Musicals That Bank Broadway's Stamp
百老匯音樂劇 有些在硬撐
By Patrick Healy

Why are the musicals “Sister Act,” “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” and “Godspell” still running on Broadway?
「修女也瘋狂」、「沙漠妖姬」和「搖滾福音」這些音樂劇，為何還能在百老匯繼續演出？

Box office sales teetered between lukewarm and lousy this winter for all three, and they were each already struggling with mixed reviews – a deadly combination that usually leads producers to close shows.
這個冬季三者票房皆徘徊於欠佳和很慘之間，劇評也都毀譽參半，兩個不利因素並呈通常會讓製作人收掉一齣劇。

Yet these three musicals have hung on because of the business considerations of modern Broadway: a desire among theater owners to keep their houses booked, and the belief among producers that they can negotiate better deals for road tours of musicals that can still claim to be so-called Broadway hits.
而這些音樂劇得以繼續存活，是基於現今百老匯的商業考量：劇院老闆希望劇院維持滿檔，製作人則認為只要這些劇目仍可號稱百老匯賣座劇，便能談成較好的巡迴演出合約。

“Producers really only have two big decisions to make – what projects to do, and when to close a show – and the closing is by far the harder choice,” said Emanuel Azenberg, a Tony-winning veteran producer. “No one wants to let go. And there’s always the hope that summer will be booming business.”
得過東尼獎的老牌製作人艾森柏格說：「實在說製作人只須做兩個重大決定：製作哪齣劇，以及何時停掉一齣劇，而後者要難得多。」「沒人想放手，總巴望夏季能大賣。」

“Sister Act,” which has been running for nearly a year, is in the worst financial shape, based on an analysis of box office data and interviews with executives involved with the show and group-sales ticket agents. The musical, inspired by the 1992 movie starring Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer hiding out among nuns, has been grossing an average of $550,000 a week since early January. The show’s producers say they have made and lost money during weeks of performances this winter, which indicates that the weekly break-even cost is in the mid-six figures; they declined to provide a precise number.
根據一項票房資料分析，以及對這齣劇的管理階層和團購票代理商的訪談，演出近一年的「修女也瘋狂」財務狀況最差。此劇取材自1992年琥碧戈柏主演的同名電影，描述一個藏身一群修女中的酒吧歌手，自一月初以來，平均每周收入為55萬美元。製作人說這個冬天各周有賺有賠，這表示每周打平的成本就是50萬美元左右，不過他們沒有提供確切數字。

But “Sister Act” has an unusual benefactor: One of its lead producers is a Dutch entertainment billionaire, Joop van den Ende, whose company Stage Entertainment has been mounting and planning productions of “Sister Act” across Europe, Asia and Australia. Executives involved with “Sister Act” said that Mr. van den Ende wanted to keep it going on Broadway, partly to have that imprimatur as part of his overseas marketing.
不過「修女也瘋狂」有個大有來頭的靠山：荷蘭娛樂業億萬富豪范丹安地是領銜製作人之一，他的「舞台娛樂公司」已在歐洲、亞洲和澳洲演出或計畫演出「修女也瘋狂」。「修女也瘋狂」主管人員說，范丹安地要此劇繼續在百老匯演出，部分原因是為海外宣傳加持。

“All of us think it’s important to make ‘Sister Act’ a success on Broadway, because that would help bring about a longer life for the property,” said Bill Taylor, one of the “Sister Act” producers.
「修女也瘋狂」製作人之一泰勒說：「我們一致認為，讓『修女也瘋狂』成為百老匯成功的音樂劇十分重要，這能讓這齣劇壽命長些。」

“Priscilla” has the advantage of well-connected producers as well: Not only is Bette Midler a member of the team, but James L. Nederlander is also a lead producer of the show, as well as one of the owners of its theater, the Palace.
「沙漠妖姬」同樣具有製作人八面玲瓏的優勢：不僅貝蒂．米勒是製作團隊的成員，尼德蘭德也是領銜製作人兼演出場所「皇宮」劇院的老闆。

Mr. Nederlander has allowed the show to continue performances while he and his fellow producers have cut back on royalty payments and some nonsalary production costs; in turn, the show has grossed an average of $600,000 a week this winter, and the typical weekly running costs are somewhat below that number, according to Garry McQuinn, one of the lead producers of “Priscilla.”
尼德蘭德讓這齣劇在百老匯繼續演出，他和其他製作人壓低版稅和一些非薪資製作費；結果是，這個冬季平均每周收入60萬美元，領銜製作人之一麥昆說，正常情況下每周營運成本低於此數。

“We’ve had kind of a rough March, and January and February were not wonderful, but our advance tickets sales are starting to build, and the sensible pruning of the budget has us on better footing,” Mr. McQuinn said.
麥昆說：「我們三月情況慘澹，一、二月也不理想，不過預售票已有起色，合理壓低預算也讓我們基礎更穩些。」

The third low-grossing musical, the revival of the 1971 hit “Godspell,” has muddled through winter because its running costs are low. The show has grossed an average of $315,000 a week, about 40 percent of the maximum possible gross in its theater, the Circle in the Square.
第三齣賣座差的音樂劇，是重演1971年的賣座劇「搖滾福音」，由於營運成本低，勉強撐過了冬季。此劇每周平均收入31.5萬美元，約是演出場所時報廣場圓環劇場滿座的四成。

Usually musicals are losing money if they cannot hit at least 50 percent of the maximum gross, but Ken Davenport, the lead producer of “Godspell,” said he had been able to keep weekly running costs to between $250,000 and $300,000 most of the time because of the small size of the cast and orchestra and its simple costumes and set.
通常票房不到五成的音樂劇會虧錢，但「搖滾福音」的領銜製作人戴文波特說，他多半能把每周營運成本壓低在25萬到30萬美元之間，因為演員和交響樂團人數少，服裝布景也簡單。

“We think of ourselves as a new production that people are still discovering,” Mr. Davenport said. “We’ll have a lot of competition among brand-new shows this spring, but we think there’s a bigger audience out there for ‘Godspell.’ ”
他說：「我們自認是觀眾還在發掘的新劇，今春有很多新劇與我們競爭，但我們認為『搖滾福音』觀眾較多。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/theater/godspell-sister-act-and-priscilla-push-through-the-winter.html

2012-04-03聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 田思怡譯 原文參見紐時週報十二版上