Billy Elliot and the Changing Broadway Economics

"When you’re grossing $700,000 a week, which is not bad, and losing money, there is a problem.”

 

-Billy Elliot lead producer Eric Fellner on why he's decided to quit while he's ahead and close the show in January.

Riedel also adds for the record that in spite of its weekly operating costs of $800K the show did recoup its $18 million capital investment in its first 14 months, and will end up with about $6 mil in the black. So I guess in this economy a 30% return on anything is cause for celebration.

Billy is a pretty big production to mount, granted. (Large cast, complicated set.) But note that the box office "break-even" threshold is approaching $1 million a week.