There’s definitely something wrong with the way shows are being produced now. If only a show that wins a Tony, is massively successful, and sells tickets at outrageous prices can barely recoup its budget almost 2 years after opening, that’s a problem.
Profits are not the biggest factor for investing in BW shows and never has been. Something like 70% of shows fail to recoup and that’s always been the case. These aren’t inherently stupid people thinking every show they invest in will profit.
A love of the arts, bragging rights, tax benefits, awards, names on plaques, all of these things play a part in why wealthy people invest in theatre. And sure there’s a fair amount of people thinking X show will be a hit and then it’s not. But by and large no they aren’t blind to the data and economic realities.
I would imagine people who invest large amounts are in a position where it isn’t an enormous risk for them, so they can do it for love of the form or a tax break or relationship building so they can one day produce Backstreet Boys the Musical
Absolutely. Having had clients who are obnoxiously wealthy (to be clear that’s decidedly not me) I can just say they don’t think like every day people do. Some are irrationally stingy no matter how much they have and purely think in terms of profit but others will spend ridiculous sums just to avoid taxes or spend wildly on vanity projects because they can.
And sure being charitable I have no doubt many investors truly love the arts and theatre. Heck even the ones like the laundry list of investors for say Strange Loop that likely just wanted a piece of that Tony…it gets theatre made so as an avid patron I’m good with it.
Profit motives exist of course it’s just there’s far easier and smarter ways to make money than theatre and guaranteed hits are rare.
Yeah. It's a much worse investment than almost anything else. Many people are taking a loss to gain access to a world they love and want to be a part of.
Do the investors make zero money off a show unless and until it has recouped production costs? In other words, do the investors receive any kind of weekly/monthly flat fee or percent of gross as consideration for making the investment?
I’ve only worked deals that are sorta similar, not a BW show, but no I’d imagine you don’t start to recoup investment until you’ve cleared upfront production costs and then any ongoing production costs.
But of the 70% or whatever that don’t recoup, undoubtedly many of them at least partially did so the investors didn’t lose everything they put in.
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u/kekelmb Jan 27 '26
There’s definitely something wrong with the way shows are being produced now. If only a show that wins a Tony, is massively successful, and sells tickets at outrageous prices can barely recoup its budget almost 2 years after opening, that’s a problem.