This just in …

Crunching more numbers provided by The Guru of Statistics at the  Broadway League,  Neal Freeman,  the average paid admission to a revival of a musical in the 07-08 Broadway Season is . . . . drum roll please . . .

On second thought . . . let’s play a game.

Pick one:

A. $73.76
B.  $53.51
C.  $61.01
D.  $69.61

The answer will be revealed at the end of this post (no cheating).

But the answer isn’t as important as what you do with it.

Now that I know what the market is bearing in terms of ticket price, AND what kind of  shelf-life  I can expect, I can start to build a proper budget that is based on reality, not fantasy.

As my shrink once told me . . . it’s ok to fantasize, as long as you know you’re going to be ok if the fantasy doesn’t come true. For example, I will be ok if Winona Ryder doesn’t go to my high school prom with me (that was my fantasy in 1990, but you get the point).

Well, if a budget based in fantasy (with higher than average ticket prices and higher than average attendance figures) doesn’t come true, your investors are NOT going to be ok.  They’re going to have lost a lot of money.  And you’ll lose investors.  Which means you’ll produce less shows.  Which means the world will not be a better place.

D. $69.61

And if you’re curious, the average paid admission to a revival of a play is $55.67.

When you think about it, what the market bears, is similar to what the market bares.  By looking at the hard numbers, you’re looking at the industry naked.  No Versace or Marc Jacobs dressing it up.  Just cold flesh.

Unfortunately, it’s not always good naked.  Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!