It's crunch time to be eligible for the 2024 Tony Awards, and that was Broadway's gain last week. With five new shows beginning previews plus the restart of Appropriate at the Belasco last week, Broadway's box office soared by more than 30% to $37 million, the best seen since New Year's. That figure even beat the take from the same week last year, by 7%.
And, it would appear that rising tides lift all boats, because long runners saw the biggest increases compared to the week prior. The Lion King saw an uptick of more than $1.1 million, breaking into The $3 Million Club in the top spot. Aladdin, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last week, also saw a notable uptick of $417,360, landing the show in the top 10 even with one of its eight performances heavily comped. Also in the top five highest grossers were Wicked, Hamilton, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
But how did those new titles fare? Very well. Water for Elephants made $1.1 million. In the number of shows that started mid-week, The Wiz was the clear winner, very nearly joining The $1 Million Club in its first week on the boards even with just four previews. Hell's Kitchen and The Great Gatsby brought in enough over partial weeks that, should those performances continue, could land the two new musicals in The $1 Million Club next week.
Attendance has remained very strong—only two of the 32 currently running shows brought in less than 90%-full houses last week, and 17 were standing room only. That factoid drives home the truth that shows live and die on what they're able to get for those tickets. Top grosser The Lion King's average ticket price was $213—also the highest of the week—while some others had a ticket average coming in double digits.
Producers will be looking for these positive indicators to continue even further in the coming weeks as all shows begin playing full weeks, and before long Tony nominations and even winners will affect standings as well. The Spring Season is officially upon us, and the race to June 16 is on.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- The Lion King ($3.18 million)
- Wicked ($2.91 million)
- Hamilton ($2.07 million)
- Aladdin
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- MJ The Musical
- Merrily We Roll Along
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Sweeney Todd
- Back to the Future
- & Juliet
- Water for Elephants
- The Book of Mormon
- Spamalot
- Hadestown
- Chicago
- SIX: The Musical
- An Enemy of the People
(18 of 32 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- An Enemy of the People (102.69%)
- Chicago (101.67%)
- The Book of Mormon (101.31%)
- Hamilton (101.18%)
- Back to the Future (101.1%)
- Hadestown (101.06%)
- SIX: The Musical (100.87%)
- Suffs (100.45%)
- Sweeney Todd (100.45%)
- & Juliet (100.44%)
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical (100.34%)
- The Great Gatsby (100%)
- Hell's Kitchen (100%)
- Merrily We Roll Along (100%)
- The Outsiders (100%)
- Wicked (100%)
- The Wiz (100%)
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- The Notebook
- MJ The Musical
- Aladdin
- The Who's Tommy
- The Lion King
- Spamalot
- Lempicka
- Doubt
- Water for Elephants
- Appropriate
- The Heart of Rock and Roll
- Kimberly Akimbo
(30 of 32 currently running productions)
