Billy Elliot the Forum

ERinVA wrote:

kport wrote:

ERinVA wrote:Him? I said "students." I expect that quite a few of their fellow students actually did see the show at one performance or another, and my guess is that the boy in question probably did see the show, but these girls just happened to be the ones I encountered at that final show. They were not part of a group, but with their moms.

I will try to be more accurate when posting.

Sorry, kport. I didn't mean to be rude.

Thanks, Ellen, but even I could not understand what I posted!

A question, if I may: how were audience sizes in Richmond? That seems to be a massive space to be filled. An observation: I think the show works best in a theater holding 1500-1800 people. I do like the relative intimacy of the VPT - you do not feel as though you are very far away from the stage.

I think it's a bit risky to hold the show in a theatre for 1500 though... only because once ina while, you'll come across a city (like when the show was in Ottawa) where they did sell most every one of the 2300 seats. If you limit yourself to 1500 a show, that's a big potential profit you could be missing out on.

Bring back the big dresses, and you'll fill those seats!

I am sure you are right, on the Tour, Rob, where some shows will have 2500 and others may have 1200 in the audience. They need those occasional big houses to keep the average high.

I remember the last week (of three) at the Straz, Tampa two years ago when there may have been 1000 in a theater that seats nearly 3000. They wisely moved the audience forward and cut the lights to the empty areas. Otherwise it would have felt desolate!

The VPT is a few short of 1500 and tends to always be 75% or more full. So that venue seems to do well on an average house below 1500.

kport, the Landmark has over 3500 seats. It is far too big for a show like BETM to telegraph as well as it would if it were in a smaller house such as the Carpenter Center, which I mentioned before, that seats slightly less than 1800. I would say that Friday night had the largest audience. From where I was in the orchestra, glancing around, it looked like most seats away from the edges were filled, both in the orchestra and the mezzanine, which is what I could actually see from my vantage point. It appeared to me that each succeeding audience was smaller, with the Saturday shows slightly less well-attended, and the Sunday shows bringing in the lightest crowd, which, of course, was not helped by Sunday being Super Bowl Sunday.

ERinVA wrote:It appeared to me that each succeeding audience was smaller, with the Saturday shows slightly less well-attended, and the Sunday shows bringing in the lightest crowd, which, of course, was not helped by Sunday being Super Bowl Sunday.

I would hazard a guess that Sunday evening's crowd was 1000 at the most and likely fewer than that. The cast could easily see how empty the theater was, but to their credit, they still gave a wholehearted effort.

Also worth noting that even though the audiences were less responsive through the whole Richmond run than at other cities, the sparse Sunday evening audience warmed enough during "Electricity" to acknowledge Drew's wonderful performance with applause twice in the middle and a long round of applause at the end of the number. No standing ovation until the show's end, but that was unfortunately par for the course at the Landmark.

But something like Superbowl Sunday is understandable in the US. The show could've been almost anywhere, including Broadway, and I'm sure it would've been a quiet night. It would be like trying to sell a show during the hockey playoffs in Canada, or in England during the.... ummm... Westminster Dog Show?!?!?

I hate to burst your bubble, but the Westminster Dog Show is a US event, not a British one. A better analogy might be England playing in the final match of the World Cup.

Its been a cold day. That was the best my brain could come up with haha.
But yes World Cup... or Wimbledon, or cricket, or a sunny day.

All excellent choices.

England playing in World Cup final would have no parallel in USA...maybe aliens landing at whitehouse...NOTHING else would be going on there, maybe emergency surgery...maybe.