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Theatre & Musicals

Touring theatre shows and musicals are familiar ground for many live entertainment promoters, with West End and Broadway productions such as Cats and Phantom of the Opera playing in venues worldwide.

Shows based on film franchises or musicals based on the songs of superstars such as Tina Turner also sell strongly, further blurring the boundaries between the pop and rock worlds and the theatre industry.

Since venues across the world opened their doors again, overcoming Covid’s myriad effects has been a top priority for this sector of the entertainment industry.

Producers and promoters are contending with the rising costs of touring and transporting sets and props, as well as having to re-assess various markets in order to ensure that lost revenue can be recouped.

However, the mass return of audiences has proved that demand remains strong. The UK-based Society of London Theatre’s findings showed an 11.6% increase in box office revenue and a 7.1% rise in attendance throughout 2022, compared to 2019’s figures. In the US, the market size of the live performance theatre industry rose by nearly 21% in 2022 over the previous year, despite not hitting the heights it enjoyed prior to the pandemic.

Government funding across Europe and Australia ensured that companies would survive in time for crowds to return, while new venues continue to be built in Asia and the Middle East as the industry furthers its growth in those markets.

While rock and pop promoters often operate differently to the theatre business, recent moves such as Former Live Nation chairman Michael Cohl’s Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, plus the 2022announcement by FKP Scorpio that it was starting a new business dedicated to theatre and family shows, show just how much these worlds are merging.

Long-time West End producer Michael Harrison has also garnered acclaim with his own film-to-stage adaptations, having taken shows like Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks to successful tours in the West End and beyond. The eponymous theatre company Harrison operates has recently opened Oklahoma! and The Bodyguard to the public, with The Wizard of Oz and Crazy for You set to have major summer tours around London.

While he laments the rising costs of supplies and touring in general, he’s optimistic about the performing arts business coming back to pre-pandemic levels. “Back then, my belief was that the West End would really struggle, but it hasn’t,” reflects Harrison. “I’m glad to say that I called it completely wrong.”

Back then, my belief was that the West End would really struggle, but it hasn’t,” reflects Harrison. “I’m glad to say that I called it completely wrong.”

Germany-headquartered FKP Scorpio is one of Europe’s largest music and festival promoters. Last year, it launched FKP Show Creations, spearheaded by CEO Jasper Barendregt, whose background was in theatre prior to joining the promoter and becoming the director of festival production. The company will focus on touring a range of musicals, shows, and family entertainment.

“FKP works across the pop and rock market, but there’s huge growth in this part of the business,” says Barendregt. “We needed a division within the company that solely focused on family entertainment.

With my theatre background, I felt that I had the experience to lead this new firm and build on the increasing demand.” Barendregt’s goals for FKP Show Creations include not just promoting family entertainment such as Piaf! The Show (set to tour in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland later this year), but creating its own productions – it has a spectacular arena adaptation of opera epic Aida (scheduled to go on the road in 2024).

Barendregt feels bullish about the potential of this segment of the live entertainment industry. “People have been watching a lot of Netflix and Amazon Prime, but they’re keen to experience the stuff they’ve watched on a live basis. Also, there’s new audiences coming to theatres that were not there before the pandemic. Theatre maybe more expensive than going to the cinema, but you experience a whole lot more than just emerging territories watching a movie.”

 

“There has to be a fine balance, because you can’t just put ticket prices up. But equally, the cost of touring has gone up, as has the cost of renting and heating venues and the cost of labour. Everything is now much more expensive than it was two years ago, and they’re not just inflationary increases either.”

As the founder of one of the UK’s largest event promoters – DEAG-owned Kilimanjaro Group – Stuart Galbraith entered the realm of musical theatre with the acquisition of longstanding promoter Flying Music in 2017, whose most notable productions include Thriller Live and The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas. Galbraith believes that while any residual effects from Covid are gone, the real pressures on the market are inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

“There has to be a fine balance, because you can’t just put ticket prices up,” says Galbraith. “But equally, the cost of touring has gone up, as has the cost of renting and heating venues and the cost of labour. Everything is now much more expensive than it was two years ago, and they’re not just inflationary increases either.”

Galbraith reckons that companies and venues need to price more keenly. “Ultimately, as the ticket price can’t exponentially go up to meet rising costs, then the amount of gear that’s taken on the road or the size of the show has to reduce, which is what we’re seeing now.”

Furthermore, Galbraith points to the global weakness of the UK’s currency as a reason why touring is proving to be more difficult compared to pre-pandemic levels. “There are many acts that aren’t coming to the UK because the pound is so weak against the dollar,” he says. “Anyone that incurs costs in dollars but is paid in pounds, literally can’t afford to come to the UK and instead will end up performing in Europe.”

Those concerns are echoed by long-time performer and musical theatre producer Steve Steinman, but in reverse. With Brexit taking its toll on British organisations who conduct their touring around Europe, the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union is another massive obstacle for theatrical companies of all sizes to overcome.

Steinman’s eponymous company, whose productions include rock musicals such as Vampire’s Rock and Anything for Love– The Meat Loaf Story, has faced challenges with transporting equipment since Brexit formally came into effect in May 2021.

“Ultimately, as the ticket price can’t exponentially go up to meet rising costs, then the amount of gear that’s taken on the road or the size of the show has to reduce, which is what we’re seeing now.”

“We have a 14-date tour around Germany and Austria coming off in March 2024, where we’ll spend a month there before heading off to Switzerland, but because we’re trucking everything, it’s taken nearly a year to get this off,” says Steinman. “The logistics of taking our productions into Germany and into all these venues that don’t have any rigging is massive.

“We’re talking over a couple of hundred grand just to get all of that on the road.” As well as touring logistics, Steinman also references the red-tape restrictions Brexit has brought upon his and other UK production companies, including tax implications and payment to crew and cast alike. “[Brexit] has made things more difficult, definitely.”

Glynis Hall has produced and toured over 50 shows worldwide since forming Glynis Henderson Productions in 1990. Having overseen STOMP as one of the UK’s most successful touring exports, as well as producing the Olivier Award-winning film-to-stage adaptation of The Life of Pi, Hall is very cognisant of what makes a successful show and what it costs to go on tour with them.

However, she laments the toll that Brexit has taken. “We recently played in Milan for two weeks and found that there was a 7% rise in attendance and revenue compared to when we went there in 2018,” says Hall. “I accept that Brexit can’t be reversed, but there has to be some understanding that Europe loves the UK’s stage work. I just wish that the government would respect that more, because we’re really good at what we do.”

Tim Leist, president of production licensing at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, has overseen some of theatre’s most renowned shows being performed in nearly 150 countries across the world. He’s firm in the belief that a big part of any plan must focus on the global picture and how a title can be successful across multiple continents.

“As the world becomes smaller and even more interconnected, we rely heavily on markets and presenters informing us on current trends and what works and doesn’t,” explains Leist. “It can even be down to things like ticket prices and what people are responding to post-pandemic as there’s still a variation in certain territories being able to open up again, and we must be responsive to that.”

“As the world becomes smaller and even more interconnected, we rely heavily on markets and presenters informing us on current trends and what works and doesn’t,”

While the West End is celebrating the return of Phantom of the Opera and Webber’s newest play Bad Cinderella is taking Broadway by storm, Leist is excited about the possibility of re-entering the Asian market after the gruelling pandemic years. “We currently have Phantom of the Opera also running in Korea, and May will see the play being launched in Shanghai, which will be the first time it’s performed in Mandarin on such a large scale,” says Leist.

“Given the much-publicised caution that the authorities took there in terms of a return to normality, […]Phantom going back up in China is a huge deal for us.”

Cuffe & Taylor built a sterling reputation as one of the UK’s fastest-growing boutique promoters, having grown from doing a dozen theatre shows a year to over a thousand. In 2017, it was acquired by Live Nation Entertainment.

Promoting shows ranging from musicals such as Queen of the Night and family-oriented fare with the BBC’s Hey Duggee, to evenings with famous TV stars like celebrity chef James Martin, Cuffe & Taylor rare well-versed when it comes to anticipating the kind of content that would consistently draw crowds in.

With the benefits of being part of the global Live Nation, co-founder Peter Taylor is able to assess the types of shows that would perform well financially and draw large audiences overseas. “In Ireland, we work with MCD Productions, who are also a Live Nation company, so we tend to get them to do the Irish routing for us because it’s their market, and they can feed us valuable information about the local market over there,” says Taylor. “We co-produce and co-promote shows with them.”

According to Taylor, the most popular genres of theatre have remained the same coming out of the pandemic. “We’ve always seen big business in branded shows, jukebox shows, film-to-stage shows, and celebrity-led plays doing well in the West End,” says Taylor.

“Coming out of Covid, it’s a pretty safe strategy in this current environment.” Despite the resilience of big-budget extravaganzas like Back to the Future and the appeal of shows starring the likes of Sheridan Smith (Shirley Valentine) and James Norton (A Little Life), Taylor reckons that it’s vital that original pieces continue to be made. “We have to champion fresh new productions coming out, especially in such a competitive market, because those shows will be the business of the next 10, 20 years.”

“We have to champion fresh new productions coming out, especially in such a competitive market, because those shows will be the business of the next 10, 20 years.”

Social stars

Another method of ensuring a successful show is being aware of online trends and finding viral acts that will pull in a variety of spectators. Stuart Littlewood, who’s been the managing director of Manchester-based Handshake Group for almost 40 years, has along background in promoting rock and roll, having worked with Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Sir Cliff Richard, Tony Christie, and many others.

He’s also a veteran of the musical circuit, having produced successful shows like Mania: The Abba Tribute, A Country Night in Nashville (featuring Dominic Halpin & the Hurricanes, and which has its own Amazon Prime special), and a Buddy Holly tribute that ran for 15 years in the West End called Holly.

Now able to run multiple shows on the road again, Littlewood is excited about the potential of tapping into a market where young audiences are able to witness their favourites performing on stage. “Going forward, we’re thrilled to be working with Welsh TikTok sensation Bronwen Lewis, as well as America’s Got Talent’s Emilio Santoro, who’s currently the headline act in our Elvis production that celebrates his younger years,” Littlewood gushes.

“As young Elvis, Emilio will be touring festivals in America, Canada, and the Netherlands and Australia are looking to book him later this year. And Bronwen, who we found converting hit songs by Ed Sheeran and Coldplay into her native Welsh language, is doing really well around the country, selling out theatres and continuing to do well on TikTok and other platforms. The power of social media is phenomenal.”

Keeping a close eye on new trends and developments in a worldwide industry is something that Kristina Lindenlaub, managing director of touring for German entertainment group Mehr-BB, sees as vital to achieving success. Last November, they premiered a German-language version of Moulin Rouge and are following it up with a European tour of West Side Story, in which the celebrated Broadway musical will perform in 1,000-seater venues in France, Ireland, and Switzerland over the course of five dates.

“Our research of worldwide trends, combined with our connection to British and American markets and our knowledge of the German, Austrian, and Swiss territories, helps us to understand the demand of our target audiences,” explains Lindenlaub, who’s always keen to try new things that don’t necessarily guarantee success but aims for a good balance by introducing at least one original production every year. “The success of our Christmas period was mainly down to our in-house show Berlin, Berlin!”

“Our research of worldwide trends, combined with our connection to British and American markets and our knowledge of the German, Austrian, and Swiss territories, helps us to understand the demand of our target audiences,”

No language barriers

Performing established titles in different languages is something that Nick Brooke, co-founder and producer of Nicoll Entertainment, has done for a long time. Specialising in touring puppet shows such as Dragons and Mythical Beasts, Dinosaur World Live, and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Brooke has overseen successful West End and regional UK runs, as well as incredibly receptive audiences on a global scale.

To draw in the international crowds, Brooke says they’ve had to adapt by making small personnel changes before a show opens. “As the puppeteers already know the show off by heart, we’re able to navigate around language issues by essentially casting one person to speak the local tongue for the audience,” says Brooke.

“For instance, while touring in Belgium, we’ve gotten a Belgian soap star to co-present Dinosaur World Live with a Turkish actress who recently did the show in Istanbul.” However, he finds that it’s the opposite when touring Far East and Middle East markets. “Promoters there have always asked for the shows to be in English because they want the children to improve their English skills,” he explains.

“If we’re in China, we have the script in Mandarin on a ticker board facing the audience, but that’s mainly for the parents in attendance. The benefits of being based in London allow us to cast bilingual actors, but while we can perform in the local language 90% of the time, those specific markets just want our productions to be played out in English.”

“The benefits of being based in London allow us to cast bilingual actors, but while we can perform in the local language 90% of the time, those specific markets just want our productions to be played out in English.”

Musical Middle East

Liz Koops at Broadway Entertainment has been operating in the Middle East since 2012 and has offices in Dubai, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Australia. After 20 years in London at Live Nation predecessor Clear Channel, she set up the firm as a bridge between Europe and Asia, with the aim of opening new markets for musicals and spectaculars, using Dubai as a hub.

In the decade-plus since Koops’ company opened, they’ve toured Disney titles such as Beauty and the Beast (60 weeks of touring in two years), Shrek the Musical, and Disney Princess around Asia and the Middle East. Having filled venues across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE, Koops’ company has consistently broken new ground in a region that isn’t a traditional hub of theatre like the US and the UK.

With more Middle Eastern countries opening new venues for theatrical entertainment, Koops decided to focus on family entertainment and musicals as a way to bring something new to the emerging Gulf markets. “If they’ve travelled to London or New York, they very likely have either heard of these household titles or have even gone to shows themselves,” explains Koops. “It was important for us to build the immediate region around us and to support new endeavours.”

With forthcoming adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Spongebob Squarepants scheduled for tour within the next 12 to 48 months, Koops recognises the value of family-friendly brands as a gateway to get more people into musicals and theatres. However, she’s also keen to bring the classics back on stage.

“We’d love the weekends to have those family-friendly titles, but the return of Cats would be fantastic!” she exclaims. “We’re also prioritising reopening The Phantom of the Opera, which debuted in the UAE prior to the pandemic, and then we can look at 2025 or 2026, and we can continue from there.

”One of Koops’ other goals is to continue developing a new generation of performing artists based in the Middle East, with one of her current projects being a collaborative effort with the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy in developing talents in the region. “Within three years, we’re looking at doing Shrek as the first Arabic language musical! It’s all about encouraging imagination.”

“We have to change certain things in our shows but not the art itself, rather specifically the costumes. We understand that’s the way it is because why would we want to offend anybody? We want to make sure that everybody in the theatre has a good experience and can convey that message first-hand to others who may be more wary of what to expect with Western productions.”

Naturally, with so many territories covered by these tours, there are cultural sensitivities to be aware of, which is something Koops is also well-accustomed to. “We have to change certain things in our shows but not the art itself, rather specifically the costumes,” she explains.

“We understand that’s the way it is because why would we want to offend anybody? We’re very adept at making these changes because we see our role as not just a commercial operator, but we also want to make sure that everybody in the theatre has a good experience and can convey that message first-hand to others who may be more wary of what to expect with Western productions.”

Covid creativity

Despite the significant impact Covid had on a sector that heavily relies on performance and revenue, a number of companies had come up with creative ways to combat the restrictions brought upon them by the pandemic. Based in Amsterdam, Corpus Acrobatics have wowed audiences in 24 different countries with their innovative brand of circus theatre and expressive acrobatics for over 25 years.

During the lockdown period, co-founder Vincent Michels came up with a show that reflected on the general mood that the world experienced at the time. “You can either sit and wait until things get better or get creative and find solutions yourself,” says Michelle. “When we were all staying indoors, I started to wonder about the feeling of being in a ‘bubble’ and the lack of space and the situation we were all in. And I realised that we’re all living in our own bubbles, pandemic or no pandemic. I found that extremely interesting.”

Assisted by funding from the Dutch government, Corpus opened a show centred around “living in a bubble,” which involved one of his most trusted acrobats being enclosed in a bubble and performing outside of a regular venue. “We had to change our way of thinking, and just like our performers, we had to be flexible with bringing these shows to the public,” explains Michels.

“We brought the show to public spaces and communities even outside of Amsterdam, where we were able to produce and perform our tailor-made bubble shows in areas where social distancing was possible. It was very outside-the-box, and in my opinion, this way of thinking is necessary to survive. Especially in our industry.” This culminated in their Bubble of Freedom tour around Brazil between November 2022 to January this year, where audiences in São Paulo and Porto Alegre were able to witness Michels’ unorthodox vision brought to life in local parks and outdoor venues.

Turtle Key Arts is a performing arts company in London that supports emerging and established artists that specialise in circus dance and physical theatre. Despite ceasing tours because of Covid, their mission statement of reaching and engaging with underprivileged communities didn’t waver.

During the pandemic, artistic director and chief executive Alison King helmed an outdoor interactive show called Public—through her aerial theatre company Ockham’s Razor — that has toured the UK and Belgium so far in 2023.

“Public is all about reclaiming public space for young people who felt trapped in areas where they weren’t allowed to hang outside or sit on steps or whatever,” says King. “With Public, you’re able to see our performers leap off benches and walls and encourage others to join in and help take ownership of their space.”

“Public is all about reclaiming public space for young people who felt trapped in areas where they weren’t allowed to hang outside or sit on steps or whatever,”

For King, the biggest challenge facing Turtle Key Arts in a post-pandemic environment is the prospect of touring internationally again — something they haven’t done since 2019. “We’re working on touring with [performer] Sadiq Ali’s The Chosen Haramin a multitude of territories such as Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, and the Netherlands this year, but that comes with challenges,” King explains.

“If it wasn’t for funding, we wouldn’t be going to New Zealand, as bringing over a British company is a huge expense.” Having taken shows as far as Australia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Egypt, as well as around Europe in the past, King appreciates how valuable global touring is but laments the challenges Brexit has thrown at her.

“The workload of having to itemize every single thing, making sure all documents are ticked, and the cost implications, it’s crippling for a small production company,” she explains. “It’s certainly not Europe’s fault, and those countries still want British artists and companies to come over. I think that’s really important.”

No Fit State has been the UK’s leading large-scale contemporary circus company since their formation in 1986 and has played to crowds of over 460,000 in 19 different countries over the past decade. Renowned for their brand of frenetic outdoor theatre and unique Big Top shows, which include Tabùand Bianco (their longest-running piece to date), No Fit State have opted for a more climate-and cost-friendly approach to touring.

While they perform multiple shows on the road, Tom Rack — the artistic director and the last of the remaining five founders still at the company — explains how they’ve scaled back for now. “With the current climate crisis, we made the decision to not go further than Europe for now, unless there’s an offer from America or Australia that we simply can’t refuse,” says Rack. “Putting on a tour was a lot easier back then compared to now.”

However, Rack says that the bulk of their profits come from performing in festivals across the UK and Europe. “The mainstay of our work is at arts events and festivals that take place in the likes of Brighton, Edinburgh, Marseille, and so on. This year, we’ll be performing in France, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. Though we generally break even, we do our own promotion in which our shows are bought in totality by venues and promoters, and we put together our own team of artists. That method is basically our preferred model.”

One of the lasting effects of the pandemic was the soaring costs in production and touring, brought about by crew and production shortages and inflation.

One of the lasting effects of the pandemic was the soaring costs in production and touring, brought about by crew and production shortages and inflation. The effects are felt doubly, so when it comes to transporting large, heavy structures like the tower Australia-based open-air theatre company 5 Angry Men use as a centrepiece for their headline production The Bells, a unique outdoor spectacle that blends together dance, music, and physical theatre.

The Bells has toured around Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Germany, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, and the UK for the past 30 years and features a multi-generational ensemble of artists who perform around a massive steel structure pivotal to the show.

“We tour with a nine-metre-high sealed truss tower, which weighs around 800 kilograms, explains artistic director Stephen Phillips. “Logistically, it presents significant hurdles and costs when it comes to transporting it around various territories. Therefore, it takes a lot of planning and clever engineering when packing the tower up and touring with it, and having really good producers and production managers in terms of freight and transport logistics has been crucial.”

Though Phillips remains enthusiastic about The Bells’ prospects in a post-lockdown environment, he admits that the administrative load of running an independent theatre company is getting steeper. “A lot of our tour work is about cost sharing, given that exclusivity isn’t such a big deal in markets like Asia as it once was,” he reflects.

“Nowadays, it’s about who else you can link the sales with. In terms of presenting a show, the onus has been more on the artists themselves insofar as finding ways to fund it through grant applications, which are a pretty rigorous administrative process and definitely leaves less time for development. The load is a lot more than what it once was, especially before the pandemic.”

“Logistically, it presents significant hurdles and costs when it comes to transporting it around various territories. Therefore, it takes a lot of planning and clever engineering when packing the tower up and touring with it, and having really good producers and production managers in terms of freight and transport logistics has been crucial.”

McCoy Rigby Entertainment, headed by executive producers Tom McCoy and former Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby, has operated out of southern California’s La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (situated a 30-minute drive from downtown Los Angeles) for over 25 years.

Having met when Rigby was performing as the titular character in Peter Pan during the 1970s, the couple have since taken Broadway jukebox musicals such as Dreamgirls, Annie Get Your Gun, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Gloria Estefan’s On Your Feet! around North America, as well as Japan and China. Most notably, he was involved with bringing Peter Pan to Saudi Arabia in 2019.

When it comes to going on tours in international territories, McCoy says that details such as the strength of sets to the material they’re built with has to be taken into consideration. “I have to build scenery that’s going to last for years being thrown in and out of trucks over the course of a tour,” says McCoy.

“When we go on the road, we build sets with steel instead of wood. Everything has to be built with efficiency in mind when loading sets and props.” McCoy also reveals that while transport costs are expensive, global vendors and promoters are willing to pay the price to ship. “What’s worked well for us in the States, including the physical production sets, props, costumes, the cast, all of it, they want it shipped across overseas.”

One solution to the cost of transporting sets across the world is to have others create them in situ. Scotland’s Barrowland Ballet is one of the UK’s most exciting contemporary dance theatre companies.

Artistic director and choreographer Natasha Gilmore, whose portfolio includes a string of tiger-themed interactive shows for different audiences (Tiger Tale for ages 7+, Tiger aimed at viewers aged 14+, and Playful Tiger created specifically for children with complex needs), says that because they often get repeat international bookings, she found that there was a way to get around transporting mass equipment by reusing sets in different territories.

“We were in Germany and Sweden last year, we’ve got a month-long tour around Taiwan and Korea not long after that, and another European tour in the autumn,” says Gilmore. “We found a solution whereby we get local venues and designers to build our sets for us, so we don’t have to freight whatsoever.

“We just bring some of the props and organise lorries and vans to go from theatre to theatre, and venues then sell the built sets off to the next country or continent we’ll be performing in.” While it’s a model that’s existed before, Gilmore’s happy with this method as her Tiger trilogy’s sets are relatively easy to build. “Because of how cost effective and environmentally friendly it is to have ready-made sets internationally, it made sense to have sets already built at the venues we’ve been booked to perform in.”

“Because of how cost effective and environmentally friendly it is to have ready-made sets internationally, it made sense to have sets already built at the venues we’ve been booked to perform in.”

Upfront costs

While a combination of external factors during the pandemic era has led to rising costs when going on the road, the funding needed to tour major cities had escalated long before then. Ramin Sabi is a Tony- and Olivier-Award-winning producer who’s taken popular shows like The Prince of Egypt, Annie, and The Ferryman to the West End and Broadway.

He also heads Deus Ex Machina, a London-based production company whose recent credits include A Sherlock Carol and a theatrical adaptation of Markus Zusak’s best-selling novel The Book Thief. With years of experience touring major shows internationally, Sabi expanded on the scale of capital required for going on theatrical runs in major territories.

“For a limited run on the West End, the capital needed has doubled in the last ten years from an average of £500,000 to around£1m,” explains Sabi. “The theatre tax credit is a vital part of calculating the return of capital to investors. Unlike in film, where capital credit will be debt financed, it’s very much the case that we have equity financing for the whole project.

While there are an increasing number of organisations that invest in theatre, it’s still led by individuals who are able to fund units worth around £10,000 to £25,000 each. Of course, bigger musicals like Back to the Future capitalised at £9m in the West End, and $23m on Broadway.”

Sabi agrees that drawing is very dependent on a territory or the calibre of production that’s being advertised. However he’s aware that factors such as location proximity to massive hubs like London or areas which host smaller audiences can affect the success of a show, placing the producer at risk.

“Domestically speaking, theatre doesn’t tend to work with promoters,” explains Sabi. “Local territories will lead on marketing in collaboration with the producer, but there’s always a risk attached. However, that isn’t the case for international touring, where costs can be guaranteed before a show opens.”

While there’s a risk of producing original titles in the hope that they will sell out in the same manner as household titles, the reward is greater according to Candice Edmunds, co-founder and artistic director of Glasgow-based company Vox Motus.

When it comes to domestic or international touring, production companies must gauge markets in a variety of territories and decipher what types of content would appeal most to families and entertain regular theatregoers. While there’s a risk of producing original titles in the hope that they will sell out in the same manner as household titles, the reward is greater according to Candice Edmunds, co-founder and artistic director of Glasgow-based company Vox Motus.

Having received massive plaudits from the New York Times and the Observer for the innovative Flight, a powerful tale of Afghan children trying to find safety in Europe (using miniature models to tell the story), Edmunds believes that audiences can’t survive on regular diets of pre-existing work.

“Titles like Six or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will certainly put bums in seats, whereas new and original content may not sell out until right before opening day,” explains Edmunds. “However, part of the success of Flight’s on-going touring life is that it is a really unique offering, and I think that can get lost in conversations about commercial success.

Coupled with a powerful story, I believe the demand for the production from festivals and venues around the world is based on how special the staging and experience is for the audience. It’s perhaps simplistic to think of commercial success only in terms of filling large auditoriums.”

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