Broadway got a small injection of well-needed blood this past week, benefiting from the arrival of a new show, Holiday Inn, and a flush of ticketbuyers rushing to see three closing shows in their final week. Overall box-office monies amounted to $23,234,257, nearly $2 million more than the previous week.
That trio of attractions included the mighty Les Misérables, the popular and critical hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the limited-run summer comedy An Act of God.
Les Miz said goodbye in the strongest fashion. The musical has enjoyed a hearty box office most of the summer. Last week was no exception. Numbers climbed $246,560 to $1,326,559, bringing the percentage of the gross up to 113 percent, a number that handily beat Hamilton’s 108 percent. Houses were all but capacity (99.45 percent to be exact) and the average ticket price was $118.34.
The closing of Curious Incident also inspired an opening of wallets at the Barrymore box office. Monies totaled $677,778, which was $145,870 more than the previous week. Seats were 95 percent full, and the box-office draw was 79 percent of the gross. The British import recouped its investment way back in January of 2015.
An Act of God’s send-off was more modest. Still, the show brought in $77,706 more than the week before, bringing the total at the Booth to $424,289.
The numbers at Holiday Inn, the stage musical based on the film of the same name, with songs by Irving Berlin, showed that people aren’t quite ready for Christmas yet. Over four previews at Studio 54, houses were at 72 percent capacity. The box-office take was $165,392, which was only 34 percent of the possible gross. Let audiences see a few fall leaves, however, and numbers will likely go up.
Otherwise, despite (or maybe because of) the Labor Day weekend, most shows got a modest monetary shot in the arm. Only a couple presentations registered a slip at the box office. School of Rock, in particular, got a nice bump, jumping up in collections by $116,053—the best increase for a show that wasn’t closing. These numbers may prove a harbinger that shows used to selling out—or nearly selling out—prior to Memorial Day may return to form in September.
Paramour, which recently revamped its staging, and put in seven performances last week, took in $890,755, which was 56 percent of its potential gross.
