Art and Commerce: How to Succeed in Musical Theatre Business Sources
The wealth of musical theatre research often focuses on the creators, social and creative histories, and the works themselves. Yet musicals that hope for Broadway or London audiences are also business ventures, and risky ones at that: only one in ten makes money, and two out of ten lose it all. The Phantom of the Opera has grossed over 5.6 billion worldwide while Spiderman: Turn off the Dark lost tens of millions of dollars.
In the past, the “syndicate model” of groups like the Shubert Organization profited through the presentation of shows often produced by others. With the influence of corporate entities like The Walt Disney Company, the economics of producing musicals has influenced the development of musicals as well as the methods of producing. With the long-term lease of the New Amsterdam Theatre, Disney also achieves something not possible in the film world: vertical integration with the creation, distribution, and exhibition of a single production. Such new financial models shift the methods of marketing, ancillary income from product sales and tours, and ultimately what shows are produced.
This paper will focus on the sources available to interrogate the influence of business entities on the Broadway musical. The corporatization of Broadway and the West End requires new tools to analyze musical financing and shifting audience demographics. How will the forces of the 21st century market shape the kinds of shows that will be financed? What public and private sources are available for financial analysis? How can this information be integrated into musical theatre scholarship?