Whenever Mike Nichols is back in town working on a show, all anyone can talk about is his paycheck. Superstar directors are rare commodities in the theater, especially in the non-musical theater, and no star is bigger and no deal is sweeter than Nichols`.
He is now directing ”Death and the Maiden,” a new play by Ariel Dorfman, starring Glenn Close, Gene Hackman and Richard Dreyfuss, which is to open in late March. And the deal helps to explain the ticket price of $50, the premium for non-musicals on Broadway.
Not that Nichols alone is expensive. The three stars don`t come cheap either. Here are the figures circulating among producers and potential investors and confirmed by Roger Berlind, the show`s co-producer: The production will cost $1.3 million and will have to run for 16 weeks making a minimum of $325,000 each of those weeks (out of a potential $388,000) to pay back that investment.
The three stars are signed for 26 weeks. While the show is still recouping, Nichols will be paid 6 points, or roughly one-third, of the royalty pool, which is the percentage of the weekly profits allotted to the creative team, which also includes the playwright, the designers and the producers.
If we use the hypothetical gross figure of $300,000 a week, his share will come to about $13,000 a week. After recoupment, Nichols will receive a clean 20 percent of profits off the top in addition to his points. Using the $300,000 figure, expected profits would be $100,000 a week, which makes his share $20,000, plus $13,000 for a total of $33,000 a week.
For some perspective, consider two other front-rank directors, Gene Saks and Jerry Zaks. Producers who have worked on shows with both men verify that they are paid roughly 3 points of the royalty pool, which may then increase a half-point after recoupment.
Neither gets a share of profits. That, says one producer, makes Nichols the highest-paid director in the history of the American theater.
But every theater executive canvassed agrees Nichols is worth it. ”Look at the cast he put together,” says producer James B. Freydberg. ”Where do you ever see Gene Hackman on the stage? And this is a play by a serious writer going to Broadway. If the public pre-buys it based on the names and makes it critic-proof, it takes the risk out. And if the show doesn`t bring in big money, then he doesn`t get very much, does he?”
Even when these stars leave, producers say, with Nichols` connections in Hollywood, their replacements should be just as interesting, which ensures its future. ”We could make better deals with lesser directors,” Berlind says.
”But in the end, you get what you pay for.”
– With the January attendance slump in full swing, senses of humor are a bit short, judging from the sniping going on between ”The Secret Garden” and ”The Will Rogers Follies.”
For months, ”The Secret Garden” has been using the slogan ”It Won the Awards. It Will Win Your Heart” in its ads. That`s true, since the Broadway show won three of the 10 Tonys it was nominated for-best supporting actress, best scenic design and best book of a musical-but it did not win best musical, as the ad seems to imply.
”Will Rogers” did, and members of its creative staff say they have not been happy with the ”Secret Garden” campaign.
Recently, ”The Secret Garden” ads have also included the claim ”Best American Musical of the Season,” which is a quote from Time magazine. ”Will Rogers” retaliated with an ad proclaiming ”The Best Musical of the Year Is No Secret.”
Nancy Coyne, president of Serino, Coyne Inc., the advertising agency for
”Will Rogers,” says: ”It was meant to be tongue in cheek. There was no animosity intended.”
Heidi Landesman, a co-producer of ”The Secret Garden,” says: ”We`re trying to sell tickets, not disparage anyone else. The whole thing is silly.” – ”Forbidden Broadway” will close Sunday at Theater East, says its producer, Jonathan Scharer. But after what he calls a ”vacation,” the musical spoof on Broadway shows that changes periodically to incorporate new material is to reopen March 17.
”Even though the show`s Christmas edition went well, I didn`t want to put the `Forbidden Broadway 1991 1/2` back on in 1992 since there had been a lack of business,” Scharer says. ”These editions usually last about nine months.
”But in March, we will open our big 10th anniversary edition, which will be a `best of` everything, plus material on new shows.
