Broadway Hits the Road

By Susan Elliott

“It’s Official! This Broadway Season the Best Ever!!” screams the headline on the most recent end-of-season press release from the League of American Theaters and Producers. Yep, 1996-97 was the Best Ever; 1995-96 was Record Breaking; and 1994-95 Reached New Heights. No question that Broadway is flourishing, generating unprecedented profits for its producers and investors. Another feather in the Big Apple’s cap.

Not entirely.

Because a Broadway show is no longer a show on Broadway. It’s on Washington Street in St. Paul, or Peachtree Street in Atlanta, or Capitol Avenue in Hartford. These days, at any given point in time, there may be up to 25 “Broadway Shows” traveling across the U.S., playing to capacity audiences in such unlikely places as Omaha, Nebraska, or Rosemont, Illinois—wherever there’s a venue big enough to accommodate, in the case of Beauty and the Beast, 30 semi trucks’ worth of scenery, costumes, props, counterweights, and light and sound equipment.

In 1997, Musical America’s editors have observed, 1,120 venues (out of a total 1,938) noted “theater” as part of their offerings; the next highest category was “general classical,” noted in only 969 listings. Full symphonic accounted for 558 and chamber orchestra 760.

What’s going on here? Simple: Theater—especially musical theater—has gone mainstream, and America is lapping it up. Not since the heyday of the ‘20s and ‘30s has there been so much musical theater activity on the road. What’s more, starting with the triple-whammy explosion of three audience-friendly musicals in the ‘80s—Cats, Les Miserables, and The Phantom of the Opera—road shows are staying in their respective venues longer, which means something’s got to give. Classical concerts perhaps? One could be tempted to draw that conclusion.

Because unlike the fine arts, the Broadway musical on the road is usually a sure thing. Last season, 46 Broadway shows toured North America, grossing $780 million and accounting for roughly two-thirds of the $1.3 billion industry commonly referred to as “Broadway Theater.” Broadway is on a roll, but Broadway is mostly about the road.

“It’s amazing, because it’s a real flip,” says Doug Evans, executive director of Hartford’s Bushnell Theater and a governor on the Board of the League of American Theaters and Producers. Among the Bushnell’s offerings this season are the national tours of The King and I, Chicago, and Show Boat. “A decade ago it was all about New York. It’s all about the road now.”

GRAND SCALE ON THE ROAD
What’s different about the current musicals-on-the-road phenomenon is not so much the quantity or quality of the shows available—the ‘90s can’t touch the ‘20s and ‘30s in that regard—as the grand scale of the productions and the equally grand profits they can reap. Thanks to modern technology, touring shows can look and sound just like their Broadway counterparts. The sets for the national tours of The King and I or even The Phantom of the Opera that play in Denver are constructed differently from the ones in New York, because they have to be built up and torn down periodically. But to all but the experts, they look just the same.

And cost just as much. Estimates as to what it costs to build a show for the road range from $4 million to $20 million to “undisclosed figures.” To run it can range from $200,000 to $600,000 per week. As a result, a ticket to a first national (official) tour is no bargain. “In Minneapolis, St. Paul, Chicago, San Francisco, they’re paying $75—a New York Broadway price,” says Bill Conner, Senior VP of North American touring for the Toronto- based Livent, which produces, presents, and tours its own productions, including Show Boat, Candide, and Ragtime. Connor laughs, “Basically, you save on airline tickets to New York.”

At Hartford’s Bushnell, the top ticket price is $65, “and we have not hit a threshold,” says Evans, who points out that even though his venue is within 90 minutes of New York, his patrons wait for a show to play Hartford because they know they’ll see the same production, get a better seat, and not have to hassle with New York.

So who are these people who are willing to pay up to $150 for a pair of theater tickets (plus the cost of dinner and a baby sitter) to experience what Newt Gingrich would undoubtedly characterize as “elite” entertainment? “They’re baby boomers,” says Scott Zeiger, president of Pace Theatrical Group, which, with 26 cities, is the largest presenter of national tours. “Young people who used to go to rock concerts are now going to the theater—40-year-olds who 15 years ago were at rock shows.”

Are they going to musical theater instead> of classical concerts? Is there any real relationship between the two audiences? “No,” says Evans, who points out that his venue’s World Symphony series subscribers are not interested in the Broadway series. “Symphony people are pretty well locked into their defined discipline.” Patrick J. Smith, editor of Opera News and former director of the Opera-Musical Theater program at the National Endowment for the Arts, addresses the relationship between opera and musical theater: “If l were to guess, I’d say that the crossover between Broadway and opera is low,” he says, adding nevertheless that the popularity of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s shows may have actually increased the audience for opera. “There probably isn’t any crossover between the two audiences,” says artist manager John Gingrich. “I just don’t see it.”

“That’s the big question,” says Gina Vernaci, program director for Playhouse Square in Cleveland, whose non-Broadway constituents include the Cleveland Ballet, Cleveland Opera, Great Lakes Theater Festival, the Ohio Ballet, and Dance Cleveland.

“Musical theater really is popular entertainment,” says Jane Moss, Lincoln Center’s VP of programming, “so it casts a very wide net. It’s inevitable that some of its audience would be classical-music people. I’m just not sure that’s significant.”

“Yes, there is crossover between classical-music audiences and musical theater,” says Pace’s Zeiger, cautioning that every market is different. “It stands to reason that the people who enjoy going to a particular venue in a market will support other entertainment in that venue.”

THEATER FOR BOOMERS
Well, maybe. But consider the content. In many cases, the music (and the inherent electronic trappings) baby boomers are hearing in the theater today isn’t all that different from what they grew up with. In addition to Pete Townshend’s score for Tommy, which has been tremendously popular on the road in all its incarnations, there is Elton John’s score for Lion King, the late Jonathan Larson’s for Rent, Leiber and Stoller’s songs in Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and Alan Menken’s Beauty and the Beast. Paul Simon’s The Capeman is due to open presently and new shows are in development with music by Barry Manilow, Jimmy Buffett, and Billy Joel. Hardly the new symphonists.

“When Broadway was in its absolute heyday,” continues Zeiger, “with Rodgers and Hammerstein and the Gershwins, that music was the music that was sold in the record stores and played on the radio.

“In more recent times, theater music was exclusive only to the theater. Now, contemporary musicians are writing for the theater. Andrew Lloyd Webber really is a contemporary musician. Rent really is a rock show; Noise/Funk is contemporary performance art—it was a huge success; Beauty and the Beast, big success. Baby boomers are taking their kids to the theater.”

And continuing the record-buying habits of their youth. Zeiger points out that the cast album for Jekyll & Hyde, a show that originated on the road and that he characterizes as “pop opera,” has sold over 500,000 copies, achieving sales figures more characteristically associated with pop acts than sleeper musicals, and certainly not with even top-selling classical discs.

There’s no hard evidence to support the fact that musical theater is chipping away at classical music. What is true is that, unlike classical music, musical theater is increasingly one of America’s favorite past-times, demanding—and getting—higher ticket prices, and higher subscription renewal rates. As a result, profits are way up. That is, once a show hits the road. “The typical Broadway producer now sees the road as a critical part of the revenue stream,” says Zeiger. “The road is no longer about putting a show out to pasture.” On the contrary, many shows are already booked on the road by the time they open on Broadway. Guys and Dolls launched its tour at the Bushnell just four months after it opened in New York in April of 1992. (“I went to the opening night on Broadway,” recalls Evans, “and I remember thinking, ‘Oh please God, let this be a hit, because if it’s not, in a few months there will be a large problem sitting in my building.’”)

“The road is crucial,” says Andrea Rounds, president of Dodger Touring (a.k.a. D-tours), the touring arm of the Dodgers, which produces such shows as Titanic and The King and I. “Ten years ago Broadway made the money and the road was responsible for a relatively low percentage of the total picture. Now you go to Broadway for the Tony awards and the prestige, and you hit the road to recoup your investment. If you want to make money, you definitely want those road rights.”

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
Just how much money are we talking about? One example: Rent grossed $14.5 million during its 29-week run in Boston and averaged $625,000 a week during its 11-week run in St. Paul. Because the stakes are so high, most big-budget musicals do not recoup their investments until and unless they tour. “The road is part of the amortization of a Broadway show,” says Livent’s Conner. “Some productions barely pay off in New York and totally pay off on the road.”

While Cats is still “paying off” in New York, all agree that that show’s post-Broadway tour was the beginning of the road’s newfound profitability. “We call it ‘the Dawn of Cats,’” says Vernaci in Cleveland, where Broadway series’ sales have doubled just in the last five years. “When Cameron Mackintosh toured Cats, he made a real effort to take the Broadway show on the road. What the road was seeing was quality. And quality breeds business.” Echoes Rounds, “The quality of the shows has risen exponentially in the last decade, beginning with Cats.”

Lloyd Webber’s feline phenomenon—which is also still thriving on the road—was followed by, in close succession, big bucks tours of Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera, which currently has four “Broadway” productions in North America. All three shows are blockbuster musicals, characterized by grand-scale production values and broad audience appeal.

“Cats is terrific for giving people their first theater experience,” says Gary McAvay, president of Columbia Artists Theatricals (CAT), a division of CAMI. (CAT books Cats.) “The show identified a lot of new theatergoers.” In fact all three shows did, thereby enabling presenters to build up their subscription bases. Furthermore, because of their popularity, the shows stayed in their venues longer, increasing economic impact in their respective cities, as well as profitability for their investors/producers, presenters, and booking agents.

An additional phenomenon developed with those three shows: repeat business. Describing musical theater on the road as “infinitely mainstream entertainment,” Pace’s Zeiger points out that “We’re able to bring Cats to these markets every other year and sell out like the return of the circus.” This is true even of non-union tours, like those of Grease and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

“There’s a new twist in our business,” says Stephen Kane, chief operating officer of Troika, which built, produces, manages, and is touring those two shows in their non-union versions. “Normally we know when a tour is going to close. But Grease and Joseph are doing so well, they’re open-ended runs. If they go into a market and play very well, we can go back again in a year.”

SUBSCRIPTION EXPLOSION
“On the whole,” says Zeiger, “theatergoing breeds theatergoing. If people are having a good time at Rent, Tommy, or Chicago, they’re apt to go see Titanic or other projects like it.” And to make sure they don’t miss it, they’re planning ahead. Subscriptions to Broadway on the road are—relative to the classical field at least—incredible. Pace, which presents shows in 26 cities across the country, has a subscription base of 300,000, boasts an astonishing renewal rate of 80 percent, and claims that up to 70 percent of all tickets are presold on subscription. The Bushnell subscriber base is 15,000—twice what it was a decade ago—and its renewal rate for the last three years has been between 95 and 100 percent. The Cleveland’s has doubled in the last five years and is currently at 20,000 with a renewal rate of 80 percent. (Both the Bushnell and Playhouse Square are independent presenters.)

This too is attributable to the triple whammy of Cats, Les Miz, and Phantom, says McAvay. “There was a real demand for tickets. The feeling was, if you waited too long, you could actually end up not getting to see the new Broadway show in town, so you better hurry up and subscribe.”

If you’re a baby-boomer, you probably won’t subscribe to more than one series at your local Bijou Theater. “With limited expendable income and time, people, once they’ve committed to one subscription, tend not to deviate from that,” says classical manager John Gingrich. To subscribe to more than one series is “too much,” says Gingrich. So, if they take the MasterCard Broadway series—one of Pace’s many Broadway packages—chances are they won’t subscribe to the local symphony.

NEW BOOKING CYCLE
Due to heightened demand and longer stays in venues, the booking cycle for shows has increased from six to nine months in advance to two to three years ahead—similar to classical music and ballet. Vernaci is currently blocking out time for the year 2000. So is Evans, whose other presentations at the Bushnell include the World Symphony series and a soup-to-nuts celebrity showcase.

“Among the many reasons theater was handled differently at CAMI was that it booked on a very different cycle than in the classical business,” says McAvay. “But now, because of the many shows in the marketplace and the number that require multiple weeks, we have to coordinate with local ballet companies, symphonies, opera companies, etc. who set their schedules two or three years in advance. So we have to work farther and farther out. And that’s very good in terms of audience development, because marketing has more time to sell subscriptions, to develop group business, and market the show.”

Many bookers and presenters feel there’s actually too much available on the road and that a shakeout is either imminent or already taking place.

“All I keep hearing is there’s too much product on the road,” says Kane. “That there’s a glut.” “There’s going to be a log jam,” says Zeiger, “and presenters such as myself have to make choices.” “It will shake itself out,” says CAT’s McAvay. “It’s supply and demand,” echoes Conner, who predicts that the 1997-98 season will be down from 1996-97 on the road, which was in turn down slightly from 1995-96.

Uh-oh. Has the road peaked? Has the last decade been a mere aberration? A euphoric bubble?

“Why is it that press spends an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out when it’s all going to be over?’’ wonders Conner, a 20- year veteran of the business. (Sounds like some high-profile members of the classical media.) “We go up, we go down, because we’re creating brand new work all the time. It’s not like we’re the movies doing ‘Jaws 8.’ It’s just the nature of our business. We’ve created a huge audience and we’ve probably overexposed quite a few markets. But within two years those markets will be healthy and the demand will be there again.

“So has the bubble burst? No. The bubble is the norm. We’ve truly expanded Broadway way beyond New York.

A former critic for the New York Post, Susan Elliott reports on the arts fora number of publications. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Connoisseur, Southern Living, Gramophone, and Opera News, among others.