Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Hamilton By The Numbers

Illustration created by Matt Collins for Hollywood Reporter




Because Hamilton tickets are so hot right now, there have been a spate of articles about Broadway budgets, the budget for Hamilton, and how much Lin-Manuel Miranda will make each week as the writer/star of the hottest show on Broadway.

First off, this infographic on the left has some great info on percentages of expenditures for the show Wicked, which are fairly similar to Hamilton, but not in the obvious details.   (It also includes some info about In the Heights, Miranda's first Broadway musical)
(Graphic from musicalworkshop.org:  Click on graphic so you can see it in better detail)


And if you are looking for a great source of articles about Hamilton, I highly recommend Broadway World.

According to the articles, the show costs about $650,000 a week to run, including rent, actors, publicity, etc.  Then there are royalties. Some articles that have appeared suggest that Miranda makes around $105,000 a week from royalties, and that once the show earns out, he can expect another 3% of the net profit.  (And that's in addition to the $175,000 advance he received)  He also earns money as a performer (although he is reportedly leaving the show in July.)

The Public Theater, where Hamilton was tried out before switching to Broadway, is now making around $17000 per week, and once the show earns above a certain amount, that number could go as high as $57000 per week.

The show earns about 500K in profits per week, which means that it's paying back it's investors at an unprecedented rate.

All of this doesn't take into account ancillary income, like the best selling album, the secondary touring productions (they anticipate having as many as 7 touring companies!) , high school rights, and the inevitable film.

All in all, Miranda and crew will be relatively well-compensated for their work, but it's the investors who will reap big time. (Side note:  performers contributed to the writing/staging of the original show have reportedly requested some kind of percentage royalty, and a deal has been worked out.  What the deal is exactly is unknown)

Here are some articles recently written about Hamilton and its financials.


Hollywood Reporter

The Guardian

Deadline

NY Times

NY Post

Business Insider

Fortune Magazine

Hamilton Grosses- Broadway World


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