Our book,
Stage Money, notes that making money on Broadway or off-Broadway is not the only concern of a producer. Another need is to create a brand that can be exploited on the road and in regional theatres. Producers would like always to make money in New York, but they can see long-term returns for shows that at least create an image in the minds of local presenters and artistic directors. On November 20,
Variety noted that for writers, too, a brand can mean money down the road, even if the NYC production closes at a loss to investors.
Robert Hofler's piece, "Life after death on Broadway: Even flops make money in amateur, stock productions," quotes Joe DePietro, book author of the Elvis Presley musical
All Shook Up.
Shook grossed over $12 million in 32 weeks on Broadway in 2005, rarely running at 75% or more of house. Ben Brantley reviewing the production for the
New York Times declared "Yet another synthetic jukebox musical opened last night on Broadway, fresh off the assembly line" In its annual tote of Broadways hits and misses,
Variety called
All Shook Up a miss, meaning it did not return its investors' money. DePietro says, "I made tens of thousands of dollars from my first quarterly royalty check for the stock and amateur rights. I could barely make a living with 'All Shook Up' on Broadway. I bought a nice country house [from] 'All Shook Up' in stock and amateur."
The 2000 Broadway flop
Seussical gets more than 700 productions annually in the US. Of the 2006 flop
The Wedding Singer (picture on left), composer Matthew Sklar says, "It hasn't made me a rich person, but it has allowed me to write two more shows in the last two years. There are usually 60-70 productions of 'Wedding Singer' being planned at a time." The off-Broadway
succès d’estime musical
The Last Five Years is the financial "bedrock" of composer Jason Robert Brown's career. "If the only validation I got in this business was from the reception of my shows in New York City, I'd be doing something else by now," he said.
Note that usually producers and investors share in royalties for professional productions for 18 years after the first-class production opens but typically do not share in amateur rights.
By the way, I'd post a link to the
Variety article, but
Variety has essentially closed down its website to all but paying customers.
