Even with more post-opening comped performances, Merrily We Roll Along is proving to be a reliable top seller at the Hudson Theatre. The Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical, a 16-performance fiasco the first time around in 1981, has become a consistent moneymaker in its first Broadway revival, which opened last week. The production, led by Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez, rejoined the top five top grossers last week, with a total gross of $1.7 million. Once press comps are done with, the revival looks likely to join The $2 Million Club, with the potential to even succeed the Josh Groban- and Annaleigh Ashford-led revival of Sweeney Todd, which has itself been a top grosser.
Merrily's box-office success has been led by expensive tickets. The production's top ticket price of $499 and average ticket price of $220 are both the most expensive currently on Broadway, allowing the show to come in as the fifth highest-grossing show of the week despite being the 16th most attended. Wicked was seen by 14,973 people last week, the most of any show, while Merrily was seen by 7,728.
Joining Merrily in the top five were usual suspects The Lion King, Hamilton, Wicked, and Sweeney Todd, with the Disney musical staying in The $2 Million Club for the second week in a row.
Some Like It Hot is getting close to rejoining The $1 Million Club with Tony-winning star J. Harrison Ghee back after a multi-week medical leave. The show brought in $955,929.61 last week, part of a continuing upward trend the production has seen since announcing a Broadway end date.
In fact, Broadway grosses are continuing a steady climb overall, however modest. With 27 shows currently running, box offices brought in a cumulative $27.4 million last week, nearly a 2% increase from the week previous. Seats also continued to be reliably filled, with houses 89.46% full last week. Average ticket prices actually fell somewhat to a still-healthy $126.20.
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 ($2.09 million)
- Hamilton
- Wicked
- Sweeney Todd
- Merrily We Roll Along
- MJ The Musical
- Aladdin
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Back to the Future
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- & Juliet
- A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical
- The Book of Mormon
(13 of 27 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Hamilton (100.94%)
- Merrily We Roll Along (100%)
- Sweeney Todd
- The Lion King
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Wicked
- I Need That
- MJ The Musical
- Gutenberg! The Musical!
- SIX: The Musical
- & Juliet
- The Book of Mormon
- Aladdin
- Hadestown
- Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
- Back to the Future
(16 of 27 currently running productions)