Broadway has a new box office leader: A
starry revival of “
The Music Man” grossed $3.5 million last week, the most of
any show since theaters reopened after the long pandemic shutdown.
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The musical, with a cast led by the ever-popular Hugh Jackman, is
outselling “Hamilton” and every other show, triumphing over tepid reviews as it
plays to full houses and sells tickets at top-tier prices.
Data released Tuesday by the
Broadway League showed that “The
Music Man” had grossed over $3 million for five weeks in a row.
The industry’s three big mainstays remain strong: Last week,
“Hamilton” brought in $2.3 million, “Wicked” was at $1.9 million and “The Lion
King” at $1.8 million.
The box office numbers were the first for individual shows to be
publicly released by the league since March 2020, and suggested, as expected,
that the relatively small number of mostly big-name shows that survived the
omicron spike of the coronavirus late last year are fairly hardy, and most
appear to be bringing in more money than they are spending on a week-to-week
basis. The industry faces another stress test ahead, as the number of shows
increases; no one knows whether there is enough audience to support the
newcomers as well as the established productions.
Among the highlights, according to the new information: A revival
of Neil Simon comedy “Plaza Suite” starring
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew
Broderick is starting very strong, reflecting the enormous appeal of the two
stars, who are married to each other and have not appeared together onstage for
years. The play, still in previews, grossed $1.7 million last week, which is a
huge number for a small-cast play in a modest-size venue.
“The Music Man,” which also stars the gifted Sutton Foster, had
the highest average ticket price, at $283, and the highest premium ticket
price, at $697. “Plaza Suite” was also selling notably high-priced premium
seats, at $549, reflecting Parker’s popularity.
The numbers do show signs of concern for some shows. “Tina — The
Tina Turner Musical,” played to houses that were only 55 percent full last
week, grossing $778,000. And a new musical, “
Paradise Square,” started slow in
previews — the show drew large audiences (it was 97 percent full) but with
unsustainably low ticket prices (it grossed just $355,000, with an average
ticket price of $47). And sales for shows including “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Come
From Away” and “Chicago” have notably softened since before the pandemic.
But there is also good news for other shows. In particular, the
newly released box office data suggests that “
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” has benefited from its decision to consolidate from a two-part play to
one part during the pandemic. The show grossed $1.7 million last week; the
two-part version had been bringing in around $1 million during non-holiday
weeks before the pandemic.
By the end of last week there were 22 shows running in the
41 Broadway houses, up from a low of 19 earlier in the year. The average ticket
price was a healthy $136, and 92 percent of all seats were occupied, although
there were fewer spots to fill overall because so many theaters did not have
shows in them.
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