Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/26/19

[Rob]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 3:40pm

Click below to access all the Broadway grosses from all the shows for the week ending 5/26/2019 in BroadwayWorld'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: FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE (12.1%), KING KONG (8.7%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (7.9%), CHICAGO (7.2%), MEAN GIRLS (4.5%), WAITRESS (4.2%), BEETLEJUICE (3.8%), ALL MY SONS (3.6%), MY FAIR LADY (2.8%), THE FERRYMAN (2.3%), ALADDIN (1.7%), WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (1.6%), INK (1.3%), KING LEAR (0.7%), NETWORK (0.6%), THE LION KING (0.5%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (0.2%), DEAR EVAN HANSEN (0.2%), TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (0.1%), COME FROM AWAY (0.1%), AIN'T TOO PROUD (0.1%),

Down for the week by attendance was: THE PROM (-8.4%), BEAUTIFUL (-7.7%), THE CHER SHOW (-6.8%), FROZEN (-5.9%), BURN THIS (-5.2%), TOOTSIE (-4.3%), BE MORE CHILL (-3.8%), PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL (-3.8%), GARY: A SEQUEL TO TITUS ANDRONICUS (-3.5%), HILLARY AND CLINTON (-2.5%), KISS ME, KATE (-1.1%), WICKED (-0.5%), OKLAHOMA! (-0.2%), HADESTOWN (-0.1%), HAMILTON (-0.1%),

Click Here to Visit the BroadwayWorld Grosses...

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Posted: 5/28/19 at 3:47pm

Wonder how much summer advance Be More Chill has.

[BritCrit]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 3:53pm

Two big questions -

1. How long will the Prom and Be More Chill last with the attendance drop?

2. Tootsie’s initial highs were unlikely to last, but can it stabilise its fall quickly? Doing well at the Tonys will be a big test.

Otherwise, the story is mostly the same as previous weeks, but this week saw some of the recent strugglers (King Kong, Frankie and Johnny, Meam Girls) begun to pick up again,,,

[LuPita2]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 3:59pm

Frankie and Johnny went down by $2,952.  So, no, they did not pick up again. 25% gross potential. That's....wow. 

[BritCrit]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 4:04pm

LuPita2 said: "Frankie and Johnny went down by $2,952. So, no, they did not pick up again. 25% gross potential. That's....wow."

My mistake - I was making a hasty judgement based on the increase in attendance, but it’s crushingly frustrating to see a project like this do so badly (maybe we should blame Snyder or Del  Toro if Michael Shannon’s villain roles have made him toxic to the public...)

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 4:08pm

LuPita2 said: "Frankie and Johnny went down by $2,952. So, no, they did not pick up again. 25% gross potential. That's....wow."

Pretty bad, for sure, but it’s still in previews. (It opens Thursday night). Let’s see what happens if it gets the rave reviews some think it’ll get. 

[TFMH18]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 4:47pm

Constitution's numbers continue to be the success story of the season.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 4:54pm

BritCrit said: "Two big questions -

1. How long will the Prom and Be More Chill last with the attendance drop?

2. Tootsie’s initial highs were unlikely to last, but can it stabilise its fall quickly? Doing well at the Tonys will be a big test.

Otherwise, the story is mostly the same as previous weeks, but this week saw some of the recent strugglers (King Kong, Frankie and Johnny, Meam Girls) begun to pick up again,,,"

The issue with the Tony's  IMO is that Tootsie doesn't have a blockbuster musical number.  Even the Act 1 closer should have been much, much better...the lousy music gave them nothing to build from.  The 2 numbers I liked the most, the song in the subway with the backup singers and the ex-girlfriend's patter song, would not look very impressive on the Tony's.  It is not like Dorothy / Michael has a good number.  (And I enjoyed the show, but only because of the performances and the book).

[woeisme3]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 5:20pm

I dunno, Tootsie's gross potential looks meh but the Marquis is so huge that it's still making a lot of money (over 1M a week). Even if it does start falling I think it should be good through the rest of the year, or at least labor day. 

I would be way more worried if I were the producers of Be More Chill, considering every musical (and some of the plays) are outgrossing it.

[LuPita2]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 5:24pm

BMC just has to hang out and chill for a few more weeks until the children get out of middle and high school.  

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 5:31pm

 

"Constitution's numbers continue to be the success story of the season."

 

More than To Kill a Mockingbird's, Network's, Hadestown's?

[juliacd]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 5:40pm

woeisme3 said: "I dunno, Tootsie's gross potential looks meh but the Marquis is so huge that it's still making a lot of money (over 1M a week). Even if it does start falling I think it should be good through the rest of the year, or at least labor day.

I would be way more worried if I were the producers of Be More Chill, considering every musical (and some of the plays) are outgrossing it."

Tootsie is not really "making a lot of money". That million dollar mark is no longer equal to success given the cost of these shows now. It still hasn't broken the 70% gross potential yet. And once u add in fees from authors and more that number of over a million might be making them small profit but not enough to keep them out of the red. 

BMC doesn't have much of a chance. Again, not making enough to pay the bills. I am guessing a bridge loan is in their future if they try and hang in there, which never goes well. 

[juliacd]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 5:46pm

when is Kong going to depart. They have to be bleeding money. Has there ever been a show with that low a gross potential come way up after the Tonys? Seems silly to stay open and waste investors money like that. I mean 47.93% is awful

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 6:15pm

After Eight said: "

"Constitution's numbers continue to be the success story of the season."



More than To Kill a Mockingbird's, Network's, Hadestown's?"

Well nobody is surprised a Mockingbird and Network given the widely recognizable name of the properties and their A-List cast members. Constitution has no stars, is not based on a prior entity and is a political play at that. It’s numbers are absolutely the biggest success story of the season along with Hadestown. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 6:30pm

@juliacd you cannot evaluate shows in the abstract, as you are trying to do, and you cannot focus on the potential gross. A show is not "in the red" unless its net gross is less than its nut. Tootsie is not losing money each week. Is it doing gangbusters? No, but that's a different matter. Shows that clear in six figures a week are not in trouble. And the "fees from authors" (do you mean royalties paid TO authors?) are already factored into the equation. 

Re Kong, this subject has been rehearsed here almost every week. The show is owned by entities and people that have other designs than making money. It'll close in due course but certainly not before it makes its splash at the Tonys.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 6:35pm

"Well nobody is surprised a Mockingbird and Network given the widely recognizable name of the properties and their A-List cast members."

 

The OP's statement said nothing about "surprised." It said its numbers were the success story of the season. 

Not so. Mockingbird's grosses were undoubtedly the success story of the season.

"Constitution has no stars, is not based on a prior entity and is a political play at that."

So what? It's gotten hyped to the max, all too predictable raves, and all kinds of awards; it tickles the fancies of the hip and the elites; and it's set to win the Tony Award for best play. So of course, it's attracting certain audiences. There's no surprise in that.

"It’s numbers are absolutely the biggest success story of the season along with Hadestown."

Nonsense.

 

 

[BritCrit]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 6:45pm

HogansHero said: "@juliacd you cannot evaluate shows in the abstract, as you are trying to do, and you cannot focus on the potential gross. A show is not "in the red" unless its net gross is less than its nut. Tootsie is not losing money each week. Is it doing gangbusters? No, but that's a different matter. Shows that clear in six figures a week are not in trouble. And the "fees from authors" (do you mean royalties paid TO authors?) are already factored into the equation."

Tootsie may have suffered a substantial drop over the past two weeks, but $1.2 million + is still a pretty healthy sum of money. I am assuming that the weekly nut for this sort of musical is around  $750K at the very most, so it is definitely doing very well right now, even if it is someway below the (always rather arbitrary) potential figures. I think it will fall out of the Million Dollar Club by the Fall, but I imagine it will have a pretty decent run...

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 6:49pm

juliacd said: "woeisme3 said: "I dunno, Tootsie's gross potential looks meh but the Marquis is so huge that it's still making a lot of money (over 1M a week). Even if it does start falling I think it should be good through the rest of the year, or at least labor day.

I would be way more worried if I were the producers of Be More Chill, considering every musical (and some of the plays) are outgrossing it."

Tootsie is not really "making a lot of money". That million dollar mark is no longer equal to success given the cost of these shows now. It still hasn't broken the 70% gross potential yet. And once u add in fees from authors and more that number of over a million might be making them small profit but not enough to keep them out of the red.

BMC doesn't have much of a chance. Again, not making enough to pay the bills. I am guessing a bridge loan is in their future if they try and hang in there, which never goes well."

 

I heard the BMC producers thought they had the next RENT, DEH obviously it's not the HIT show they thought they had. They should have moved it to New World Stages to an under 500 seat theater and this thing would run for a long time. The move to BWAY was the wrong thing to do but we shall see once summer arrives and the big question is...will the kiddies be bugging Mommy & Daddy for $$$ to see the show??? I doubt it!

[HogansHero]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 9:21pm

Robbie2 said: "I heard the BMC producers thought they had the next RENT, DEH obviously it's not the HIT show they thought they had. They should have moved it to New World Stages to an under 500 seat theater and this thing would run for a long time. The move to BWAY was the wrong thing to dobut we shall see once summer arrives and the big question is...will the kiddies be bugging Mommy & Daddy for $$$ to see the show??? I doubt it!"

I hate to break the news to you but every producer thinks they have the next ___. Sometimes they are right, usually they are wrong. And Broadway is paved with the gold of shows that were told to stay off Broadway if they wanted to run. The theatre is like baseball: you can't predict it. You can be smart or stupid at managing it, but there really truly honestly are no rules. 

[Andres_123]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 10:12pm

If I were a producer of Be More Chill I would very much think we had another mega teen show. With how well it did off- broadway and the huge fanbase it has and how this could have been a new way to make millions. The big issue is the fanbase of Be More Chill don't have the money to see a broadway show and the cost of even staying in new York. They really should have considered this factor when deciding if they should move to broadway.  All I ever see is how many fans complain about how much they want to see the show and they were even making these complaints when it was off-broadway 

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 10:47pm

Honestly, I think the best decision after the off-broadway run would’ve been to do a tour a la Lightning Thief since their audience is so spread around throughout the US. Regardless, I’m sure the show is gonna make a lot through the rights.

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 5/28/19 at 11:46pm

I could see BMC and Prom doing smaller non-equity tours, one/two day stops at a time ala Lightning Thief. The former still should’ve ran longer off-Broadway though, in my opinion.

Yes you’re right though, BMC is probably making bank with royalties either way. On that note, Hogan, how does regional licensing play a role in investing in a premier Broadway/Off-Broadway run for a show? If it flops, does money made through licensing later in it’s life contribute to repaying investors who initially contributed to (and were probably not) reimbursed after a financially unsuccessful NYC run?... Considering that the premier NYC run of the show in question (often times) exists to market the material to regional/amateur houses across the nation for their own production, is there any sort of implication those factors have one one another?

Updated On: 5/28/19 at 11:46 PM

[AnnieBlack]

Posted: 5/29/19 at 6:54am

For all this talk of Be More Chill having the chance to do great this summer, I looked at some random Saturday matinees and evenings in July, and all look like they have a HUGE amount of inventory available.

[Jish]

Posted: 5/29/19 at 7:59am

DiscoCrows said: "I could see BMC and Prom doing smaller non-equity tours, one/two day stops at a time ala Lightning Thief. The former still should’ve ran longer off-Broadway though, in my opinion.

Yes you’re right though, BMC is probably making bank with royalties either way. On that note, Hogan, how does regional licensing play a role in investing in a premier Broadway/Off-Broadway run for a show? If it flops, does money made through licensing later in it’s life contribute to repaying investors who initially contributed to (and were probably not) reimbursed after a financially unsuccessful NYC run?... Considering that the premier NYC run of the showin question (often times) exists to market the material to regional/amateur houses across the nation for their own production, is there any sort of implication those factors have one one another?"

Investors will get money from licensing for quite some time (depends on contract 20-30 years possibly) but it is a small percentage of the author's royalty - so you are making back the money literally a few hundred dollars at a time.

Updated On: 5/29/19 at 07:59 AM

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 5/29/19 at 9:23am

After Eight said: ""Well nobody is surprised a Mockingbird and Network given the widely recognizable name of the properties and their A-List cast members."



The OP's statement said nothing about "surprised." It said its numbers were the success story of the season.

Not so. Mockingbird'sgrosses were undoubtedly the success story of the season.

"Constitution has no stars, is not based on a prior entity and is a political play at that."

So what? It's gotten hyped to the max,all too predictableraves, and all kinds of awards;it tickles the fancies of the hip and the elites;and it's set to win the Tony Award for best play. So of course, it's attracting certain audiences.There's no surprise in that.

"It’s numbers are absolutely the biggest success story of the season along with Hadestown."

Nonsense.



"

Lol this is ridiculous. Mockingbird with Jeff Daniels is of course going to sell, Network with Bryan Cranston is of course going to sell. You really underestimate how people buy outside these boards clearly. Most people outside of NYC (me) I can guarantee you have not heard a word about Constitution, but they've heard about the latter. Constitution IS the success story with the money its making for being a small show based on no prior property, with no stars in it. How you can't see that is beyond me but you are wrong. If Mockingbird and Network DIDNT sell that would be the story, but clearly thats not the case. Are you really surprised one of the best selling novels in America's history is doing well on broadway? With an A list Hollywood actor starring in it? Really? Of course its still impressive with the records its breaking, but its not really surprising.