My 5 Friday Finds: Percentages Mean Nothing No More.

Happy long weekend for some of you, and enjoy these five finds from the week on Broadway and beyond:

  1. TKTS lists actual prices instead of just percentages.

blogged about this when it was announced, but it went into ‘play’ this week. The TKTS booth, which added 40%, 30% and 20% to its discounts years ago, now will just list actual prices. So no longer will a $100 ticket at 50% off look like the same price as a $50 ticket at 50% off.  This could be one of the biggest changes to the strategy of how Producers price at the booth, as well as how Producers price their full price (it’s common that we often price full price tickets thinking how much we’ll get at half-price) since the opening of the booth itself. (In other TKTS news, the Brooklyn location closed recently due to . . . what else . . . low sales.)

  1. Wicked in concert but on TV.

In another sign of Broadway’s growing footprint on pop culture, NBC agreed to air a special Wicked concert (shot at The Marquis Theater) to air on 10/29 featuring Idina Menzel, Kristen Chenoweth, and superstars such as Ariana Grande (future Elphaba anyone?).

  1. Originals, originals, everywhere.

Netflix started off as a way for you to “rent” movies without going to the local Blockbuster. Now, they invest heavily in originals. Amazon started off as a way for you to buy books, then movies and TV shows . . . now they make ’em. And now Audible (an Amazon company) is on the same strategy train. They recently announced that they’re going to give away original programming with a monthly subscription. What does this say? Content is still king . . . and the success of any business, big or small, is making @#$%. So go out and make something today.

  1. The Measure App on the iPhone.

If you updated your iPhone recently, you probably have seen the new Measure app . . . which is a digital tape measure. Amazing, right? Not if you make tape measures. Seriously. A company like Stanley Tools will see a reduction in sales because of this app. Just like that, something that has probably been a foundational form of revenue will slip away slowly. It’s a great reminder that all businesses can be disrupted . . . so keep innovating.

  1. King Kong starts previews.

The biggest and most expensive musical since Spider-Man starts previews TONIGHT. You know what?  I can’t wait to see it. Whenever you build someone that’s the “biggest,” people are going to want to go.

Wishing you all a great weekend, and hoping it includes lots of theater.

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