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The Economics of Broadway Shows

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Re: The Economics of Broadway Shows

#11

Post by B1FF_PSUVM »

TomAbel wrote: post #6

Here is two interesting articles from The Economist where they analyse the success of Hamilton[1] and where they see if you could have predicted the success of Hamilton[2] and here is a in depth post on the data and methodology of the model they created and used[3] [1] https://www.economist.com/business/2016/06/16/no-business-li... Archive of the first Article https://archive.md/L3xzV [2] https://www.economist.com/th…

> could have predicted the success

Some wag, noting how economists were better at explaining the past, remarked they had successfully predicted nine out of the last five crises ...

Re: The Economics of Broadway Shows

#12

Post by sandworm101 »

tobtoh wrote: post #7

As someone who moonlights in the theatre industry (as a theatre photographer), I'm vaguely familiar with the economics of putting on shows - the article is very interesting and tallies with my experience. However, I do question one line in the article: > The average income of Broadwaygoers in 2018-19 was $261k — roughly 4x the median household income in the US. $261k?!? the average income of attendees?!? That's can't…

How many Broadway tickets have you bought recently? Not many regular people can afford to go regularly. I'm not broke, but spending 400+ on a pair of tickets, plus other costs ... That is not something I would do every month.

Re: The Economics of Broadway Shows

#13

Post by tsimionescu »

B1FF_PSUVM wrote: post #11
TomAbel wrote: post #6

Here is two interesting articles from The Economist where they analyse the success of Hamilton[1] and where they see if you could have predicted the success of Hamilton[2] and here is a in depth post on the data and methodology of the model they created and used[3] [1] https://www.economist.com/business/2016/06/16/no-business-li... Archive of the first Article https://archive.md/L3xzV [2] https://www.economist.com/th…

> could have predicted the success Some wag, noting how economists were better at explaining the past, remarked they had successfully predicted nine out of the last five crises ...

There's also an observation that economists are the people most able to tell you how long your nails will be in 5 years assuming you never cut them.

Re: The Economics of Broadway Shows

#15

Post by mbg721 »

tobtoh wrote: post #7

As someone who moonlights in the theatre industry (as a theatre photographer), I'm vaguely familiar with the economics of putting on shows - the article is very interesting and tallies with my experience. However, I do question one line in the article: > The average income of Broadwaygoers in 2018-19 was $261k — roughly 4x the median household income in the US. $261k?!? the average income of attendees?!? That's can't…

If Jeff Bezos (in a disguise) went to one show, how long would it take to bring the average back down?

Re: The Economics of Broadway Shows

#17

Post by mbg721 »

Grakel wrote: post #3
PaulRobinson wrote: post #2

Not knowing what makes a hit vs a flop seems... strange. Familiar actors and stories might help, but also things that are clever and artistically memorable (e.g. Hamilton) have got to help. I'd also be interested to know how many shows start off-Broadway or off-off-Broadway (100-500 seats and below 100 seats as per this article), and move up to the bigger theatres: test a show in a smaller venue, see if people/critic…

Hamilton was workshopped for a very long time and then had a long Off Broadway run at The Public Theatre where additional changes were made. A huge amount of money went into it because of the trust that Lin Manuel had generated with previous work. Spiderman was in tech for over a year (beta testing) because the damned flying didn't work. Then they radically changed the script because it hadn't been workshopped, and i…

People talk about network effects and how beneficial it is to be in Silicon Valley if you're a startup--the same thing has got to be true about New York for on-stage performance. The last time I was there, I picked some random off-off-Broadway thing to go see for twenty bucks, in what was basically a hotel bar, and the quality of the acting was incredible.

Re: The Economics of Broadway Shows

#18

Post by michaelt »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #2

Not knowing what makes a hit vs a flop seems... strange. Familiar actors and stories might help, but also things that are clever and artistically memorable (e.g. Hamilton) have got to help. I'd also be interested to know how many shows start off-Broadway or off-off-Broadway (100-500 seats and below 100 seats as per this article), and move up to the bigger theatres: test a show in a smaller venue, see if people/critic…

> Not knowing what makes a hit vs a flop seems... strange.

Wouldn't any formula for a hit get repeated until audiences are bored and it stops working?

Re: The Economics of Broadway Shows

#19

Post by throwaway55421 »

tobtoh wrote: post #7

As someone who moonlights in the theatre industry (as a theatre photographer), I'm vaguely familiar with the economics of putting on shows - the article is very interesting and tallies with my experience. However, I do question one line in the article: > The average income of Broadwaygoers in 2018-19 was $261k — roughly 4x the median household income in the US. $261k?!? the average income of attendees?!? That's can't…

Why not?

I don't know the stats in the UK, but anecdotally, everyone I know who regularly goes to the theatre (as opposed to occasionally e.g. once every year or two) isn't far off financial independence.

Poor people will just watch it on TV.

Re: The Economics of Broadway Shows

#20

Post by oddthink »

mbg721 wrote: post #17
Grakel wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hamilton was workshopped for a very long time and then had a long Off Broadway run at The Public Theatre where additional changes were made. A huge amount of money went into it because of the trust that Lin Manuel had generated with previous work. Spiderman was in tech for over a year (beta testing) because the damned flying didn't work. Then they radically changed the script because it hadn't been workshopped, and i…

People talk about network effects and how beneficial it is to be in Silicon Valley if you're a startup--the same thing has got to be true about New York for on-stage performance. The last time I was there, I picked some random off-off-Broadway thing to go see for twenty bucks, in what was basically a hotel bar, and the quality of the acting was incredible.

It's definitely true. My kids go to school very close to Broadway, and it seems like something like half the parents are in some Broadway-related jobs, from performing to backstage to office, a lot of them living in Manhattan Plaza.

It's a very hit-or-miss industry, so there will be periods when you're not doing anything, and then you're left with this pool of extremely high-talent people doing small productions, waiting tables, and the like.

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