Let’s Keep the Show on the Road

In mid-August, indigenous Southland theater activity slows down. But if you want to see big Broadway musicals a few miles from home, this is a good month for you.

Closing today are “Rent” at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and “Peter Pan” at the Pantages. “Cats” opens Tuesday at OCPAC, on what seems like its 90th life. Arriving Aug. 28 is “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Pantages. “Chicago” continues all month at the Shubert.

A year ago, the U.S. premiere of “Ragtime” was at the Shubert for a run that closed in March, extending here even after the show had opened on Broadway in January. There was talk that L.A. might someday become a miniature Broadway--that is, a place where big musicals settle in for indefinite runs, somewhat independent of the real Broadway.

Indeed, in 1997-98, the Los Angeles-Orange County region was the third-largest North American market for commercial theater, after New York and Toronto, according to grosses tabulated by the League of American Theatres and Producers. The L.A.-O.C. region also ranked third in 1995-96, though it dipped to seventh place in 1996-97 and finished in fifth place in 1994-95.

Still, nearly every commercial theater producer believes that “Ragtime” stayed too long in L.A., that its grosses didn’t warrant such an extended stay, and that it might have done better if it had the Broadway seal of approval before its arrival here. “It was poorly thought out,” said “Rent” producer Jeffrey Seller, who was a tour booker before he became a producer. “Why didn’t they establish its pedigree before throwing it at L.A.?”

And so this summer, L.A. is back in the familiar position of being another road stop for commercial theater producers.

Not that the road is anything to sneeze at. Taken as a whole, the road--that is, the touring circuit for Broadway shows--far out-grosses Broadway itself, and has for years. This past season, the road brought in $721 million compared to Broadway’s $558 million. And this was a relatively slim difference compared to 1995-96, for example, when Broadway grossed $436 million and the road took in $806 million.

Decades ago, road shows would play each major city only once, usually for several weeks. The road versions often featured cut-back production values. After the tour, the rights to the show would be released to local groups.

Nowadays, successful road shows recycle in the same cities over and over, often with at least two companies on the road simultaneously. In many markets (though usually not in the biggest markets such as L.A.), they play only one week each time they come through.

Seller traces this pattern of many short stops to “A Chorus Line.” But with improvements in theater technology, it’s now used by shows that have much more complex productions than “A Chorus Line,” and--especially since producer Cameron Mackintosh sent “Les Miserables” out on the road--it’s harder to discern evidence that road versions are cut-back in any substantial way. Local groups may have to wait for decades before the rights to successful shows are available.

The marketing strategy behind this pattern of many short stops can be expressed with old-fashioned cliches: “Keep them wanting more.” “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” If a show sells out for a week, the perceived value of tickets to its next local run is higher than if it stayed for two weeks without selling out. The lure of higher grosses overshadows the higher travel costs incurred by many short stops.

Seller is bringing a “Rent” back to L.A. at the Shubert Theatre in January after a successful run last fall and winter at the Ahmanson and two weeks at OCPAC ending today (he believes L.A. and Orange County are “only marginally related,” despite the way they’re counted as one market by the league gross tallies). He decides when to return and how long to stay “through my gut,” he said. He considers the importance of “letting the market relax before you start promoting again.” The question he asks himself: “When do I think I can score again?” He’s looking for repeat business, as well as customers who missed it the first time.

Alan Wasser, the American general manager for Cameron Mackintosh’s shows, said he usually allows at least a couple of years to pass before bringing a show back to a market, “based on our knowledge of the city and surveys and polls.” However, the exception to all the rules, especially in L.A., is “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Its original L.A. run played for more than four years at the Ahmanson Theatre in 1989-1993--recessionary years, no less. It played Orange County in 1994 but didn’t return to L.A. until last winter at the Pantages. Its run was so successful there that the tour of this particular company, which had been scheduled to end in June, was extended to allow another Pantages run, opening at the end of August. This run is not being announced as open-ended, but it could end up that way, Wasser said.

This new “Phantom” run will star L.A.’s most familiar Phantom, Davis Gaines, who played it longer than anyone else at the Ahmanson. His name is even being mentioned in the ads--an unusual though not unprecedented step for “Phantom” marketing, Wasser said.

“Phantom” “reaches way, way beyond the traditional or even casual theatergoing audience,” Wasser said. “It becomes a must-see event, almost a prom-night sort of thing. It’s the strongest show in terms of touring I’ve ever seen.”