Making Broadway sell overseas

Interesting WSJ feature on how Broadway, much like Hollywood, is seeing an increasing share of total revenue come from international tours.  Disney alone has made $2B from "The Lion King" abroad--$2B!  Them's Cameron numbers!

The WSJ says that "the export of musical theater abroad has never been bigger."  So just like in Hollywood, you will see productions created with an eye to their sales potential abroad--further evidence of globalization's reach and staying power.

The trick is the usual one:  how to translate cultural references.

For now, the map is purely Core-limited.  A graphic showing where "Beauty and the Beast" has played, for example, listed Old Core North America, Europe and Industrialized Asia, plus New Core Asia, Argentina, Brazil and South Africa.  No Gap countries whatsoever, but invariably that will change as Disney aggressively brands consumers in frontier economies (an upcoming post).