June 6, 2025 • 16 mins
Broadway has always been a high-risk, high-reward kind of business — but with costs to mount a production higher than ever, producers are leaning into new strategies to try to recoup investments. Now, as Broadway wraps its highest-grossing season on record, the hottest tickets to celebrity-studded shows are going for upwards of $800.
On today’s Big Take podcast, we speak with two Tony Award-winning producers, Daryl Roth and Lucas Katler, about what it takes to succeed these days in show business, and we hear from Bloomberg Pursuits’ Chris Rovzar about what Broadway’s new economic reality means for tourism, for art and for what audiences pay at the box office.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. On Sunday, Broadway's top
build players will gather at Radio City Music Hall in
New York for the Tony Awards, one night a year
where everyone can experience the magic of Broadway. For nearly
eight decades, the Tonys have celebrated the biggest shows of
the season, and this year the biggest shows are bigger
(00:26):
than ever, at least when it comes to ticket sales,
with audiences paying top dollar to see star studded shows
like Othellow, good Night, and good Luck and The Picture
of Dorian Gray. An industry trade group called the Broadway
League reported that this season has brought in nearly one
point nine billion dollars, making it the highest grossing in
(00:46):
Broadway recorded history.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
The top end of the ticket prices going like higher
and hire and hire. I don't know if that's going
to stop. They have to make money.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
That's Chris Rouser. He's the editor of Bloomberg Pursuits, which
covers the arts, culture and luxury, and Chris says the
theater is becoming more of a luxury because now more
than ever, it costs an arm and a leg to
break a leg on Broadway. In such a high risk,
high reward industry, producers have been rethinking what it takes
(01:16):
to make a hit show, and that business model shift
is affecting everything from ticket prices to the kind of
work audiences from all over the world see on stage.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
You have to be not afraid to take a risk.
I think this business is very risky, and you know,
when talking to young producers as well as talking to investors,
I'm very honest about the risks involved.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Kind of the conventional wisdom on Broadway in particular and
commercial theater at large is it's very challenging to make
a living, but you can make a killing.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I'm Sarah Holder today on the show The Big Take
Goes to Broadway. I sit down with Bloomberg's Chris Rouser
and speak with two Tony Award winning producers, Darryl Roth
and Lucas Catler, about the economic realities changing the theater biz,
what it means for tourism, for our and for what
you pay at the box office. The economics of Broadway
(02:14):
have always been tricky. It's basically the whole plot of
the Producers, where Matthew brodericks Leo bloom helps cook up
an unconventional plan to make it in the theater business.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
One of the right circumstances, a producer could make more
money with a flop than he could with a hit.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
It's expensive and it's maddening, and it takes a lot.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Of luck, just like in the producer exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
But I wanted to ask you why is it so
hard to mount a financially successful Broadway show today?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
The problem today is that costs are extraordinarily high. They're
higher than they have ever been before. So the carrying
costs from week to week are really just very hard
to get over. Union labor. Almost everyone that works on
a show is union, and they have a lot of protections,
especially after the pandemic, so those costs are high. The
(03:05):
theater rent for the limited number of Broadway theaters there
are is a single digit percentage of ticket sales, so
that's a big chunk. You've got sets, you've got marketing,
you've got all that stuff, So that actually adds up
to an almost prohibitive base level that you have to
clear in order to recoup your investment, which means it
gets back to net zero.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Labor costs rent for a theater, materials to build sets
and hang lights, promos and advertisements.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
It adds up now to produce a play on Broadway.
You know, the budgets can be anywhere between. I would
say six and ten million dollars. On the high side,
a musical is now twenty twenty five million.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Daryl Roth has produced more than one hundred and thirty
shows on and off Broadway since the eighties, including Tony
Award winning plays like august Osah County Warhorse and Paula Vogels.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
In decent thirty years ago, you could produce a play
for under four million dollars and have all the soups
and nuts and desserts that you need to make it work.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Daryl is one of the producers behind one of this
season's buzziest tickets, The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's a
play based on the Oscar Wild novel and stars Sarah Snook,
who you might know from Succession on HBO. How much
did The Picture of Dorian Gray cost to mount.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
It was a round eight million.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
The goal for a producer is to recoup that investment,
something that's easier said than done. Lucas Catler, who's produced
Broadway musicals like Merrily We Roll Along and Hear Lies
Love says that's what makes bringing a show to Broadway
such a financial high wire act. When we spoke with him,
he was inside a theater in London in the middle
of rehearsals for a new musical. He's producing.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Even the best shows, the ones that win Best Musical
and like really break through and find an audience, a
lot of times those shows don't even make money, and
so like a strange loop is actually a great example
of a show that I didn't work on them Badway.
I worked on off Broadway. But it's by all accounts
extreme critical success and a really well regarded piece of art.
But they haven't recouped on Broadway, for example, I mean
(05:10):
they closed early.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
When you got your start in the industry, what was
the conventional wisdom that other producers shared with you about
the path to success on Broadway?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I would say, writ large that it's very challenging. One
in five shows will make their money back on Broadway,
meaning a lot of producers will hopefully produce shows on
Broadway that will Like you know, limited run plays will
in the best case of success, return ten twenty percent
to investors. Whereas musicals, you really want to get a
(05:45):
long running musical that will then be a big hit
and be able to sustain your ability to create other
work as well. So it's a high risk, high reward
business and that's been the mo for Feeder since its
inception in America, but also really really specifically on Broadway today,
particularly because the margins are really tight between how much
(06:05):
a cost to run a show and how much money
you can make in the box office. I'm still a
young career producer, but like still developing musicals with the
hope to ultimately make a killing one day. But for now,
it's like there's no real avenue to make a steady
income without having a show that's long running.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
People are always swinging for those big runaway hits, those Hamilton's,
those wickeds, which make the eighty percent of shows that
don't recoup kind of worth the gamble.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
But Chris says it is a gamble. The New York
Times reported that four of the fourteen new musicals that
open the season have already closed or set closing dates.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
It's gotten harder to find investors because you know, statistically
most things don't recoup.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
And Daryl Ross says that's led to a big shift
on Broadway.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
I think the trend now which we didn't see as
much when I began my career is the star vehicle.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
The star vehicle like Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook or
Othello featuring Denzel Washington and Jake Jillenhall, or good Night
and good Luck, directed by George Clooney, who also plays
the lead. These plays tend to run for a limited
amount of time based on the actors availability, and Darryl
says it's a model that can help bring in early funding.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Both investors and producers can feel that there's less risk
based on the appeal of the star we're talking about,
and so it's easier to get investors to come along
on the journey.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
It can also be easier to get audiences into theaters.
Othello gross three point five million dollars last week. Glengarry
Glenn Ross featuring Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr
made around two million dollars, around the same amount as
The Lion King, which has been running for more than
twenty five years. Dorian Gray brought in nearly one and
(08:00):
a half million.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Goodnight in good Luck, which is on Broadway right now
starring George Clooney has a big cast and is an
expensive show, but it broke four million a week in
ticket sales, which is a record, and that's a crazy
amount of money.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Part of the reason it's making that much money is
because a seat at good Night and good Luck can
run you between about two hundred dollars and nine hundred dollars.
How the new economics of Broadway are landing with audiences.
That's after the break. It's harder than ever to succeed
(08:38):
on Broadway without really trying or even trying a lot.
Bloomberg's Chris Rouser says that's pushed Broadway producers towards a
few different categories of material, the kinds of shows that
are considered an easier sell for audiences and investors. We
talked about the limited engagement run starring a celebrity. Then
there's the jukebox music.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Musicals are the hardest thing to produce and make succeed,
and so if you can build a musical based on
an artist's catalog like Share or Bobby Darren is one
right now.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff is Bobby Darren in justin Time.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
That has a built in audience. So that's sort of
viewed as safe. And then there's like existing ip so
like The Notebook, Back to the Future, Harry Potter, It's
the Wizarding World on the Great White Way. These things
that also have big audiences built in and feel less
risky to audiences and producers. Those are kind of the
three things that we feel like all the news shows
(09:34):
are like that, and honestly, that can be tiring.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Whiches aren't getting picked up in this formula, Like which
kind of productions does this shut out?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I mean it shuts out a lot of original musicals.
It's very expensive to put on an original musical or
any musical, and it's very risky. You know, it's can
be twice as expensive as a play. So there's only
a couple new like sort of really new musicals that
are on Broadway this season. And then people are very
familiar with Shakespeare Tennessee Williams. You see a lot of
(10:06):
that sort of like Western canon stuff come back and
back and back. Lately, it doesn't feel like you see
a ton of new artists or artists of color, or
artists from a different background international, So yeah, I can
feel like that stuff is being squeezed out it's.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Also driving ticket prices up.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So you'll generally see a show we'll start with some
rush tickets or lottery tickets can be quite cheap, and
then they'll start at fifty nine to seventy nine ninety
nine dollars and go up into the three hundreds, maybe
four hundred for premium seats right in the front, and
that's very expensive. Some of the shows this spring ticket
costs were eight hundred and nine hundred dollars, and that's
(10:42):
a result of dynamic ticket pricing, which is the same
as what airlines use and hotels use to book rooms.
So it's not a person deciding that this show is
worth eight hundred dollars, it is ai deciding that people
will pay eight hundred dollars to see a show. So
we are breaking records in terms of what some shows
are making.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
What does it mean for the economy of a city
like New York, which is built around tourists coming to
see shows if the average tourists can no longer afford
a ticket to an average show. I don't know if
we're there yet, but.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Yeah, so New York views Broadway is an important part
of its tourism infrastructure, and when we were coming out
of the pandemic. The city took a lot of steps
to try to help Broadway get back on its feet,
because it's not just people going to Times Square, it's
not just people who want to come to your show.
Broadway is part of the appeal of New York and
when things that get too too expensive and you can't come,
that makes New York feel expensive, That makes you feel
(11:33):
like that city is not for me. But nobody wants
Broadway to be inaccessible for everybody.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
H bristle at the fact that some of the ticket
prices for premium seats, when you know eight nine hundred
dollars a ticket, I mean that cannot be the trend.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Producer Darryl Roth again.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
But interestingly, the average ticket price this year was about
one hundred and thirty dollars.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
That means those eyebrow raising outliers are actually being and
out by tickets to shows that have stayed more affordable.
But whatever the price, audiences keep coming. So far this
Broadway season, over fourteen point six million people have seen
a show. It's the first year that's gotten close to
the industry's pre pandemic attendance levels.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
We've had ninety one percent capacity on Broadway, which is
really wonderful. So things are looking up, and certainly everybody
feels excited post pandemic to see Broadway coming back. You know,
it's it means so much to the city economically, let
alone those of us that just love the art form.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
It's part of the reason why Daryl says taking all
those risks we've been talking about can be worth it,
including supporting shows that don't fit the money making molds
producers have been leaning on more and more.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It's hard to say what's commercial and what's not commercial
before it happens. You know, we've often been really surprised
by things that we think aren't going to be commercial
and they are and vice gers. So I say it
to people, just do what you love and be driven
by what you respond to in the hope that other
people will respond to that same story.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
The big example this season is Maybe Happy Ending. Did
you see it?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, Julia Press, our producer, and I actually saw it together.
Oh loved it.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yes, wonderful show. It's very original but actually debuted in
Korea and then came here and it's a little magical
show about two robots and a robot retirement home, and
that alone sort of doesn't necessarily feel like the great
raw material for a music hall Shakespeare Shakespeare. And it's
also it's just two people on a stage. It's kind
(13:40):
of actually, at the root of it, a small story.
But the music is wonderful, and the set is incredible,
and the story is lovely, and it just feels so
fresh and original. I remember, actually I'm getting goosebumps talking
about it. When I saw it in previews, the set
broke three times, and even so everybody's sitting there was like,
we're seeing something. This theater is half full. We don't
know if anyone's going to come see this show. And
(14:01):
then had such incredible word of mouth that it just
built and built and built and built, and now it's
selling incredibly well you can't get tickets.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah, yeah, there's such a magic to that. Yes, we'll
see whether the Tony voters agree. Daryl, of course, is
rooting for Dorian Gray.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Certainly, I believe Sarah Snook should win the Best Actress
in a Play. I have obviously a personal belief in that,
but I do believe she deserves that honor.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Meanwhile, the producer Lucas Catler is pulling for Oh Mary.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
I'm seethingly jealous of everyone involved in this show because
it's like it's doing everything that I love, is such
a joy and a romp while still showcasing the highest
level of artistry that theater makers have to offer.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
But whatever happens on Sunday, Darryl says, next Broadway season
is sure to bring its own surprises. What's next for
the industry.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I think that this year has shown producers and audiences
that you can take a chance on something that might
be a little unique and out of the norm that
I hope continues. I'm sure the star vehicles will continue,
There's no question about that. I think we'll see more
smaller musicals being mounted, what I like to call chamber musicals.
(15:14):
And I also think we'll see a trend to plays
that appeal to a younger audience. Now that this year
has shown that there is excitement and enthusiasm from you know,
the younger theater going audience, I think we'll all be
happy to offer more good fare and keep that audience growing.
I mean we must, otherwise you know, we'll be out
(15:36):
of business.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
This is the big take from Bloomberg News. I'm Sarah Holder.
The show is hosted by Me, David gera Wanja and
Seleia Mosen. The show is made by Aaron Edwards, David Fox,
Eleanor Harrison Dungate, Patty Hirsch, Ridgel, Lewis Chrisky, Naomi Julia Us,
Tracy Samuelson, Naomi Shaven, Alex Dugia, Julia Weaver, Yang Yong
(16:06):
take Yasazua and Julian Weller. To get more from the
Big Take and unlimited access to all of bloomberg dot com,
subscribe today at Bloomberg dot com Slash Podcast offer. Thanks
for listening. We'll be back on Monday.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. On Sunday, Broadway's top
build players will gather at Radio City Music Hall in
New York for the Tony Awards, one night a year
where everyone can experience the magic of Broadway. For nearly
eight decades, the Tonys have celebrated the biggest shows of
the season, and this year the biggest shows are bigger
(00:26):
than ever, at least when it comes to ticket sales,
with audiences paying top dollar to see star studded shows
like Othellow, good Night, and good Luck and The Picture
of Dorian Gray. An industry trade group called the Broadway
League reported that this season has brought in nearly one
point nine billion dollars, making it the highest grossing in
(00:46):
Broadway recorded history.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
The top end of the ticket prices going like higher
and hire and hire. I don't know if that's going
to stop. They have to make money.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
That's Chris Rouser. He's the editor of Bloomberg Pursuits, which
covers the arts, culture and luxury, and Chris says the
theater is becoming more of a luxury because now more
than ever, it costs an arm and a leg to
break a leg on Broadway. In such a high risk,
high reward industry, producers have been rethinking what it takes
(01:16):
to make a hit show, and that business model shift
is affecting everything from ticket prices to the kind of
work audiences from all over the world see on stage.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
You have to be not afraid to take a risk.
I think this business is very risky, and you know,
when talking to young producers as well as talking to investors,
I'm very honest about the risks involved.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Kind of the conventional wisdom on Broadway in particular and
commercial theater at large is it's very challenging to make
a living, but you can make a killing.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I'm Sarah Holder today on the show The Big Take
Goes to Broadway. I sit down with Bloomberg's Chris Rouser
and speak with two Tony Award winning producers, Darryl Roth
and Lucas Catler, about the economic realities changing the theater biz,
what it means for tourism, for our and for what
you pay at the box office. The economics of Broadway
(02:14):
have always been tricky. It's basically the whole plot of
the Producers, where Matthew brodericks Leo bloom helps cook up
an unconventional plan to make it in the theater business.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
One of the right circumstances, a producer could make more
money with a flop than he could with a hit.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
It's expensive and it's maddening, and it takes a lot.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Of luck, just like in the producer exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
But I wanted to ask you why is it so
hard to mount a financially successful Broadway show today?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
The problem today is that costs are extraordinarily high. They're
higher than they have ever been before. So the carrying
costs from week to week are really just very hard
to get over. Union labor. Almost everyone that works on
a show is union, and they have a lot of protections,
especially after the pandemic, so those costs are high. The
(03:05):
theater rent for the limited number of Broadway theaters there
are is a single digit percentage of ticket sales, so
that's a big chunk. You've got sets, you've got marketing,
you've got all that stuff, So that actually adds up
to an almost prohibitive base level that you have to
clear in order to recoup your investment, which means it
gets back to net zero.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Labor costs rent for a theater, materials to build sets
and hang lights, promos and advertisements.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
It adds up now to produce a play on Broadway.
You know, the budgets can be anywhere between. I would
say six and ten million dollars. On the high side,
a musical is now twenty twenty five million.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Daryl Roth has produced more than one hundred and thirty
shows on and off Broadway since the eighties, including Tony
Award winning plays like august Osah County Warhorse and Paula Vogels.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
In decent thirty years ago, you could produce a play
for under four million dollars and have all the soups
and nuts and desserts that you need to make it work.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Daryl is one of the producers behind one of this
season's buzziest tickets, The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's a
play based on the Oscar Wild novel and stars Sarah Snook,
who you might know from Succession on HBO. How much
did The Picture of Dorian Gray cost to mount.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
It was a round eight million.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
The goal for a producer is to recoup that investment,
something that's easier said than done. Lucas Catler, who's produced
Broadway musicals like Merrily We Roll Along and Hear Lies
Love says that's what makes bringing a show to Broadway
such a financial high wire act. When we spoke with him,
he was inside a theater in London in the middle
of rehearsals for a new musical. He's producing.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Even the best shows, the ones that win Best Musical
and like really break through and find an audience, a
lot of times those shows don't even make money, and
so like a strange loop is actually a great example
of a show that I didn't work on them Badway.
I worked on off Broadway. But it's by all accounts
extreme critical success and a really well regarded piece of art.
But they haven't recouped on Broadway, for example, I mean
(05:10):
they closed early.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
When you got your start in the industry, what was
the conventional wisdom that other producers shared with you about
the path to success on Broadway?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I would say, writ large that it's very challenging. One
in five shows will make their money back on Broadway,
meaning a lot of producers will hopefully produce shows on
Broadway that will Like you know, limited run plays will
in the best case of success, return ten twenty percent
to investors. Whereas musicals, you really want to get a
(05:45):
long running musical that will then be a big hit
and be able to sustain your ability to create other
work as well. So it's a high risk, high reward
business and that's been the mo for Feeder since its
inception in America, but also really really specifically on Broadway today,
particularly because the margins are really tight between how much
(06:05):
a cost to run a show and how much money
you can make in the box office. I'm still a
young career producer, but like still developing musicals with the
hope to ultimately make a killing one day. But for now,
it's like there's no real avenue to make a steady
income without having a show that's long running.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
People are always swinging for those big runaway hits, those Hamilton's,
those wickeds, which make the eighty percent of shows that
don't recoup kind of worth the gamble.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
But Chris says it is a gamble. The New York
Times reported that four of the fourteen new musicals that
open the season have already closed or set closing dates.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
It's gotten harder to find investors because you know, statistically
most things don't recoup.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
And Daryl Ross says that's led to a big shift
on Broadway.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
I think the trend now which we didn't see as
much when I began my career is the star vehicle.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
The star vehicle like Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook or
Othello featuring Denzel Washington and Jake Jillenhall, or good Night
and good Luck, directed by George Clooney, who also plays
the lead. These plays tend to run for a limited
amount of time based on the actors availability, and Darryl
says it's a model that can help bring in early funding.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Both investors and producers can feel that there's less risk
based on the appeal of the star we're talking about,
and so it's easier to get investors to come along
on the journey.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
It can also be easier to get audiences into theaters.
Othello gross three point five million dollars last week. Glengarry
Glenn Ross featuring Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr
made around two million dollars, around the same amount as
The Lion King, which has been running for more than
twenty five years. Dorian Gray brought in nearly one and
(08:00):
a half million.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Goodnight in good Luck, which is on Broadway right now
starring George Clooney has a big cast and is an
expensive show, but it broke four million a week in
ticket sales, which is a record, and that's a crazy
amount of money.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Part of the reason it's making that much money is
because a seat at good Night and good Luck can
run you between about two hundred dollars and nine hundred dollars.
How the new economics of Broadway are landing with audiences.
That's after the break. It's harder than ever to succeed
(08:38):
on Broadway without really trying or even trying a lot.
Bloomberg's Chris Rouser says that's pushed Broadway producers towards a
few different categories of material, the kinds of shows that
are considered an easier sell for audiences and investors. We
talked about the limited engagement run starring a celebrity. Then
there's the jukebox music.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Musicals are the hardest thing to produce and make succeed,
and so if you can build a musical based on
an artist's catalog like Share or Bobby Darren is one
right now.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff is Bobby Darren in justin Time.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
That has a built in audience. So that's sort of
viewed as safe. And then there's like existing ip so
like The Notebook, Back to the Future, Harry Potter, It's
the Wizarding World on the Great White Way. These things
that also have big audiences built in and feel less
risky to audiences and producers. Those are kind of the
three things that we feel like all the news shows
(09:34):
are like that, and honestly, that can be tiring.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Whiches aren't getting picked up in this formula, Like which
kind of productions does this shut out?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I mean it shuts out a lot of original musicals.
It's very expensive to put on an original musical or
any musical, and it's very risky. You know, it's can
be twice as expensive as a play. So there's only
a couple new like sort of really new musicals that
are on Broadway this season. And then people are very
familiar with Shakespeare Tennessee Williams. You see a lot of
(10:06):
that sort of like Western canon stuff come back and
back and back. Lately, it doesn't feel like you see
a ton of new artists or artists of color, or
artists from a different background international, So yeah, I can
feel like that stuff is being squeezed out it's.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Also driving ticket prices up.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So you'll generally see a show we'll start with some
rush tickets or lottery tickets can be quite cheap, and
then they'll start at fifty nine to seventy nine ninety
nine dollars and go up into the three hundreds, maybe
four hundred for premium seats right in the front, and
that's very expensive. Some of the shows this spring ticket
costs were eight hundred and nine hundred dollars, and that's
(10:42):
a result of dynamic ticket pricing, which is the same
as what airlines use and hotels use to book rooms.
So it's not a person deciding that this show is
worth eight hundred dollars, it is ai deciding that people
will pay eight hundred dollars to see a show. So
we are breaking records in terms of what some shows
are making.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
What does it mean for the economy of a city
like New York, which is built around tourists coming to
see shows if the average tourists can no longer afford
a ticket to an average show. I don't know if
we're there yet, but.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Yeah, so New York views Broadway is an important part
of its tourism infrastructure, and when we were coming out
of the pandemic. The city took a lot of steps
to try to help Broadway get back on its feet,
because it's not just people going to Times Square, it's
not just people who want to come to your show.
Broadway is part of the appeal of New York and
when things that get too too expensive and you can't come,
that makes New York feel expensive, That makes you feel
(11:33):
like that city is not for me. But nobody wants
Broadway to be inaccessible for everybody.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
H bristle at the fact that some of the ticket
prices for premium seats, when you know eight nine hundred
dollars a ticket, I mean that cannot be the trend.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Producer Darryl Roth again.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
But interestingly, the average ticket price this year was about
one hundred and thirty dollars.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
That means those eyebrow raising outliers are actually being and
out by tickets to shows that have stayed more affordable.
But whatever the price, audiences keep coming. So far this
Broadway season, over fourteen point six million people have seen
a show. It's the first year that's gotten close to
the industry's pre pandemic attendance levels.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
We've had ninety one percent capacity on Broadway, which is
really wonderful. So things are looking up, and certainly everybody
feels excited post pandemic to see Broadway coming back. You know,
it's it means so much to the city economically, let
alone those of us that just love the art form.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
It's part of the reason why Daryl says taking all
those risks we've been talking about can be worth it,
including supporting shows that don't fit the money making molds
producers have been leaning on more and more.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
It's hard to say what's commercial and what's not commercial
before it happens. You know, we've often been really surprised
by things that we think aren't going to be commercial
and they are and vice gers. So I say it
to people, just do what you love and be driven
by what you respond to in the hope that other
people will respond to that same story.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
The big example this season is Maybe Happy Ending. Did
you see it?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, Julia Press, our producer, and I actually saw it together.
Oh loved it.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Yes, wonderful show. It's very original but actually debuted in
Korea and then came here and it's a little magical
show about two robots and a robot retirement home, and
that alone sort of doesn't necessarily feel like the great
raw material for a music hall Shakespeare Shakespeare. And it's
also it's just two people on a stage. It's kind
(13:40):
of actually, at the root of it, a small story.
But the music is wonderful, and the set is incredible,
and the story is lovely, and it just feels so
fresh and original. I remember, actually I'm getting goosebumps talking
about it. When I saw it in previews, the set
broke three times, and even so everybody's sitting there was like,
we're seeing something. This theater is half full. We don't
know if anyone's going to come see this show. And
(14:01):
then had such incredible word of mouth that it just
built and built and built and built, and now it's
selling incredibly well you can't get tickets.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Yeah, yeah, there's such a magic to that. Yes, we'll
see whether the Tony voters agree. Daryl, of course, is
rooting for Dorian Gray.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Certainly, I believe Sarah Snook should win the Best Actress
in a Play. I have obviously a personal belief in that,
but I do believe she deserves that honor.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Meanwhile, the producer Lucas Catler is pulling for Oh Mary.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
I'm seethingly jealous of everyone involved in this show because
it's like it's doing everything that I love, is such
a joy and a romp while still showcasing the highest
level of artistry that theater makers have to offer.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
But whatever happens on Sunday, Darryl says, next Broadway season
is sure to bring its own surprises. What's next for
the industry.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I think that this year has shown producers and audiences
that you can take a chance on something that might
be a little unique and out of the norm that
I hope continues. I'm sure the star vehicles will continue,
There's no question about that. I think we'll see more
smaller musicals being mounted, what I like to call chamber musicals.
(15:14):
And I also think we'll see a trend to plays
that appeal to a younger audience. Now that this year
has shown that there is excitement and enthusiasm from you know,
the younger theater going audience, I think we'll all be
happy to offer more good fare and keep that audience growing.
I mean we must, otherwise you know, we'll be out
(15:36):
of business.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
This is the big take from Bloomberg News. I'm Sarah Holder.
The show is hosted by Me, David gera Wanja and
Seleia Mosen. The show is made by Aaron Edwards, David Fox,
Eleanor Harrison Dungate, Patty Hirsch, Ridgel, Lewis Chrisky, Naomi Julia Us,
Tracy Samuelson, Naomi Shaven, Alex Dugia, Julia Weaver, Yang Yong
(16:06):
take Yasazua and Julian Weller. To get more from the
Big Take and unlimited access to all of bloomberg dot com,
subscribe today at Bloomberg dot com Slash Podcast offer. Thanks
for listening. We'll be back on Monday.
Hosts And Creators
Sarah Holder
Saleha Mohsin
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