Disney’s Hercules - Theatre Royal Drury Lane

No, but many good shows didn't - Kinky Boots and Anastasia spring to mind (and Rebecca in Stuttgart).

And no, no dynamic pricing, no proper 40-50% off on the day off, no rush tickets, no very cheap seats here and there for fans who like to go repeatedly - all this while the dress circle of the theatre was (at Hamilton) often completely closed and lots of availability in the stalls. Stage Entertainment specifically doesn't seem to get that in the first 2-3 months "bums on seats" are all that matters, so that WOM will spread. Instead they rather play in half-empty houses.

Funny enough Stage Entertainment Netherlands do far more generous discounts - we saw Anastasia and the new Aida in Scheveningen for about 60 Euro each in the front stalls. Since Scheveningen is closer for me, discounts are better and the overall quality usually better, we tend to wait until shows go there to see them. Although I'll say for Hamilton that for once they did everything right and I'm glad we caught it (my Mom wanted to go, because she was curious about Hamilton but knew her English was too bad to see it in London or NY).

But the thing is... Hamilton did get a lot of positive feedback from those who DID see it.The (financial) hurdle was just too high for most people to go and see for themselves. Hercules is getting a tepid response as most.

And Hercules may be a popular property, but not half as popular as Lion King or Frozen, so a third Disney musical was simply overload in Hamburg. And they did next to no marketing to the general mainstream as per usual. Moulin Rounge in Cologne meanwhile hosted an episode of Germany's equivalent of "Strictly come dancing" from the theatre, with the big opening number of the show on televison in its original setting and the dancing couples then using the various stage sets of the show for their numbers. THAT's how you shift tickets. But Stage seems to think that putting up posters in town and having some vapid influencers around for free social media marketing is enough. It's not.

So... it may do better in London with better marketing, especially if it's overhauled again and cast well - there's certainly an appetite for Disney and it has no real competition since Frozen will be gone (and Lion King caters mostly to tourists) and there's a lack of big new family shows presently (apart from Starlight Express, but that will have been running for some time by the time Hercules opens).