The Playgoer: The Economics of the New Family Musical

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Thursday, January 25, 2007

The Economics of the New Family Musical

From a firewalled article in Crain's NY Business on the new production company, Running Subway, that made a splash with The Grinch this holiday season:

For The Grinch, Running subway cut a deal with the actors union allowing it to present 12 shows a week instead of the usual eight, a first for a Broadway musical. The union made the concession because the show was shorter in length than a normal Broadway musical and had a limited run. That allowed for an 11am show for school groups and four productions a day on weekends to reach families. The large number of weekly showings enabled the production to gross more than $15 million in just 11 weeks. A successful musical typically takes close to a year to break even.
And I thought Disney was a factory.

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