Ben Waterhouse is a contributing writer for BroadwayWorld's Industry section. He specializes in data analysis and observations on the finances of Broadway.
Obsession took the cinematic box office by storm earlier this year, becoming one of the only movies to ever gross over $400 million against a budget of less than $1 million.
Overall, according to our Tony Nominations grosses analysis, none of the new musicals this season are in the upper half of the theoretical monthly average across the industry.
Tony Nominations were announced earlier this month Tuesday, providing many shows, particularly new musicals, with a shot in the arm, as many had been previously struggling.
It’s the heart of Broadway Touring announcement season, where venues around the country announce what shows they are planning to present across the country over the next year.
Why all of these limited runs? Shows with celebrities in them make sense, they have busy schedules, and setting aside 16 or 20 weeks to rehearse and perform in a Broadway show is a non-trivial juggling act.
Three months ago, The Broadway League, the consortium of Broadway investors, producers, and theatre owners, announced that Broadway had broken the single season gross record set in the 2018-2019 season.
The past month represented the strongest May grosses in Broadway history, with each week being well over the $40 million mark for the second month in a row.
The past month represented the strongest April grosses in Broadway history, with each week being well over the $40 million mark, and Easter week peaking at over $50 million.
If you were to ask practically every current Broadway producer, they would tell you that initial capitalization costs (that is the cost of a show to open on Broadway before a single ticket is sold) are way out of control.