Tuners trumpet their trinkets

Musicals ring up millions in sales with range of sophisticated souvenirs

By GORDON COX

Broadway merchandising is growing up.

Twenty years ago it wasn't uncommon for theaters to stock a skimpy inventory of souvenir T-shirts, posters and programs.

But swag has evolved ever since tuners such as "The Phantom of the Opera" learned the marketing value of iconic logos. Now some newer kids on the block -- including "The Color Purple" and "Wicked," which reports 2006 merchandise receipts of a whopping $6.25 million at the show's Broadway outpost alone -- have raised the stakes even higher, turning merchandise into a booming ancillary biz.

"Merchandising has gotten more sophisticated," says David Schrader, managing director and chief financial officer of Disney Theatrical Prods., which trades on its own shows (including "Mary Poppins" and "The Lion King") in the U.S. and the U.K. "Sellers are paying more attention and getting a little smarter, and the consumer seems to be more accepting of it."

Disney has always done well on the merchandise front, which is no surprise to those who associate Broadway trinkets with kids' stuff such as "The Lion King's" Simba beanbag, one of that production's top-selling items.

But even Disney didn't expect a higher-end product for grown-ups, a sturdy parrot-head umbrella that retails for $40, to turn into the strong seller it has become for "Mary Poppins."

But it's not just the kids' shows that sell. Broadway's musical incarnation of "Color Purple" also is defying expectations, bringing in more than $5 million in merchandise in 2006 thanks to a mature selection that includes everything from a $10 souvenir program to a $75 scarf inspired by the show's production design.

"'The Color Purple' has been a phenomenon in the merchandise realm," says Jim Decker, a Gotham-based VP of London ad agency Dewynters, which handles merchandising for "Purple" as well as for Brit spectacles such as "Phantom," "Les Miserables" and "Cats."

Decker estimates many Broadway productions sell an average of about $1 million a year in merchandise, just one-fifth of what "Purple" has sold in its first year on the boards.

Every merchandiser attributes successful souvenir sales to the quality of the show itself and to the connection it forges with its auds. But the rising bar of Broadway swag also can be traced to shifting trends in marketing and retailing.

Many legiters attribute the development of the current merchandise marketplace to Dewynters, which 20 years ago was one of the first companies to realize souvenirs could act as an extension of a show's marketing campaign when emblazoned with a production's instantly recognizable logo, such the feline eyes of "Cats" or the bedraggled waif of "Les Miz."

"Merchandise is one of your front lines out in the general public," says Clint Bond Jr., director of marketing at the Araca Group, the production and marketing org that handles the souvenir sales for "Wicked," "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "The Wedding Singer." "It doesn't do us any good if the merchandise isn't sending out the same message as the advertising."

Merchandisers also are following changes in fashion -- witness the rise of fitted T-shirts at the kiosks, previously bastions of boxy, oversized apparel. And marketers have found additional success in targeting items for a show's demo.

"Traditionally women buy merchandise and men don't," says Randi Grossman, prexy of Max Merchandising, which handles "Spamalot" (seller of plastic coconut shells and plush killer rabbits), "Rent" and the upcoming "Legally Blonde," among others.

"But for 'Spamalot,'" -- a rare straight-guy magnet on the Rialto -- "men are buying silly toys, boxer shorts and rude buttons," Grossman adds. "You just have to know your audience."

Sometimes a rabid fan base can boost sales of a show's products even if the production itself flops. Take "Taboo" and "Lennon," two short-lived tuners that Grossman said did powerhouse biz with souvenirs.

But in general, merchandise follows the ups and downs of the box office, tracking the seasonal waves of a show's grosses. Sales of souvenir programs tend to be No. 1 across the board, with cast recordings also near the top of the list. The majority of sales occur at the theater, in the short windows of time during intermission or before and after a performance. (Other outlets include online purchasing and the smattering of memorabilia shops in the theater district.)

A roomy lobby is a merchandising asset. "A big piece of how successful it can be is space," Disney's Schrader says. "When you see musicals going into play houses, they just don't have the room to sell anything."

In contrast, "Wicked" exploits the cavernous front-of-house areas at the Gershwin with themed mini-shops that take their inspiration from the world of the story.

"Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't sell T-shirts," Bond says. "It sells a lifestyle. We're just trying to take a nod from that."

In addition to "Wicked's" general show merchandise, the tuner's souvenir collections center on one of three themes: the Wicked Witch, the Good Witch and Emerald City. Not only does the range allow theatergoers to find items that echo the elements of the show to which they respond most strongly, but "it also gives people permission to buy that second or third item," Bond adds.

Araca also has had luck with smaller runs of pricey, limited-edition items. One of the latest is a $200 leather messenger bag designed to match the one carried by Elphaba in the show.

And sales are strong for items specific to the city in which auds saw the show. "If you see a show on Broadway, you want a New York souvenir," Schrader says.

For all that, merchandisers are quick to point out that they're not creating fashion, they're making souvenirs. And an expansive range of items can overwhelm auds who mostly buy items as they're passing through the lobby.

"You have to straddle that line," Grossman says. "People aren't going shopping for apparel in the traditional sense. They're buying a souvenir."