I am glad you enjoyed the shows. Obviously the producers/bean counters did not have a clear idea about revenues or expenditures...hence this would not be happening now. What I cannot understand is the lack of any apparent effort to counter this before hitting the buffers. It seems as if NYC/London pulled the plug on an otherwise brilliantly run production..based on a spreadsheet. I am sure it can work. It might mean a break until the Christmas rush, but I cannot see the production resuming then with a better business plan.BEtourfan wrote:I went to about 30 shows in seven different cities on the tour ... the audiences were all enthusiastic in their applause and ovations. I also thought the houses were pretty full but perhaps not enough. I'm pretty sure the producers have a pretty clear idea up front of expected revenues/expenses, i.e., cast and crew, travel costs, how many tickets at a particular price have to be sold, etc. Not sure what is meant by a streamlined version, but I was very pleased with how this tour production was presented--can't imagine it on a smaller scale, but that's just me.shimmyshimmy wrote:kport wrote: I know a streamlined, traveling version of BETM can work, even worldwide. Just make it rational in scale, limit it to 1200-2000 seat venue; and don't try to replicate the London/NYC concept.
On another note, I understand your reticence over streamlining things - my thought would be to scale down the staging and props so that 1200-2000 seat venues can accommodate it, and then aim for 65-90% houses. Failing that, I suggest you look into what the Billy Youth Theatre production is the UK have achieved on a dime, and see that this story can be stripped down and still be vibrant, entertaining and wonderful. The economically viable production may be somewhere between the Broadway version, and the Youth Theatre.
) might not understand.