Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 9/8/19

[Rob]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:05pm

Click below to access all the Broadway grosses from all the shows for the week ending 9/8/2019 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: WICKED (7%), BETRAYAL (6.2%), CHICAGO (0.9%),

Down for the week by attendance was: MEAN GIRLS (-12.8%), OKLAHOMA! (-10.9%), BEETLEJUICE (-10.6%), TOOTSIE (-10.3%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-8.7%), FROZEN (-8%), BEAUTIFUL (-6%), THE LION KING (-5.4%), ALADDIN (-5.3%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (-4.5%), SEA WALL/A LIFE (-2.5%), WAITRESS (-1.8%), AIN'T TOO PROUD (-1.7%), COME FROM AWAY (-1.4%), DEAR EVAN HANSEN (-1.3%), TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (-0.7%), MOULIN ROUGE! (-0.1%), HADESTOWN (-0.1%),

Click Here to Visit the BroadwayWorld Grosses...

Sponsored By: The Book of Mormon - The New York Times calls The Book of Mormon "the best musical of this century." The Washington Post says, "It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals." And Entertainment Weekly says, "Grade A: the funniest musical of all time." Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show calls it "Genius. Brilliant. Phenomenal." The Book of Mormon, the nine-time Tony Award®-winning Best Musical.

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:08pm

I know everyone is back to school/work this week so the falls were expected but should we be worried about Mean Girls? 

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:10pm

And school is officially back, and tourists are back across all the Bs and Ts...

[BritCrit]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:11pm

So the four musicals most affected by the post Labour Day drop are Frozen, Tootsie, Mean Girls and Beetlejuice. With Frozen falling below the million dollar mark for the first time in its run, and the other three also having terrible weeks, all four could have to consider setting a closing date by the end of the season...

[Kitsune]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:14pm

What's interesting about this week is that a lot the shows that usually do well are down (Aladdin at 77% capacity, Come From Away at 73%, DEH at 77%, BOM at 82%, and Wicked at 75%). Not catastrophic numbers, but still.

Did Mean Girls ever announce recoupment? 

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:17pm

Not that it is in any danger of closing anytime soon but I am curious about Harry Potter. There is a MASSIVE amount of availability and it is incredibly easy to get tickets for a cheap price a few days before showtime. The average ticket price has dropped quite a bit.

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:22pm

n2nbaby said: "Not that it is in any danger of closing anytime soon but I am curious about Harry Potter. There is a MASSIVE amount of availability and it is incredibly easy to get tickets for a cheap price a few days before showtime. The average ticket price has dropped quite a bit."

I wonder about that too. Not that I am concerned but how long do we realistically think HP&CC will run?

[raddersons]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:22pm

Oklahoma is only raking in $400k.... I'm nervous for her!

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:23pm

little_sally said: "n2nbaby said: "Not that it is in any danger of closing anytime soon but I am curious about Harry Potter. There is a MASSIVE amount of availability and it is incredibly easy to get tickets for a cheap price a few days before showtime. The average ticket price has dropped quite a bit."

I wonder about that too. Not that I am concerned but how long do we realistically think HP&CC will run?"

I’m certainly curious. I wonder if we will be seeing it’s first sub 100% capacity soon. Even tomorrow there are some $40 orchestra tickets available.

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:27pm

Kitsune said: "What's interesting about this week is that a lot the shows that usually do well are down(Aladdin at 77% capacity, Come From Away at 73%, DEH at 77%, BOM at 82%, and Wicked at 75%). Not catastrophic numbers, but still.

Did Mean Girls ever announce recoupment?"

Those numbers are percent of potential, not percent capacity. 

[Smaxie]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:27pm

>What's interesting about this week is that a lot the shows that usually do well are down (Aladdin at 77% capacity, Come From Away at 73%, DEH at 77%, BOM at 82%, and Wicked at 75%). Not catastrophic numbers, but still.<

Those figures are not for capacity. They are % of gross potential. 

[Kitsune]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:32pm

Smaxie said: ">What's interesting about this week is that a lot the shows that usually do well are down(Aladdin at 77% capacity, Come From Away at 73%, DEH at 77%, BOM at 82%, and Wicked at 75%). Not catastrophic numbers, but still.<

Those figures are not for capacity. They are % of gross potential."

Doh, bad wording on my part! I don't know why I wrote capacity when I meant gross potential - I chalk it up to trying to comment while at work.

But those are somewhat lower numbers for gross potential for those shows, right? Like I can't remember if DEH has ever dipped under 80% of its potential before, or at least in recent memory.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:41pm

Grosses are hard to judge now and we have to look at capacity with the BOGO offer this week and next. The real test begins September 16.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 3:45pm

n2nbaby said: "Not that it is in any danger of closing anytime soon but I am curious about Harry Potter. There is a MASSIVE amount of availability and it is incredibly easy to get tickets for a cheap price a few days before showtime. The average ticket price has dropped quite a bit."

My theory is - do tourists (and the NYC general public) know that it is possible to get tickets to Cursed Child? By that, I mean - I'm wondering if people think that like Hamilton, Cursed Child is simply not possible to get tickets to, so they're not even trying. I've seen the show a zillion times, and have never paid more for both shows total than what I did for a single Hamilton ticket. 

Also, now that "Keep The Secrets" campaign is over, I think the elusiveness of the show will fade, and people will start seeing it as an obtainable option. Although, I wonder what the most recent example of an open run, 2 part show is? Definitely a harder sell. 

In a few years, they could also start closing off the balcony during the slower months, like the St. James and Broadway (rear mezz) do. This could keep the gross potential reasonable. And then in the future when it's on TKTS, maybe they'll switch to one ticket gets you into both shows, at a slightly higher price per ticket, but less than 2 individual tickets.

[Sauja]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 4:06pm

I find it interesting that in the past 4 weeks, Mormon has dipped below capacity for the first time since previews. It's obviously in ZERO trouble and will run for several more years. Just an anomaly I found interesting.

I was surprised to read the comments here about there being $40 orchestra tickets to Harry Potter this Wednesday. Then I looked up a random Sunday in a month (10/6), and it's majority unsold. Given how hard it was to get tickets at first, I'm surprised by how much availability there is a year and a half into its run. 

Now let's see if Derren Brown and The Great Society can spook up some more interest as they get a touch deeper into their runs!

[BritCrit]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 4:12pm

Sauja said: "Now let's see if Derren Brown and The Great Society can spook up some more interest as they get a touch deeper into their runs!"

I hope so. Derren Brown is still an underground figure in the US, but the press campaign should allow him to build up publicity...

[binau]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 4:26pm

"In a few years, they could also start closing off the balcony during the slower months, like the St. James and Broadway (rear mezz) do. This could keep the gross potential reasonable."

I find this to be a funny phrase. It might make the gross potential 'look' reasonable, and it might make the theatre look more full to keep the energy up. But making the gross potential 'look' reasonable is pointless if the rent isn't decreasing. Do these landlords decrease the cost if you close off a section? Maybe if you're Harry Potter. But if you're a typical musical at the St James or Broadway? 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 6:55pm

I will say when I saw HP in London, I got a great last minute deal. So I think it’s part of JK’s mission to make the show affordable. Clearly they’re making money or they wouldn’t keep opening new productions.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 7:15pm

SouthernCakes said: "I will say when I saw HP in London, I got a great last minute deal. So I think it’s part of JK’s mission to make the show affordable. Clearly they’re making money or they wouldn’t keep opening new productions. "

ORRR. Maybe it’s just a vanity project and making sure the brand looks alive and well and not about making any money?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 7:16pm

MEAN GIRLS didn't announce recoupment, but these numbers indicate that it would have recouped after about 30/35 weeks. It will make bank on the road, and it has enough of a cushion to keep going for a bit if it continues to lose money... but they won't be able to sustain it with numbers in the mid-700 range or lower.

It will be interesting of POTTER's rebranding campaign will help turn things around a bit. Initially, people were predicting this would easily surpass Life With Father (8 years) to become the longest-running play, but I really wonder if they shot themselves in the foot with the two-part nature of it. I still think it lasts a minimum 5 years, but anything beyond that remains to be seen. The weekly operating cost is what will ultimately kill it.

[LxGstv]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 7:38pm

I’m curious, who reports the grosses and attendance? Is it reported by the each production?

Friday I looked at Harry Potter tickets over the weekend and half of the orchestra was still unsold. Last time I saw the show I easily counted more than 20 empty seats. I really don’t think they’ve been operating at 100% capacity.

I know that an empty seat doesn’t mean an unsold seat, but still.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 7:55pm

It just seems strange to invest in all these new productions if it’s not hitting the numbers it should be... so they must be doing okay? Obviously they’ve sunk a ton of $$$ into this with the redoing of the theater

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 8:09pm

Does anyone know if there are any scheduled or unscheduled absences responsible for the drop for Oklahoma? I need to catch it before December and as long as no one is out, I might as well take advantage of the lull and grab an affordable ticket. 

I wonder how much Cursed Child was hurt by Harry Potter/The Wizarding World taking a hit as a brand after the Fantastic Beasts sequel. I can't imagine it has to do with the replacement cast since the original cast were pretty unknown.

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 8:10pm

LxGstv said: "Last time I saw the show I easily counted more than 20 empty seats."

More than 20? I'm sure a lot of shows would love to be plagued by such horrors...

[LxGstv]

Posted: 9/9/19 at 9:04pm

haterobics said: "LxGstv said: "Last time I saw the show I easily counted more than 20 empty seats."

More than 20? I'm sure a lot of shows would love to be plagued by such horrors..."

My comment was simply a questioning on the accuracy of the attendance numbers reported.