Successful Musicals?
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Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
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Topic: Successful Musicals?
Posted By: PWProducer
Subject: Successful Musicals?
Date Posted: 8/01/07 at 12:29pm
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Good Day, New Poster here so forgive me if this topic has been discussed before. We have been producing musicals for over 50 years in an outdoor amphitheatre....we have large casts (over 40) and we have been able to make a small profit each year which just goes back into the next years shows.
My question is what musicals have brought in 'full' houses for you in the past. For us a full house is 2-3,000. In the past we had success with Grease and the Wizard of Oz which brought in big numbers. We are looking for similar shows that are sure attendance getters.
Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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Replies:
Posted By: Mr. Lowell
Date Posted: 8/01/07 at 1:11pm
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Welcome!
(Granted, we only have a 600 seat house), but our first true standing-room-only sell out show was Disney's High School Musical last March.
Other shows that did very well were old standbys like Music Man, Hello Dolly, West Side Story and Cinderella. And we found that Beauty and the Beast simply sold itself.
But the surprise hit for us was Return to the Forbidden Planet. While it's not very well known in America, the intense word of mouth eventually packed the place! And people even returned to see it again. It's unanimously the favorite show of all time among our directors, actors and crew. (See my post below regarding this show).
Good Luck! -Dana ------------- Mr. Lowell, Lighting/Set Designer & Tech Director, for the Linda Sloan Theatre, in the Davison Center for the Arts, at Greensboro Day School |
Posted By: Dough Boy
Date Posted: 8/01/07 at 3:00pm
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Posted By: Dough Boy
Date Posted: 8/01/07 at 3:03pm
| Sorry about the blank above, I slipped. But I was going to say a theatre here is selling out the Buddy Holly Story. However, I think it has more to do with the guy playing the lead than the Musical itself. He is phenominal. But the Holly music is pretty special too for those of us of a certain age. |
Posted By: doublezero420
Date Posted: 8/01/07 at 11:38pm
| We've sold-out on Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Jekyll and Hyde the Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 8/02/07 at 1:25am
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G'day Jeff
Any known musical will put bums on seats, or in your case on the 'Green Sward'. One I have been atempting to get my mob interested in is
'By Jeeves' one of Lord Andys less known musicals.
However as it is a bit of a send up, it may not be
suitable to your group, unless you have a lot of experiance with Pohmy Farce
& Pantomimes.
http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/byjeeves/show.htm - http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/byjeeves/show.htm
Also the ones I have had great houses with, have been 'A
Chorus Line' & 'Man Of La Mancha' which would be conducive to performing on
the green.
With MOM it might be difficult to have a fly in staircase,
but I'm sure you can get around this. Also MOM is descibed as being a "Play with
Music', rather than a musical. But 'ACL" would be very easy to stage in the open
air.
------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 8/02/07 at 8:37am
| The only two musicals we sold out every performance (only 1,200 seats though) were "Joseph/Dreamcoat" and "Mame." We came close to that - but didn't quite make it - with "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Grease." |
Posted By: biggertigger
Date Posted: 8/02/07 at 6:10pm
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With successful musical there are so many factors that go into it. Yes, name recognition is a big seller, quality plays an important role, as well as what the area likes.
I have been involved with shows that keep extending because of the appeal where as other shows that you plan to have long runs close without an extension.
If you really want to find out what are going to be good shows in your area, have a survey done. See what they like, what they want to see. ------------- The two greatest days in a theater persons life, the day you start a new show and the day the damn thing closes. |
Posted By: whitebat
Date Posted: 8/06/07 at 10:32pm
| Our high school (~800 seats) packed the house with Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". I think they had 3-4 performances, not all as big of crowd. That's the only time besides the "Taste of Home Cooking School" I've ever seen it packed. |
Posted By: Aimee
Date Posted: 8/14/07 at 10:30pm
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Well Cinderella was a huge sell out for us, But we also had alot of luck with Leader of the Pack and Bye Bye Birdie. ------------- Aimee |
Posted By: eveharrington
Date Posted: 8/15/07 at 1:10am
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"Always Patsy Cline" was a huge hit for us, but just like doughboy, we stumbled onto a phenomenal singer able to duplicate Patsy Cline's voice to a T. Also, it's privately owned so the royalties were (in my humble opinion) outrageous for a CT. But, we still made a good profit. ------------- "If nothing else, there's applause... like waves of love pouring over the footlights." |
Posted By: lessismore
Date Posted: 8/16/07 at 11:35am
| We have had great success with "Beauty and the Beast", "Peter Pan", "Annie", "Oliver!", "Sound of Music", "Wizard of Oz", and many more. It seems, in our community at least, if you can appeal to a 'family' audience the show is much more successful. |
Posted By: lmar12
Date Posted: 8/22/07 at 11:18am
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Our three biggest sellers--and I'm speaking from a high school theater standpoint which has lots and lots and lots of competition from other area theaters: Seussical the Musical --a HUGE favorite, OKLAHOMA! and 42nd Street. I have also been involved in a community childrens' theatre for many years and we had fabulous crowds for THE WIZ. Our local community theater I believe has had their best crowds with Children of Eden and Jesus Christ Superstar. Oh and also CATS and Les Miserables had around 5000 people each attend. And even though you didn't ask--poor crowds for Into the Woods (one of my personal favorites) The Secret Garden (also a tremendous show no one saw) and The Secret of Edwin Drood (nearly bankrupted our local community theater) |
Posted By: maureen
Date Posted: 8/24/07 at 11:14pm
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Hi, We are currently at the end of an extreimly successful 10 week run of Anne & Gilbert -the sequal to Anne of green gables.Sold out every night with 8 shows a week.The music is fantastic,the characters stay true to the origional story,It's upbeat young and a fresh new look at an old favourite.It's being done on a professional stage where I am but it was done at a high school in I think Alberta(of course it opened in PEI last summer).I know people all over Canada are trying to get the rights to it.It's produced by Campbell Webster and its the biggest hit we've had in years.....worth a look into.
Maureen
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Posted By: tristanrobin
Date Posted: 8/25/07 at 10:58pm
| Imar - what a shame you didn't find audiences for "Into the Woods" or "Secret Garden" ... they are two of my favorite plays. The script and style of "Secret Garden" is so much more sophisticated and superior than people expect a children's story to contain. |
Posted By: lmar12
Date Posted: 8/30/07 at 8:26pm
| I know--Secret Garden is one of the best musicals there is. So haunting and true to the spirit of the book. And the worst part is for both Into the Woods and Secret Garden we had the most talented cast we'll ever have. So many of the students have gone on to do professional theater and/or are professional musicians--both productions were just stellar and it's just a shame that a piece of junk (yes I said it!) like Grease will sell out and get such accolades for such mediocracy. |
Posted By: Laff
Date Posted: 9/05/07 at 12:05am
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I would have to say Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, Guys and Dolls, Music Man, and Jekyll and Hyde. ------------- break a leg! |
Posted By: DaveG
Date Posted: 9/08/07 at 8:14pm
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There's a new comedy musical called "In Good Spirits" about a haunted theater and a community theater group that moves in. It's been done in New England a few times and is now the rights have been released nationwide. I know there is a big ad in the American Association of Community Theater magazine. Also, the website for "In Good Spirits" is www.ingoodspiritsthemusical.com. The theaters that have done the show have had sold old performances. Check it out.
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Posted By: ABSteel
Date Posted: 9/15/07 at 2:56pm
| Our high school had a great success with Once Upon a Mattress, by Mary Rodgers. It's a fun show, too. |
Posted By: Thespian_4_ever
Date Posted: 9/16/07 at 10:36pm
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We had crazy good luck with Buddy! the Buddy Holly Story, we ended up adding 4 shows, for a total of 22!
Other good shows...
The Music Man
Cats
Beauty and the Beast
Oklahoma!
The Fully Monty
A Christmas Survival Guide
Seussical
RAGTIME ------------- |
Posted By: neilfortin
Date Posted: 9/27/07 at 4:29pm
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We had great luck with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and also Fiddler on the Roof~ ------------- Community Theater makes us smile |
Posted By: lynda gee
Date Posted: 2/02/08 at 3:28pm
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"Oklahoma!" and "Sound of Music" were the best-selling shows I was ever part of but a wonderful musical that is funny and sweet and never done is Frank Loesser's version of "Charley's Aunt" called "Where's Charley?" It was a great movie, if you can find it, with the great Ray Bolger and has been revived a few times. Check it out! I've only seen it once and it's too bad it's not done more because the music is great and it's so doggone funny. |
Posted By: ActUpTress
Date Posted: 2/05/08 at 5:52pm
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My theatre is thinking of doing High School Musical. Can anyone give me an idea of what their royalties were per show? ------------- Thanks from Mary-Ann |
Posted By: Ringbo
Date Posted: 2/07/08 at 8:24pm
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Our big sell out show was Annie ------------- Live each day like its opening nite! |
Posted By: JoyExcellence
Date Posted: 2/21/08 at 10:41am
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Our biggest shows over the past three years have been: Little Women
Chicago
Oklahoma! ------------- |
Posted By: John Luzaich
Date Posted: 2/29/08 at 11:10am
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Joseph..., Man of La Mancha, The Wizard of Oz, Guys and Dolls, 42nd Street, Pirates of Penzance, Once Upon a Mattress, Forever Plaid,Grease, Annie, Oklahoma, Pajama Game, Fiddler, Music Man, Sound of Music, Camelot, Bye Bye Birdie Pippin (with the newer ending).
John ------------- John cfct@cfu.net http://www.osterregent.org http://www.facebook.com/osterregent |
Posted By: Kim L.
Date Posted: 3/03/08 at 8:35pm
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I would love to explore Anne and Gilbert. Do you have a website for looking into this? I could not find anything on Campbell Webster Entertainment.
Thanks! ------------- Kim |
Posted By: AnneandGilbert
Date Posted: 3/04/08 at 8:05am
| Hi - You can inquire about licensing the show by visiting the website at www.anneandgilbert.com or emailing anneandgilbert@gmail.com |
Posted By: landon2006
Date Posted: 3/10/08 at 4:20pm
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Annie - The most overdone but also one of the best loved will always draw a crowd. The National tour came to our town last October and sold out 2 shows (3,150 each show). That next weekend our other Community theater put on the same production... guess what? SOLD OUT. Annie is going to be our next musical. ------------- |
Posted By: BackStagebum
Date Posted: 3/21/08 at 2:11pm
You can't go wrong with the oldies but goodies. If you need to raise money, ALWAYS do a show the audience knows and loves. Save the newer shows for a time when making a buck is not as important to your theater. (Yeah right...like that would ever happen in theater!!!)
One show I have never seen fail is Nunsence. It has been a money maker every time I have ever been involved in it (7x).
And they don't call The Sound of Music , the Sound of Money for nothing.
I think the new shows will eventually become classics like this but they have to be done and done again for the audience to embrace them. Of course us theater folks know and love these shows, but then not everyone is as theater savy as we are. ------------- Life upon the wicked stage.....is..(fill in the blank) |
Posted By: theatremonkey
Date Posted: 6/04/08 at 2:35pm
beauty and the beast
cinderella
seussical-great
snoopy
putnam county spelling bee
high school musical
good man charlie brown
annie
------------- theatre monkey |