Snow has been falling on NYC, but Broadway box offices burnt hot last week, with the 23 currently running shows seeing a cumulative 27.15% increase in grosses compared to the week prior—a week that featured one less show, too. With a grand total of just under $27 million, there's still room to grow out of this particular winter slow season, but producers will no doubt be bolstered by last week's performance. Maybe an early spring is upon us just like Punxatawney Phil said!
Speaking of happy producers, that massive increase was led by new show in town The Notebook, which handily joined The $1 Million Club in its first full week of previews. The musical, by Ingrid Michaelson and Bekah Brunstetter and based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, is set to open at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre March 14, and has performed consistently strong since beginning previews February 10. Even with a "full" week under its belt, the production is doing seven weekly previews, one less than the traditional eight. The show's schedule adds that eighth showing the week of March 4, meaning we could see those grosses continue their upward trajectory even more. The musical commanded an average ticket price of $141 with prices topping out at $323 and 100% of seats filled. If audiences remain that thirsty for the romantic tale, we can expect all those numbers to go up, too.
Wicked, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Back to the Future all saw healthy increases compared to the week prior as well, perhaps indicating that a fair amount of families spent the President's Day holiday taking in a show. Broadway was only too happy to accommodate. All but three of the 23 running shows played to 90% full (or higher) houses, with 201,227 total people seeing a Broadway show. And they paid well to see those shows, too—last week's average ticket was $133.91.
Sweeney Todd fell out of the top five highest grossers last week, bringing in a very healthy $1.5 million that was short of some of those family shows. That left The Lion King, Hamilton, Wicked, Merrily We Roll Along, and MJ The Musical atop the list. Disney's The Lion King even broke into The $2 Million Club, the first Broadway show to do so in several weeks.
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 Million)
- Hamilton
- Wicked
- Merrily We Roll Along
- MJ the Musical
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Sweeney Todd
- Aladdin
- Back to the Future
- & Juliet
- The Book of Mormon
- Hadestown
- Chicago
- The Notebook
(15 of 23 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Hamilton (100.88%)
- The Notebook (100.84%)
- Hadestown (100.82%)
- Merrily We Roll Along (100%)
- Back to the Future
- Appropriate
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- SIX: The Musical
- The Book of Mormon
- Aladdin
- The Lion King
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Wicked
- & Juliet
- Chicago
- MJ The Musical
- Kimberly Akimbo
- Sweeney Todd
- Doubt
- Prayer for the French Republic
(20 of 23 currently running productions)
