Compared to 2008 revenues are down, and in some weeks quite sharply, causing Disney Theatrical Productions to heavily discount the tickets to their three Broadway shows. They are also preparing their new marketing plan for attracting families as well as others in this tough economy, in which three musicals from Disney are vying with each other.

Executives from Disney have claimed for a long time that their three shows attract audiences that are distinct. According to them The Lion King attracts more foreign tourists while the older crowd is drawn to Mary Poppins, and The Little Mermaid is popular among New Yorkers. The thing that all three of the musicals have in common is struggling to fill seats during week nights, along with competition from more Broadway shows such as West Side Story, Hair and Shrek which all all appeal to segments of core Disney audiences.

Comparing ticket sales from the first fifteen weeks in 2009 with 2008, shows The Little Mermaid gross revenues are down 27 percent. Part of this is due to the fact that it opened in January 2008 to strong audiences. Mary Poppins gross revenues are down 17 percent and The Lion King is down around 5 percent. To compare, Wicked, the Broadway musical that also has a strong family appeal is also down during the same time period by about 5 percent.

In this economy Disney is facing major questions. Will they be able to sustain three shows during a time when going to Broadway is very expensive for families of three to four, and will they be able to differentiate their shows from Wicked, Shrek and other competitors, asked theater producer Stuart Oken, who was with Disney Theatrical for nine years and served as their executive vice president until he left in 2003.

Before families would see three to four shows every year; now they only can afford going to one or two, added Oken. A bad economy is a god time to try to compete against yourself. That is the situation Disney is inevitably facing.

In an April 1 interview to announce their newest discount program, David Schrader, who is Disney Theatrical’s executive vice president, said that the company had positioned themselves to battle the recession. He attributed the poor economy for the shows’ declining grosses.

According to Schrader, Kids Go Free, the winter discount program for Disney covering January 6 to March 13 performances, had scarified on average ticket prices in favor of larger audiences. Schrader equated having full theaters to having a better theater going experience, arguing that positive experiences would have audiences returning to Broadway.

Later this spring Schrader also said Disney was planning to unbundle their three musicals to allow each show to pursue their own target audiences by developing their own marketing and advertising strategies. Schrader said, over the last two years in order to be more efficient they had bundled the shows together for buying newspaper or TV space. Now we will allow each of the shows to do what it needs.

In terms of grosses for the shows, Schrader said that Mary Poppins had been facing stiff competition from other nostalgia Broadway shows from audience members having an affinity for earlier theater or film show versions. South Pacific, the hit musical which opened in April 2008 at Lincoln Center Theater, as well as West Side Story and Hair are examples of this.

However other directors and producers not part of Disney have rejected the idea of the declining grosses of Mary Poppins being due to other nostalgia shows, pointing out that Mary Poppins along with The Little Mermaid have both received mixed reviews, with some that are quite negative. They say the shows might just have a problem with their quality.

Although The Lion King is now a Broadway institution, the other two of Disney’s shows don’t have anything like that appeal, according to Emanuel Azenberg, long time producer bringing two revivals next season to Broadway: Broadway Bound and Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon.

Diane Paulus, director of Hair, showed skepticism regarding the idea about the nostalgia shows, stating a strong production was always the best draw for theatergoers.

Hair, for example, has songs that were part of late 1960s and 1970s pop culture. They are songs that were heard in the jukeboxes more than in the theater, dealing with serious subject matters, Paulus said. First and foremost audiences are drawn to having a high quality experience.

There are now 35 Broadway musicals and plays for audiences to choose from. Many of the shows, like Disney, are discounting their tickets. However Disney was one of the earliest as well as most aggressive with their discount strategy.

Their Kids Go Free program, marketed during December as a holiday gift, offered one free kid’s ticket for each full price ticket during most week night performances. On Sunday the Disney program $15 for 15, marking their 15 year Broadway anniversary, concluded sales. The program covered selected performances and seat through May 31.

Disney already had been discounting week night shows quite heavily during most of the weeks in 2009 that are not school vacations. Azenberg and Oken, along with others, say this strategy suggests Disney executives are concerned whether adults would come alone to their shows. According to Disney surveys, all three of their shows during January had audiences attending without someone younger than 21, according to data shared by an anonymous theater industry veteran.

There are no indications from Disney that they plan on closing any of the shows. Mary Poppins plays in Disney’s own theater, so it pays rent to itself. The Lion King is still a huge hit, while The Little Mermaid show is still relatively new. However, whether the periodic discounting will be enough to sustain all three of the Disney Broadway shows will, in the end, depend on whether or not Disney finds enough profit and value from the endeavor.

Oken said, discounting is almost always dangerous. Once you start with it, it can be hard to stop it. The heavy discounting that Disney is doing is often the beginning sign of a show’s end. The truth of the matter is, Disney has three different family shows in this market. They need a strategy that will keep people coming, particularly during times when kids are attending school. I would imagine that when summer comes they will stop their discounts for now.