Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
#1Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 3:33pm
Click below to access all the grosses from all the shows for the week ending 1/31/2016 in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.
Also, you will find information on each show's historical grosses, cumulative grosses and other statistics on how each show stacked up this week and in the past.
Click Here to Visit the Broadway Grosses...
Up for the week by attendance was: MATILDA (16.5%), MISERY (15.6%), KINKY BOOTS (15.2%), CHINA DOLL (14.2%), AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (13.5%), ALLEGIANCE (13.1%), LES MISÉRABLES (11.8%), THE LION KING (9.7%), CHICAGO (9.6%), KING CHARLES III (7.6%), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (7.4%), JERSEY BOYS (6.7%), THE COLOR PURPLE (6.3%), ON YOUR FEET! (5.7%), SOMETHING ROTTEN! (5.5%), THE KING AND I (5.1%), ALADDIN (5.0%), BEAUTIFUL (4.6%), WICKED (4.2%), A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (3.6%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2.7%), FUN HOME (2.6%), SCHOOL OF ROCK (1.4%), NOISES OFF (1.4%), THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (1.1%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (0.8%),
Down for the week by attendance was: FINDING NEVERLAND (-9.6%), OUR MOTHER'S BRIEF AFFAIR (-5.1%), THE HUMANS (-2.8%),
#2Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 3:59pm
How soon until Linda Lavin is unemployed? 2 weeks?
#3Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:00pm
Our Mother's Brief Affair is at MTC so it's a limited run anyway. I sincerely doubt they'll close it early.
Sunny11
Broadway Star Joined: 9/3/14
#4Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:02pm
Nice bump for China Doll in its final week. They announced that they recouped so this can be added to the list of critic proof plays.
#5Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:03pm
perfectlymarvelous said: "Our Mother's Brief Affair is at MTC so it's a limited run anyway. I sincerely doubt they'll close it early.
"
What a flop, thank goodness it's limited run.
#6Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:15pm
And isn't MTC non profit?
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
Signed,
Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
https://theaterworkersforaceasefire.com/statement
JM226
Broadway Star Joined: 11/10/15
#7Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:17pm
Hellob said: "What a flop, thank goodness it's limited run. "
MTC is a non-profit theatre company. this is not commercial theatre. a "flop" in the financial sense is not actually possible......
Updated On: 2/1/16 at 04:17 PM
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#8Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:28pm
Hellob, you've made it very clear you have no idea what you're talking about.
#9Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:31pm
We've had this discussion before, and I still maintain that obviously unless budged for a NFP cannot sustain ridiculous losses - the money has to come from somewhere.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#10Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:34pm
Right, but they also don't close the shows early. MTC has had a lot of poor earners, and the only show they closed early in recent memory was Airline Highway, and that had an enormous cast.
LightsOut90
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/2/14
#11Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 4:42pm
Great to see King Charles III had its best week of its run this week, good way to go out.
indytallguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/13/08
#12Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 5:10pm
qolbinau said: "We've had this discussion before, and I still maintain that obviously unless budged for a NFP cannot sustain ridiculous losses - the money has to come from somewhere. "
Exactly. Not for profit is a tax status, not a business strategy. You still are held accountable by a balance sheet just like a for profit entity.
#13Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 5:52pm
neonlightsxo said: "Hellob, you've made it very clear you have no idea what you're talking about.
"
Why do you feel the need to be rude to people? So what if I don't have a PhD in Broadway? I do have an English degree from Notre Dame and fwiw, a flop isn't defined solely by finances. A play no one attends is surely a flop. When I'm mistaken or ignorant about a topic, I'm more than happy to learn but sometimes you and a few others are so snarky for no discernible reason. I thought this board was for people who enjoy and have an interest in theater. I didn't realize it's for people who know everything about everything and enjoy making others feel like dirt. Wtf is wrong with you? If you are (obviously) more knowledgeable, then please, educate but don't talk to me like I'm a loser. And if you do it again, have the guts to pm me and I'll meet you in person and you can tell me how stupid I am to my face.
Updated On: 2/1/16 at 05:52 PM
JM226
Broadway Star Joined: 11/10/15
#14Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 5:52pm
Exactly. Not for profit is a tax status, not a business strategy. You still are held accountable by a balance sheet just like a for profit entity.
you don't seem to understand that unlike commercial theatre, not-for-profit theatre CAN sustain a loss because they have benefactors who will underwrite many of the expenses normally included in a standard production budget. they also have millions of dollars in assets and a well-sustained "rainy day fund" or "production reserve," which allows them to absorb those losses without being hurt directly. the economics of non-profit theatre and commercial theatre is simply NOT comparable.
Updated On: 2/1/16 at 05:52 PM
woeisme3
Featured Actor Joined: 9/14/15
#15Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 5:59pm
Found it funny that Jersey Boys, Chicago, and Phantom were th ebottom 3 by capacity. Long runners aren't immune to winter!
#16Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 6:00pm
^Exactly. Obviously, a non-profit can't sustain tremendous losses from ticket sales, but that's what fundraising, memberships, benefits, etc. are for. I'm sure that MTC isn't thrilled that their current show isn't selling out, but non-profit theatre exists to create theatre that doesn't rely solely on ticket sales.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
JM226
Broadway Star Joined: 11/10/15
#17Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 6:07pm
wonderfulwizard11 said: "^Exactly. Obviously, a non-profit can't sustain tremendous losses from ticket sales, but that's what fundraising, memberships, benefits, etc. are for. I'm sure that MTC isn't thrilled that their current show isn't selling out, but non-profit theatre exists to create theatre that doesn't rely solely on ticket sales.
"
exactly. glad there is someone else here who knows what i am talking about. for anyone who is really into the grosses and curious about the economics of theatre, i'd suggest starting with this: http://www.americantheatre.org/2014/03/13/relationship-between-commercial-not-for-profit-theatres/. a lengthy read but explores the dynamics and differences of commercial and not-for-profit.
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#18Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 6:46pm
qolbinau said: "We've had this discussion before, and I still maintain that obviously unless budged for a NFP cannot sustain ridiculous losses - the money has to come from somewhere."
The operating costs are already factored into their annual operating expenses. Ticket sales for current productions essentially go to the operating budget for their next season. A hit is obviously desirable because it can lessen their dependence on grants and donations, or help reduce a deficit if they've been operating in the red (which is not uncommon for many regional non-profit companies), but closing a show early doesn't necessarily help them much since the money to run it was already in place and budgeted.
indytallguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/13/08
#19Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 8:43pm
JM226 said: "Exactly. Not for profit is a tax status, not a business strategy. You still are held accountable by a balance sheet just like a for profit entity. you don't seem to understand that unlike commercial theatre, not-for-profit theatre CAN sustain a loss because they have benefactors who will underwrite many of the expenses normally included in a standard production budget. they also have millions of dollars in assets and a well-sustained "rainy day fund" or "production reserve," which allows them to absorb those losses without being hurt directly. the economics of non-profit theatre and commercial theatre is simply NOT comparable. "
I've been a consultant to nonprofits for 20+ years and am a former nonprofit CEO. Trust me, I understand the way they operate financially. And nowhere did I say they couldn't sustain a loss. But any nonprofit exec will tell you that some of their programs or services must generate excess revenues in order to sustain the very losses they are willing to incur in other areas ... or make those funding shortfalls up through donations, grants, or other revenue sources.
Reserves are also generally intended for extraordinary circumstances, not routine losses or budget shortfalls. Yes, a nonprofit that has reserves beyond whatever percentage of annual budget they've identified as their goal will sometimes choose to invest them in riskier programs or to underwrite planned losses, but tapping into reserves regularly is simply not sustainable and board members often oppose doing so as a breach of their fiduciary duty of care for the long-term well being of the organization.
Bottom line: nonprofits should strive to produce a financial surplus (however small) that they reinvest in their mission and stakeholders as opposed to paying dividends to stakeholders as a for profit entity would do.
Updated On: 2/1/16 at 08:43 PM
@z5
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/30/15
#20Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 9:14pm
NICE!! Look at Color Purple kicking ass
JM226
Broadway Star Joined: 11/10/15
#21Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 10:18pm
Indytallguy - it is clear to me that you do not understand what a "production reserve fund" is. It's not an endowment fund or emergency fund. Or even a contingency fund, which is very different and included in each preproduction budget (anywhere from 5 - 10% of total projected cost). the production reserve fund is a fund established and replenished every year, from either an annual/general fund or other financial assets, in anticipation of the next season.
Mike66
Leading Actor Joined: 12/17/15
#22Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 10:31pm
The perfect example of needing a "cash cow" is Cabaret -- Alan Cumming's gift to the non-profit world.
And yes, of course, a flop can be defined as many things. Including not making money, of course. But you tell me -- is "Misery" a flop or a success. How about "China Doll?" Yeah, thought so.
As a "creative" -- you really looking forward to adding either of those two to your resume?
Yes, the non-profits can put on shows that don't always make a lot of money -- as long as they have the donors, and the advertisers and sponsors they can make the dollars work. (And a Cabaret from time to time to build up your bank account). But, except in the world of Bialystock and Blum (you remember them), sooner or later you have to produce something that people want to see.
By any criterion, the Lavin vehicle is a flop. The fact that the producers can incur it and move on is a credit to them and their business model (and their artistic spirit), but it is what it is.
#23Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 10:55pm
Is this the first time Hamilton beat out both Wicked and Lion King monetary wise?
Happy to see Color Purple doing so well!!
School of Rock doesn't seem as big of a hit as some thought.
#24Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 11:10pm
EvanK said: "Is this the first time Hamilton beat out both Wicked and Lion King monetary wise?"
No, they've done it for the past 2 weeks, and I think once or twice before that too.
Updated On: 2/1/16 at 11:10 PM
@z5
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/30/15
#25Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/31/16
Posted: 2/1/16 at 11:19pm
I honestly wish Jersey Boys would pack it up already and make room for a new show.
