concerts helped the Public increase net assets by 14 percent to $41.5 million — a preview of improving fortunes. The theater helped develop the play Eclipsed and the musicals Fun Home and Hamilton, all now on Broadway. Hamilton alone will likely yield many millions for the institution.

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