What shows have you made money on recently?
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Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
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URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5393
Printed Date: 11/22/24 at 10:42am
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Topic: What shows have you made money on recently?
Posted By: jayzehr
Subject: What shows have you made money on recently?
Date Posted: 10/22/12 at 2:34pm
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The never ending search. I don't think anyone's asked recently. We've already done "Almost Maine" which is a newer play a lot of groups seem to be doing now. Any others I might have missed? Does Dixie Swim Club draw well for everyone?
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Replies:
Posted By: Thudster
Date Posted: 10/23/12 at 12:44am
We just put on "Leaving Iowa" and it was our best attendance in years, we actually came out ahead!
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"Hey look! That's my dad up there whacking himself with silverware!"
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Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 10/23/12 at 3:34am
All of the following had sell-out crowds (or very close to) in the last five years:
Love, Sex, and the IRS
Dearly Departed
Sordid Lives
Dracula
Enchanted April
Over the River and Through the Woods
Somewhere In Between
Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol
Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)
Bus Stop
Much Ado About Nothing
No real discernible pattern in any of the above, but they were all very well done productions (IMHO) and the public responded.
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Posted By: Ogreking4
Date Posted: 10/23/12 at 9:32am
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"Big Five-Oh"
Anything by Neil Simon
"Funny Money"
"Annie"
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Posted By: slimjim
Date Posted: 10/23/12 at 2:19pm
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A fella from MTI mentioned a couple years ago at our annual theatre conference what he refered to as the "THREE CASH COWS" of musical theatre. ANNIE.....SOUND OF MUSIC.....NUNSENSE.
He suggested you can do these 3 shows every 10 years and they are guarenteed money makers.
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Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 10/23/12 at 2:22pm
Posted By: Rorgg
Date Posted: 10/24/12 at 3:53pm
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Whyyyyy?
It must just be the drag thing, as this really is not a good show. I was in a small-house professional production of this a couple of years ago, and our cast was very strong, but it still mostly reminded me of the phrase "polishing a turd."
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Posted By: Amos Hart
Date Posted: 10/24/12 at 10:00pm
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I've directed "A Little Night Music", which is currently playing in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. We opened last weekend, we have three to go and the entire run is nearly sold out.
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Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 10/24/12 at 10:23pm
Originally posted by Rorgg
Whyyyyy?
It must just be the drag thing, as this really is not a good show. I was in a small-house professional production of this a couple of years ago, and our cast was very strong, but it still mostly reminded me of the phrase "polishing a turd." |
Yeah, I kind of have the same thoughts about it and a lot of the other scripts that appear to be steady money makers. IMO plays like Love, Sex and the IRS or Dearly Departed (which we made a LOT of money on) aren't even on a level with run of the mill contemporary television writing. I'll probably get flamed on this but you can say the same thing about a lot of the Neil Simon warhorses. Last summer I got really excited about the excerpts I read from Somewhere in Between but the script in its entirety didn't really seem cohesive to me and I had no idea how to stage it. Leaving Iowa looks interesting.
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Posted By: Raging Thespian
Date Posted: 10/31/12 at 12:18pm
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We did Dixie Swim Club last year and made a ton of money on it. Total box office receipts for the 3 performances was $35,000. Average audience size was 425 @ $27 a ticket.
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Posted By: Rorgg
Date Posted: 11/01/12 at 1:54pm
Originally posted by jayzehr
I'll probably get flamed on this but you can say the same thing about a lot of the Neil Simon warhorses. |
I'll grudgingly agree based on the word "some." I've got a couple friends on the board of a local CT who've been trying to get me onto the season schedule to direct "Brighton Beach Memoirs," which I utterly adore, but it keeps getting pushed out of contention by pet projects of other board members. I don't love EVERYTHING by Simon, though.
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Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 11/03/12 at 3:57pm
Originally posted by Raging Thespian
We did Dixie Swim Club last year and made a ton of money on it. Total box office receipts for the 3 performances was $35,000. Average audience size was 425 @ $27 a ticket. |
Wow. You're getting 27 bucks a head? I'm impressed. We're still wondering if $12 is too much for our market.
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Posted By: TPtheater
Date Posted: 11/28/12 at 3:33pm
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Midwest community theater - The Dixie Swim Club, Love, Sex and the IRS, Fruitcakes, The Kitchen Witches
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Posted By: 75director
Date Posted: 11/29/12 at 3:08pm
Two recent money makers for us were "Marvelous Wonderettes" and "The Kitchen Witches", both small female dominated casts.
I used to think the Neil Simon guaranteed solid box office, but don't anymore. A few years ago we did "Barefoot in the Park" and it tanked big time.
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Posted By: jayzehr
Date Posted: 11/29/12 at 6:55pm
Originally posted by 75director
Two recent money makers for us were "Marvelous Wonderettes" and "The Kitchen Witches", both small female dominated casts.
I used to think the Neil Simon guaranteed solid box office, but don't anymore. A few years ago we did "Barefoot in the Park" and it tanked big time. |
We just tanked with Harvey.
I'm still trying to figure out what's been going on.
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Posted By: diburbano
Date Posted: 12/08/12 at 2:11pm
We have had a lot of success with our show http://www.caddiewoodlawnmusical.com%20 - www.caddiewoodlawnmusical.com
Three big productions last year.
Barron Players sold out every school matinee performance!
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Posted By: slicksister
Date Posted: 5/09/13 at 5:27pm
I'll second Marvelous Wonderettes and add The Full Monty, Lend Me a Tenor, 39 Steps and The Great Trailer Park Musical
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The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
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Posted By: skywalkerlt
Date Posted: 5/21/13 at 11:24am
The last play I was involved with that made mad money was Agatha Christine's "Murder On The Nile." Audiences really seem to love Christie pieces.
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