High camp is proving translatable to high box office for Cole Escola's Oh, Mary!, which broke the box-office record at the Lyceum Theatre last week for the fourth consecutive week—even as fortunes otherwise dipped for much of the rest of Broadway.
With one of Broadway's smaller houses, Oh, Mary! isn't beating out heavy hitters like Wicked or The Lion King, but the downtown cult favorite has nevertheless become a perhaps unlikely Broadway hit. The kooky comedy ranked ninth among the 26 shows currently on the boards, and with a physical production and cast size decidedly not aimed at over-the-top opulence, that likely translates to healthy profits behind the scenes. The show's extended run is currently scheduled to continue through November 10, but if the current trend continues, we could well see the show sticking around for the holidays.
Overall, fortunes fell after the previous week's Labor Day holiday weekend. That translated to an almost 10% drop to a cumulative gross of $25.46 million, but that's really more or less a return to the last non-holiday week total. The top three grossers were usual suspects Wicked, The Lion King, and Hamilton, with the final two spots going to Cabaret and Hell's Kitchen this week.
But we should expect to see those numbers trend upwards as we tip toe into the fall. New productions like The Roommate and McNeal are already performing, both with A-list above-the-title star power, and once they're open and not comping tickets for press and critics, both could well start giving Broadway a boost. Already top grosser Cabaret (which commanded an average ticket price of $184.28 last week) is also poised to welcome new stars Adam Lambert and Auli'i Cravalho next week. Suffice it to say, Broadway is bursting at the seams with star power, and that's only going to continue the deeper we get into the season.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Wicked
- The Lion King
- Hamilton
- Cabaret
- Hell's Kitchen
- MJ The Musical
- The Outsiders
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Oh, Mary!
- Aladdin
(10 of 26 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- The Outsiders (101.21%)
- The Roommate (100.2%)
- McNeal (100%)
- Oh, Mary! (100%)
- Wicked
- Stereophonic
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Hell's Kitchen
- Hamilton
- Hadestown
- Cabaret
- MJ The Musical
- The Lion King
- Once Upon a Mattress
- The Book of Mormon
- Aladdin
(16 of 26 currently running productions)
