Broadway is making way for Harry Potter, literally.
The cavernous Lyric Theater will be dramatically reconfigured — shedding one-fifth of its seats — to create a home for the most-coveted theatrical tenant of the moment: the two-part play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which is expected to open there in spring 2018.
The move is awkward: the theater is currently occupied by Cirque du Soleil, which spent $25 million creating its first Broadway show, “Paramour,” and was hoping to keep running it there. But the Ambassador Theater Group, the British company that owns the Lyric, was so eager to lure “Cursed Child” that it is making it financially worthwhile for Cirque to move out.
“We’re not closing because business is bad,” said Scott Zeiger, the chief executive of Cirque’s theatrical division, said in an interview with Deadline. “They have a timeline for the work they want to do, and made the request. We had a friendly negotiation, and they made us an offer we couldn’t refuse – they incentivized us to go.” Asked if the offer included relocation to another ATG house in the U.S. or abroad, Zeiger said no, but did add he is “in discussions with several theater owners in New York and abroad who are interested in welcoming this unique production, including Stage Entertainment for a production in Germany in 2018.”
Reportedly developed at a cost of $25 million, Paramour has been underperforming at the Lyric, one of Broadway’s two biggest houses. Last summer, it shut down for several days to incorporate changes to improve the story. But last week, when many shows benefited from the beginning of the Thanksgiving-through-New Year’s holiday season, Paramour grossed just over $1 million, barely reaching 60 percent of its potential.
“This is the first time in my career that I’ve been asked to move a successful production,” Zeiger told Deadline. “We believe in this property and will continue to nurture it.”
Close watchers of the Lyric box office could see that the show, with a large cast and orchestra and significant backstage expenses, was showing no signs of building an audience or gaining on its weekly running costs. Most weeks, it took in between $800K and $900k, or half its gross potential of $1.8 million.
Zeiger said that most of the business for Paramour followed an industry-wide trend that sees ticket lower advance sales for all but the biggest blockbusters. The advance for Paramour is $4 million, he said, all but $100K of it between now and mid-April.
“We will be sad to part with Cirque du Soleil, by which time they will have completed a very successful year on Broadway,” said Mark Cornell, CEO of Ambassador Theatre Group. “The fact that Cirque du Soleil chose to debut its first Broadway show – a great achievement – at The Lyric, was an honor for us at ATG.”
“Paramour” will leave the Lyric in April, a year after it began performances. The Lyric will then close for renovations, starting in May. “By the time we leave New York, based on our level of business and our deal structure with Ambassador, it’s going to be a good deal for Cirque,” he said.
{ SOURCES: Deadline, New York Times | https://goo.gl/s9iWfF, https://goo.gl/bUAkDz }
