Recouping hits

“You can make a killing, but you can’t make a living” in show business, said the Broadway playwright Robert Anderson, a maxim that should be emblazened on every aspiring producers’ pillow. But there are still rich killings to be made, and the latest example is that the star presence of Ewan McGregor in the current revival of Guys and Dolls has, according to a report in Variety, been slaying ‘em at the box office of the Piccadilly Theatre – so much so that, in what is claimed to be a record recoupment over such a short period of time, it has paid back its £3million capitalization in just 17 weeks.

That’s, of course, after the deduction of weekly running costs – so it’s clearly been doing what Variety-speak would call “boffo” box office.

This will cheer up co-producers Ambassador Theatre Group (who own the Piccadilly, and have just spent another chunk of loose change buying the Savoy Theatre this week) and David Ian for Clear Channel Entertainment (who have been slashing costs at their London HQ with the dismissal of a large number of staff this week) no end.

But whether the momentum of this production can be retained beyond December is another question, when McGregor leaves and will be replaced by EastEnders’ actor Nigel Harman.