Broadway: Is Your Journey Necessary?

HOW do people get rich?

I often ask myself this question.

The answer is never the one you want to hear.

It’s rarely something like, “Theatre—their money’s from theatre, Carl.” Or, “You know he’s the biggest arts education magnate in Europe.”

I was brought up with the notion that discussing money, thinking about money, or even showing the slightest interest in it was unforgivably impolite.

Now that I’m older and wiser—and understand that it makes the world go round—I increasingly find the economics of the West End and Broadway fascinating. 

Balancing the bottom line and navigating the pendulum swings of commercial theatre is compelling.

Anyway, mounting a show in New York has become so prohibitively expensive that producers and investors—despite Broadway being the birthplace of the modern musical—are increasingly reluctant to take risks.

Instead, they’re turning to London, where the cost of staging a production is unexpectedly lower.

Producer Sonia Friedman revealed that The Hills of California, which she produced last year in London, faced production costs that were 350% higher in New York than in London.

Friedman, who turns 60 next month, launched a theatrical partnership aimed at creating “intimate and accessible” live theatre in smaller-scale venues.

Together is a new company led by Friedman and actor Hugh Jackman, alongside director Ian Rickson.

Friedman says she has always ensured her shows offer plenty of lower-priced tickets, but now she’s more concerned with accessibility for new and young audiences—the future of both the business and the art form.

Reflecting on her own experience in a wide-ranging New York Times profile, Friedman says:

“In one sense, Broadway is having a golden age because of all the work, all the stars, and all the plays coming in. But there’s no question we have a giant challenge. And what I’m asking for is for everyone to come together—the theater owners, the unions, the agents, the advertising companies, the suppliers—to figure out what we want Broadway to be.”

And yes, producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who currently has no productions running on Broadway, also believes Broadway’s production costs have soared to irrational levels compared to London’s West End.

There’s more than one dimension to this. Expressing concern over the steep rise in American production costs, he said:

“The real problem in America is that the cost of running a show has escalated beyond all reason.”

Alas, the West End is booming. As an excellently researched Financial Times piece recently observed, it’s on a roll,while Broadway’s attendance remains below pre-pandemic levels. The result?

London is “seen as a crucible for fresh, risk-taking work, while Broadway risks becoming a home to unadventurous revivals, Hollywood spin-offs, or celebrity casting,” according to the FT.

From this, we can also look at London’s lower production costs, the UK’s comparatively generous tax relief scheme, and the city’s deep-rooted theatrical tradition as key advantages over New York.

Still, the clever wartime musical Operation Mincemeat is going down a storm across the pond—New York audiences are loving its slapstick humour. Reviews this morning, though, have certainly been mixed.

To grasp the financial disparity, consider this: the show’s producer highlighted the stark cost difference, noting that the London production was capitalised at £2 million, whereas staging the same show on Broadway—with just five actors and a four-piece band—cost $11.5 million (£8.87 million).

Meanwhile, the stage musical of Death Becomes Her is the most expensive musical of the past five years, with an initial capitalisation of $31.5 million.

Elsewhere, Jamie Lloyd’s Sunset Boulevard required investors to contribute $13.5 million before it could open on Broadway. By contrast, its initial London run at the Savoy Theatre in late 2023 needed just £2.3 million ($3 million) in upfront investment.

Operating costs showed a similar disparity: the Broadway production was projected to spend $950,000 per week—nearly three times the West End’s expenses.

And let us lament Elton John’s Tammy Faye musical on Broadway—capitalised at $25 million, only to last 29 performances before the whole lot went up in smoke.

Another staggering landmark: some people have been paying over $900 to see Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal in Othello, which raked in $2.63 million in ticket sales last week over just seven performances. 

But the broad brush of this: any ambitious producer considering bringing a successful London play or musical to Broadway might do well to ask the question once seen on wartime posters: Is your journey really necessary?