In case you missed it, yesterday I blogged about how so many people I run into think that Broadway is a pass/fail business.  And in their defense, why would they think anything else, since we only announce when we recoup!

So a show screams from the rooftops when it makes money, or goes radio silent, embarrassingly sulking off into a dark corner somewhere if it doesn’t.

And that’s why I’m going to put myself and my show out there and announce the actual recoupment percentage for Macbeth on Broadway.

But let’s see what you thought first!

I asked all of you to tell me what you thought Macbeth recouped, and the average of all of your guesses was . . . 69.66%.

That’s even higher than I expected.  You have faith in me!  Most of my above-the-title Producers told me their friends, associates, and investors told them they never expected to see a penny back on a one-man Shakespeare performing six times a week.

And the actual answer is?

Macbeth on Broadway recouped 89%.

Ooooooh, so dang close!

Now look, I am not proud of the fact that we got to the 25th mile of our marathon only to come up just short.  My goal as a Broadway Producer is to get 100% of everyone’s money back.  Because if I return my investors cash, they’ll be more inclined to invest in Broadway again . . . and I am confident enough in my work that if I get enough at bats, I’m going to knock one outta the park.

So, I’m not celebrating the 89%.

But, first I hope that we show potential investors out there that . . . yeah, our ‘recoupment rate’ may only be one out of five . . . but one of those other four may have returned 89% of its money.  So if that 1 out of 5 is a . . . oh, I don’t know . . . a Kinky Boots, well, overall, you’re doing just fine (isn’t that how your stock portfolio works?).

And more importantly, I hope by announcing that we came so close will also show other Producers and Investors that there is room on the Commercial White Way for artistic risk.

This was a one-man Macbeth set at a mental institution.  It was developed in Scotland.  We only had 14 weeks total.  And we only did six performances a week!

And we still recouped 89-freakin’%.  (UPDATE:  As 6/1/14, we have now recouped 90% – we found some change in between the cushions on the couch.)

So I’m not proud of it.  And next time I will work even harder to get there.

But I hope by announcing it, others out there will take similar risks, challenge our economic model and produce adventurous pieces of art  . . . that get to 100%.

Because you can.

(A big shout out to all my above-the-title partners on Macbeth who had the courage to take this risk with me: Hunter Arnold, Carl Daikeler, Cody Lassen, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Julia Broder, Luigi & Rose Caiola, Michael DeSantis, Neil Gooding, John C. Hall,Marguerite Hoffman, Ken Mahoney, Elliott Masie, Dean Roth, Bellanca Smigel Rutter and Kat White, as well as all the investors.  As I said when I accepted the Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Best Revival this year, it’s very easy in today’s economic climate to take a crack at the number of names above our title.  But we shouldn’t be making jokes about it.  We should be thanking them.  Those names, on my shows and all the shows in town, make art happen.  And I for one am supremely thankful.)

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