‘Cats’ Closing: Is It Curtains for Broadway Musicals? — Page 2

bear882 said: "Here’s the line from the Eustis interview that struck me, in response to Paulson’s question about what has changed financially.

Eustis: It’s unfortunately pretty simple. Costs have gone up between 50 to 75 percent and income has, for us, stayed flat or decreased.

The Public Theater might have some unique problems, but I doubt they are that unique. I don’t know all the causes of the cost increases, but it’s obvious enough that a business - commercial or nonprofit - with soaring costs and flat revenues has a problem.

It helps explain what we have seen - a miserable environment for new musicals, even ones that win Tony Awards or seem popular and are filling seats.

I don’t pretend to have a solution. I just know there’s a problem."

Exactly. And those costs aren’t coming down. So how does revenue explode to those levels?

and sure, CATS isn’t the poster child for it but won’t be a perfect one. ALW has been saying this about Bway for a couple years now. Having rave reviews, awards, and full houses isn’t enough. And as Eustis is saying, it’s in the non profit world too.

the economic model of broadway is broken

the cost of mounting a musical has increased at a rate well beyond inflation

i find it interesting that no one has published actual figures to see precisely where the costs are spiraling out of control

but that is because the ones who are getting an outsized piece of the pie dont want this to change

and now everyone involved is scrambling to get their piece of what is becoming a rapidly shrinking pie

in the past musicals didnt have to sell out for five years before becoming profitable

ppl keep casting one-sided blame on landlords or unions

but never offer any proof

lets see the numbers

lets see a spreadsheet

its time to pin this down and demand accountability

Folks. Repeatedly blaming landlords is not only simplistic but it doesn’t account for nearly every nonprofit also having trouble, even across the country. Costs are up dramatically and revenue isn’t.

The theatre industry is facing a perfect storm.

Production costs are up since Covid, forcing ticket prices higher.

Most people can't afford the these expensive tickets.

International tourism is down due to our current idiocracy.

Landlords are landlords - the house always wins. They won't reduce their rent rates until their buildings are empty.

Audiences have more entertainment options than ever, many of which are available at home for a fraction of the cost of a theatre ticket.

I certainly don't have any answers, but it seems like there are many factors causing this crisis.

Updated On: 7/23/26 at 11:48 AM

Fred Mason said: "The landlords usually take a percentage of the box office, so they have skin in the game too. It’s not like a set amount taking over the operating costs. They’re certainly not the main problem, I’d blame unions before the landlords. Producers go to unions for exceptions for smaller projects, and they tell them, i need this exception or else I won’t be able to hire anyone. Rather than working with them, the unions literally don’t care and would rather none of their members get work. Disgraceful."

The problem here is simple. If you give one producer a break, why not all of them? Who do you choose to lower your wages for? And once you do that, every show that has the slightest bit of struggles will want you to lower your wages. That being said, you seem to not really know how many times the unions are asked to waive something during a run and how often we acquiesce. You just can't do it on a grand scale or what I described becomes the norm.

Do you really think it's fair for ALW, a billionaire, to ask working people to take less? I'm not sure I understand that.

You do realize if a billionaire puts their money in a no risk, guaranteed 4% earning bond, they make almost $800,000 a week? But, yea, let's ask the unions for givebacks.

n/m

Updated On: 7/28/26 at 10:47 AM