Grosses fell by almost 9% last week on Broadway—but given it was the week after Thanksgiving, that's actually pretty spectacular. The 37 currently running shows brought in $42 million compared to Thanksgiving week's $46 million, proving that holiday high times are officially upon us. Last week beat the same week last season by 37%, so much that this season so far is now beating the same period from last season by more than 14%—an increase of a full percentage point from this week's data alone.
Most shows that performed well the prior week continued to do so last week—Wicked, The Lion King, Hamilton, Sunset Blvd., and Elf made up the top five, with the first three making The $2 Million Club. The most change at the box office seems to indicate that audiences are rushing to see the shows we already know are closing while they still can. Water for Elephants (which closed December 8), The Notebook, and Swept Away (both of which will close December 15) all saw increases in excess of six figures. And we are likely to see that continue when we get this week's data—Swept Away has completely sold out its entire final week.
Speaking of winners, Death Becomes Her saw the highest gross of its run last week—$1.37 million—even with several performances heavily comped to press. The new musical comedy seems to be taking advantage of the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre's high capacity. The show was able to host 11,857 people last week at its eight performances, making it the fifth most-attended show on the boards (behind Wicked, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Sunset Blvd.). Their average ticket price was $115.21, coming in below the Broadway-wide average of $135.64. We can likely blame those comp tickets on that disparity, and that probably means we can expect to see the show break its own box-office record next week.
In fact, Broadway may have lots of room to take this box-office bonanza even higher. Only three shows—The Outsiders; Oh, Mary!; and Wicked—were complete sellouts, so there are seats to be filled. And with tickets going at that more-than-healthy average of $136, producers must be only too thrilled. Hooray for the holidays!
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Wicked ($2.78 million)
- The Lion King ($2.49 million)
- Hamilton ($2.03 million)
- Sunset Boulevard
- Elf
- MJ The Musical
- Gypsy
- The Outsiders
- Aladdin
- Hell's Kitchen
- The Great Gatsby
- Death Becomes Her
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Oh, Mary!
- Cabaret
- The Book of Mormon
- & Juliet
- Back to the Future
- Suffs
(20 of 37 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- The Outsiders (101.86%)
- Oh, Mary! (100%)
- Wicked (100%)
- Romeo and Juliet
- Death Becomes Her
- Suffs
- The Lion King
- Stereophonic
- The Notebook
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- The Book of Mormon
- Gypsy
- The Great Gatsby
- Hell's Kitchen
- Aladdin
- Hamilton
- Sunset Blvd.
- Cabaret
- Hadestown
- MJ The Musical
- & Juliet
- Cult of Love
- Chicago
(23 of 37 currently running productions)
