Broadway's Gutenberg! The Musical! played its final performance January 28, and apparently audiences clamored to get in before the final bow. The show performed to standing-room-only crowds (the James Earl Jones Theatre played to 101.73% capacity), bringing in the highest box office of the production's entire run: $1.46 million. The show had been a steady hit with audiences since beginning performances in September 2023, but its fortunes steadily rose throughout the run leading to last week's grand finale. It's no wonder its producers announced earlier this week that the show recouped its investment.
The final week performance edged Gutenberg! into the top five highest grossers for the first time, a group otherwise led by usual suspects Hamilton, The Lion King, Wicked, and Merrily We Roll Along.
Overall, Broadway rebounded a little bit after the previous week's low, though we're definitely still firmly in the slow season. The 25 running shows brought in $24.5 million, an increase of 4% from the previous week and down 4% from the same week last year. Average admission actually went down ever so slightly compared to the previous week, but attendance rose by 6.5%—enough to make grosses rise overall.
All eyes are, naturally, on the season's newest shows. Back to the Future continues to lead the pack just barely breaking into The $1 Million Club last week, with Spamalot and Appropriate reliably delivering respectable numbers, too. Days of Wine and Roses has struggled to break the $500,000 mark since it began previews in January. Having just opened January 28, the production has no doubt been comping much of the house at Studio 54, so it will be a week or two before we can really see how it's faring at the box office with its full ticket-selling potential available.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Hamilton
- The Lion King
- Wicked
- Merrily We Roll Along
- Gutenberg! The Musical!
- MJ The Musical
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Aladdin
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- & Juliet
- Back to the Future
(11 of 25 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Gutenberg! The Musical (101.73%)
- Merrily We Roll Along (100%)
- Hamilton
- SIX: The Musical
- Appropriate
- Harmony
- & Juliet
- Hadestown
- Wicked
- The Book of Mormon
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Prayer for the French Republic
- The Lion King
- Aladdin
- Kimberly Akimbo
- MJ The Musical
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Back to the Future
- Sweeney Todd
(19 of 25 currently running productions)
