Let's get one thing out of the way right off the bat. This week's grosses reflect last week's theatregoing and, therefore, do not reveal how the April 30 Tony nominations affected ticket sales. Next week's data will be the first look at that, so stay tuned.
But as for last week, the final week of the season, Cabaret returned to the top of the list, coming in as the fourth highest-grossing show on Broadway. The only reason the show dropped out of that spot was several heavily comped performances around its opening night, something that can be said with some authority because the show is currently seeing the highest ticket averages on the Main Stem—$231.14 last week, compared to Merrily We Roll Along's second place-earning $189.64. The revival saw a mixed critical reaction, but ticket sales and the Tony nominations are likely to keep it a top grosser.
It is, notably, one of only two new shows of the season to make the top five last week, though remember that seven—seven—shows opened in that final week of the season with heavily comped performances. It will likely be a week or two before it's clearer to see how the new season is hashing. The other new title in the top five—for the second consecutive week—was The Wiz. The revival was completely shut out of this year's Tony nominations, but audiences seem to be easing on down the road to the Marquis Theatre to catch the new production anyway. Always a good reminder that productions do not necessarily live and die on Tony nominations or even wins—we're looking at you [second highest-grossing show of the week 20 years after it opened], Wicked.
Also in the top five: usual suspects The Lion King, again the top grosser of the week with $2.2 million; and Hamilton with $1.85 million.
Looking at how grosses changed compared to the week previous, it looks like Hell's Kitchen and Stereophonic are both on the rise. That's particularly interesting as both are among the seven shows that opened last week, meaning they saw box-office gains even while comping much of their houses. Given that both shows are now the most Tony-nominated productions of the season, it's likely that upward trend will continue even further next week and beyond. Also keep an eye on The Outsiders—the third most-nominated show, which came in just short of joining The $1 Million Club—and The Great Gatsby. The latter has been in The $1 Million Club for all but one of its full weeks so far, but got almost completely shut out of Tony nominations. Will that affect audience demand for the musical adaptation of the widely read F. Scott Fitzgerald novel? Only time will tell.
On the whole, Broadway saw a nice uptick with the 36 currently running plays and musicals bringing in $37.6 million, an 8% increase from the week previous. Ticket prices are up, too, with the 307,754 people who saw a Broadway show last week paying a cumulative average of $122. All signs are pointing to an active summer on Broadway, and we're here for it.
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 ($2.2 million)
- Wicked
- Hamilton
- Cabaret
- The Wiz
- MJ The Musical
- Sweeney Todd
- Merrily We Roll Along
- Aladdin
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Hell's Kitchen
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Back to the Future
- An Enemy of the People
- The Who's Tommy
- Water for Elephants
- The Great Gatsby
- & Juliet
(18 of 36 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 (102.6%)
- Cabaret (100.07%)
- Merrily We Roll Along (100%)
- Wicked
- Hell's Kitchen
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Hadestown
- Sweeney Todd
- Mother Play
- Uncle Vanya
- Hamilton
- The Wiz
- The Outsiders
- The Great Gatsby
- Stereophonic
- MJ The Musical
- Aladdin
- Mary Jane
- The Lion King
- The Book of Mormon
- Patriots
- & Juliet
- The Notebook
- Illinoise
- Back to the Future
(25 of 36 currently running productions)
