A hit like "Hamilton" can come from nowhere while a sure bet can lose $20 million in a flash. We speak with some of the biggest producers in the game — Sonia Friedman, Jeffrey Seller, Hal Luftig — and learn that there is only one guarantee: the theater owners always win. (Part two of a three-part series.)
You can find the transcript and show notes for this episode on our website here: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/on-b...
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ABOUT FREAKONOMICS RADIO: Discover the hidden side of everything with host Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics books. Each week, Dubner speaks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, intellectuals and entrepreneurs, and various other underachievers to uncover things you always thought you knew (but didn’t) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do) — from the economics of sleep to the future of education, from markets for marriage to the surprising utility of wolves.
ABOUT THE FREAKONOMICS RADIO NETWORK: Freakonomics began as a book, which led to a blog, a documentary film, more books, a pair of pants, and in 2010, a podcast called Freakonomics Radio.
Hosted by Stephen J. Dubner, it’s one of the most popular podcasts in the world, with a reputation for storytelling that is both rigorous and entertaining. Its archive of more than 500 episodes is available, for free, on any podcast app, and the show airs weekly on NPR stations.
Freakonomics Radio is now the flagship show of the Freakonomics Radio
Network, which includes the podcasts No Stupid Questions, People I (Mostly)
Admire, and The Economics of Everyday Things.
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Freakonomics Radio episodes 629, 630, and 631 form a
three-part series titled "How Is Live Theater Still Alive?".
The episodes explore the economics of the live theater
industry, tracing the life cycle of Broadway shows and breaking down why
producing live theater is a notoriously difficult, high-risk financial
endeavor. [1,
2,
3]
Here is a breakdown of the three episodes:
Episode 629: "How Is Live Theater Still Alive?"
- The
Core Theme: Examines why live theater continues to survive despite
being susceptible to the economic concept known as Baumol's Cost
Disease. Because live theater cannot be easily scaled and remains
essentially a hand-made product requiring countless real people, it
becomes highly vulnerable to massive inflation. The episode explores human
psychology, discussing how theater is fundamentally tied to our innate
desire for gossip and observing human behavior. [1]
Episode 630: "On Broadway, Nobody Knows
Nothing"
- The
Core Theme: Focuses on the financial risks of the industry, revealing
that while a select few blockbuster hits like Hamilton can achieve
immense success, a vast majority of sure bets can easily lose tens of
millions of dollars. Stephen Dubner speaks with legendary Broadway
producers (including Sonia Friedman, Jeffrey Seller, and Hal Luftig) who
note that the only guaranteed winners are the theater landlords. The
episode also dives into the high costs of scaling a production and the
financial pressures from 13 different labor unions. [1]
Episode 631: "Will '3 Summers of Lincoln' Make It to
Broadway?"
- The
Core Theme: Documents the out-of-town trial process of a brand-new
musical, "Three Summers of Lincoln," as a real-world case
study. The episode highlights the unpredictable nature of show business,
detailing the hurdles the production faces—such as needing to raise an
additional $15 million before a New York debut and the sudden departure of
a lead actor. [1,
2]
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