Playbill.com has just reported that the revivial of "Hair" has recouped its original investment of $5.76 million. That means moving forward, any money the show makes, after the weekly operating costs, is all profit for the producers and investors. Considering the recent box office grosses for this show have hovered around $1 million (or more) a week, I see a whole lot of tie-dye jeans and peace sign medallions in the near future.
Two things are of particular interest to me:
1. With an opening night of March 31, 2009, it took less than 5 months after the "official" opening night to make all of its money back. That's crazy fast. (Previews began March 6--so that would be just over 5 months)
2. Rumor has it, this show had lots of difficulty getting capitalized. This past winter, producers were having trouble raising all the money to get it going. So, it almost didn't happen. Now, I'm guessing lots of people are happy they backed this one.
So, congrats to "Hair." It proves that it is possible, no matter how unlikely, for a "message" show to make money in the theatre.
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