Following the closing weekend performance of Ram’s Head’s spring musical production “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” the Stanford theater group announced that it lost money on the show, but the group should be secure for future productions.

According to Michael Rhaney ‘08, Ram’s Head staff member and producer for “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” the show closed in the red at the end of its finale performance Saturday night. While Rhaney would not disclose exactly how much had been lost on the production, he wrote in an email to The Daily that the loss was disappointing given that the spring musical productions are generally “very lucrative” for Ram’s Head.

He added that a number of factors may have contributed to the loss.

“When the show first came out on Broadway,” Rhaney said, “The New York Times’ critic called it the unmarketable show of all unmarketable shows. We found this to be true in some ways: it was a very tough show to market, and perhaps a college campus wasn’t the right venue for a show like this.”

He also suggested that the show’s performance schedule may have been a significant cause of its comparatively low ticket sales.

“It also did not help that admit weekend is a week later this year than it has been in the past several years,” he said. “Ticket sales to admits have always been a good source of revenue for us in the past.”

He further admitted that Ram’s Head was eager to have an “all-out production” and the group made the decision to spend more than usual on lights, sets and sound equipment, the costs of which set the production further in debt than usual from the beginning.

While the group took a loss on its spring musical production, Rhaney claimed that musicals are generally “risky” financial ventures. Since Gaieties in the fall always tends to make a considerable profit, Ram’s Head should be fine for future productions.

“We have seen losing years in the past and are prepared to deal with them accordingly,” he said.

One potentially damaging area of the production that Ram’s Head seems to have averted was the controversy surrounding the play’s content. Since its debut on Broadway in 2002, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” has been accused of political incorrectness for the portrayal of its Chinese characters. Recognizing these concerns at the onset, Ram’s Head members met with representatives of Stanford’s Asian-American Students’ Association (AASA) to address the issue.

“Ram’s Head contacted our group to talk about the scenes with the Madame and the Chinese accent,” said Christian Ngo ‘09, core member of the AASA. “They were very sensitive about that.”

“One of our [core] members did see the play and he thought it was handled very well,” Ngo added.

Based on the 1967 Julie Andrews film musical, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” is the story of a small-town girl exploring the life of a flapper in 1920s New York City while struggling with a love-triangle and a sinister hotel proprietress who deals in white slavery. The Stanford Ram’s Head production ran from April 11-19.