Depending on how you measure, the Toronto run of The Producers has either been a terrible flop or a cash smash. The Toronto Star‘s Martin Knelman unbundles the question in yesterday’s edition, suggesting that ‘flop’ is often in the eye of the beholder (and the accountant):
Should a show really be considered a flop when it runs for 33 weeks in this town, delighting 400,000 people and pulling in an average of $1 million a week at the box office?
He contrasts the failure cloud surrounding The Producers with the glowing sense of success of Urinetown, which has enjoyed an extended Toronto run — but that shows to half empty houses and cut its number of weekly shows from eight to six. The reason one continues while the other closes? Three annoyingly dull answers fit the bill: wildly different operating costs, expectations of the financial model, and underlying purposes for the two productions (nonprofit vs. for-profit).
‘Success’ is a construct, like so many other catchwords we use in business and art. It’s good to keep in mind that arts managers have an essential role to play in that construction.
