How Is Scandalous Still Running?

[OSM_]

Sister Act flopped ? Hmm...I thought it did pretty good. Word of mouth was pretty good as well, I mean that was the only reason why I saw it.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

SISTER ACT ran a hell of a lot longer than the other "religious" musicals mentioned, but it didn't make its money back, so it is technically a "flop."

[Jordan Catalano]

SISTER ACT had name recognition. All this has is a poster that makes people think they're seeing a Snow White musical.

[goldenboy]

Although, I seem to be one of the few that liked it, it should be gone by the end of the week. They are losing a weekly fortune. It wouldn't make much business sense to keep it open.

[goldenboy]

and if they do keep it open.. somebody is laundering money.

[CATSNYrevival]

^I liked it too! The lyrics are definitely the weakest link of the book, music and lyric combo, but Carolee Carmello's performance and Edward Watt's "costumes" are very memorable.

[little_sally]

I hope someone does go see Scandalous thinking it's about Snow White.

[eperkins]

She may have started out as Snow White - but she drifted.

[nealb1]

I saw the show on Wednesday night, and the Orchestra probably had 200 people in it. And, it wasn't up on the TKTS board that night either. I would have assumed it would have been on the boards since the house was so empty.

CC was brilliant, as she always is.

[Rainbowhigh23]

As if we didn't know this from this thread already!

See link below. Thanks for fixing the link

[macnyc]

Here's the link:

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2012/11/kathie_lees_sho.php#more

[BroadwayJoe3]

Hey.....mybigsplash....I just hope that your "source" "1 degree away from the production" gives you a few stock tips too. It never fails to amaze me how many people love to be the bearer of supposedly bad news.

But don't worry, I am sure there will be some play in the future that you "might" get a call back from after your audition.

[songanddanceman2]

Why is someone posting on here something they have heard from a friend a bad thing? This is a theatre chat board right where people gossip and speculate all the time

[Carol6]

It's a "bad thing" when they do not state it as an opinion or a speculation. Scandalous is not closing on Sunday. They claimed on more than one thread that they knew it was closing Sunday because they heard it from someone "1 degree from production". Opinions are one thing, declarations of superior knowledge are another. I imagine they'll come up with the following week next. Mybigsplash is amazing!

[Mercades]

^ this.

[Phantom of London]

They have to find out it's closing someway, the cast would know the gross and when they see only 200 people in the orchestra they know the game is up.

Plus reading rumors on the internet you can always discount as not being true. A week ago a poster said that a announcement was imminent on the premature demise of Spiderman, guess what no announcement was made.

[songanddanceman2]

Well lets see if it does close first of all shall we, it is only Tuesday. Also if it does not post soon then im sorry but the producers are insane, this show is DOA

[eperkins]

I wonder if they are keeping this running so that the Tony voters can all see it. Not that I think that's a good idea.

[loliveve]

^ I've wondered the same thing about the Tony voters. But it does appear they are trying to keep it open longer, and not going down without a fight. The "buy-one-get-one-free" (or 1 ticket for 50% off) discount is back.

[eperkins]

I still wonder why they keep it running at such a loss. It's not as if the houses are improving. There can't be much of an advance. Again, I'm happy for the actors.

[elimeyer]

Really? Sister Act did QUITE well as did Godspell

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

No they didn't. They ran for a while, yes. But they lost money doing so. So they did not do well. They did not make any profit.

[Auggie27]

I believe the length of the New York run impacts subsidiary rights and royalty participation for the initial production team. It did in the old days. If so, they likely imagine this show a popular piece with community theaters and church groups, and want to maximimize financial involvement.

[NewYorkTheater]

Patrick Healy gives the answer to the question of this thread in a new artsbeat post:
Short answer: The multimillionaire investors have been willing to cover the losses.

Longer:
"The reason? Its creator, the “Today” show host Kathie Lee Gifford, and two of the lead producers – Dick and Betsy DeVos, multimillionaires from their Amway family fortune – have been determined to keep “Scandalous” running in hopes that the musical will somehow rebound at the box office. While Ms. Gifford has not put her own money into the show to keep it afloat, the DeVoses agreed this week to cover the show’s financial losses for now, according to two executives involved with the show, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private business matters.....While the two executives involved with “Scandalous” predicted that the show would announce a closing date next week unless there was a box office miracle, the executives also held out the possibility that the DeVoses may end up covering losses out of their deep pockets in hopes of finding a bigger audience among Christmas-season tourists."
Scandalous Producers Keep Faith in a Struggling Show

[eperkins]

"It's not good, but it's a reason."

[Mildred Plotka]

The Republican producers founded Amway? This just keeps getting better!