Click me
Transcribed

The Costs and Returns of the World's Theater Business

PUTTING ON A SHOW The Costs & Returns of the World's Theater Business WELGONE T0-abulous LAS VEGAS NEVAD A Transforming a large-scale production from page to stage requires a large amount of resources. With over $3 billion in annual ticket sales between Broadway, Las Vegas and London's West End alone, it's undeniable that show business equates to big business... but to whom? Musicols on Broadway Wicked The Investment $14 MILLION $2.66M $2.38M $2.24M $2.24M $1.96M Director, Stage Mgr., Playwright 8% Construction Other Costs Designer Publicity & Marketing 19% Insurance Actor Fees & Transport Materials Fees 17% 16% 16% 14% 10% Ongoing Running Costs $800,000 PER WEEK The $14 million was earned back in just 14 months, and it has since grossed over $500 million (only the third Broadway show to pass this mark). It regularly grosses over $1.5 million each week, and has broken the house record at the Gershwin Theater twenty $4 times during the course of its run. Other Broadway Shows Show Production Cost Break Even Weekly Gross HEIGHTS IN THE HEIGHTS $10 MILLION 11 MONTHS $600,000 (OPENED 2007) JERSEY JERSEY BOYS BOYS $8 MILLION 8 MONTHS $1 MILLION (OPENED 2005) MAMMA MIA! MAMMA MIA! $10 MILLION 7 MONTHS $800,000 (OPENED 2001) Putting on a show in Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil's Rà While 9 out of 10 shows on Broadway fail to earn back the money invested in them, the Cirque du Soleil troupe has never once failed to make a BROADWAY SHOWS profit at Las Vegas. CIRQUE IN VEGAS Kà's COST 2004's 36 BROADWAY SHOWS Their hit show Kà cost $220 million to develop and $165 million to stage in 2005, more than all 36 Broadway productions in the year before. DEVELOP STAGE The MGM Grand Hotel agreed to pay $135 THEATER million for a specialist 1,900-set theater to house the act, with $30 million in costume OTHER and other production costs halved between Cirque and MGM. 50 100 150 200 250 -Costs (Millions USD) Over 1 MILLION people have seen the show as of November 2009, putting it on the same level as some of the larger, long-running Broadway shows. KÀ KISS ME, KATE WEST SIDE STORY 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 Total Audience The production costs on the opening night compared to the individual seat value at $86,842. ize of the theater put CIRQUE 9,000 tourists see a Cirque du Soleil show every night, equating to 5% of Las Vegas visitors. Production Costs in the West End Equus The Investment $1,129,500 $484,100 $242,000 $242,000 Production Costs Marketing & Advertizing 21.5% Creative Team Fees Rehearsals 14% 43% 21.5% Ongoing Running Costs $145,200 PER WEEK The production recouped its costs after 9 weeks of running. The maximum the show could make in one week (with a full house) was $484,200. The Return PRODUCERS 40% 60% INVESTORSI Once operational costs are deducted, net profit is divided: 60% to the investors, 40% to the producers Wages in the Theater BusinesS Director $87,000 $100,000 Sound Engineer $53,940 Orchestra Musician $1,220/week $80,000 Actor / Singer $29/hour Lighting Designer $38,000 $60,000 Conductor $41,270 $40,000 $20,000 $0 The earnings for actors vary massively. A minimum salary on Broadway is $1,215 per week, and off Broadway the minimum drops to $440 – $763. WAGES PER WEEK ON BROADWAY Leading Role Featured Part $1,800 Leading Role $4,500 Featured Part $3,600 $9,100 OFF BROADWAY WAGES PER WEEK Runaway smashes can be incredibly lucrative for the lead stars – it was reported that the original Wicked actresses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth were paid $25,000 a week each. 000000000O0O00 However, the Actor's Equity Association states that fewer than 15% of its members are working in any given week, and puts the average annual earnings across all its members at $14,936. CO2 Emissions Generated by the Industry Theaters in London account for 50,000 tons of CO2 emitted every year (not including pre-production and audience travel), the equivalent of an average person running all their kitchen appliances continuously for 625,000 years. Plans have been put in place to reduce this 60% by 2025. 625,000 YEARS The non-profit organization Julie's Bicycle issued a report estimating international theater touring produced roughly 13,400 tons of CO, emissions in 2009 – the same amount generated while building 134 average-sized houses in the United States. Broadway's Measures to Cut CO2 Examples include the conversion of over 97% of the marquee and outside lighting of Broadway theaters to LEDS or CFLS. These bulbs typically use 20% of the energy of traditional marquee bulbs. CFL & LED 97% TRADITIONAL Bulb Energy Consumption In September 2010, the Broadway Green Alliance collected 2,250 84% of all sets from pounds of clothing and fabrics from theaters. 96% of these closing productions were recycled in 2009. materials are kept out of landfills. Touring shows have offset over 4,000 tons of carbon emissions associated with the transport of their equipment by investing in wind power and other renewable energy projects in association with the Broadway Green Alliance. http://www.musicals101.com/makemusi.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4674814.stm http://www.nyitawards.com/survey/0OBBudgetStudy.pdf http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/press/kits/shows/ka.aspx http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/bizfinance/finance/features/4086/ http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Theater-Review/wicked-facts-figures http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_50/b3912097.htm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theater/drama/3665465/Equus-the-naked-truth.html http://www.london.gov.uk/archive/mayor/publications/2008/docs/green-theater-summary.pdf http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ahershkowitz/broadway_green_at_the_white_ho.html http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/18127 http://www.thelavinagency.com/images/uploads/1216060062_Business20-CirqueDuSoleil.pdf http://www.thedramateacher.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-mount-a-broadway-musical/ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article648202.ece Sources Wages per Year (USD) . The Returm

The Costs and Returns of the World's Theater Business

shared by jjmackay on Jun 12
507 views
1 shares
0 comments
The key financial elements of producing & operating a theatrical performance on Broadway and Las Vegas. Learn how much it costs to put on a Broadway musical or a Las Vegas show, the various wages in t...

Tags

theater

Category

Business
Did you work on this visual? Claim credit!

Get a Quote

Embed Code

For hosted site:

Click the code to copy

For wordpress.com:

Click the code to copy
Customize size