Beetlejuice breaks Winter Garden Box Office Records

[Owen Parker]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 2:39pm

This week Beetlejuice broke the Winter Garden Theatres box office record by grossing 1,589,838.90 the week of December first 2019!

[Pashacar]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 3:24pm

Wild. Still the worst show I have ever seen in three decades of Broadway theatergoing.

[schubox]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:01pm

Pashacar said: "Wild. Still the worst show I have ever seen in three decades of Broadway theatergoing."

What a hot take 

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:04pm

It was a fine show, nothing life changing for me, but I’m glad it is putting up a fight to stay at the Winter Garden.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:06pm

Where are the full grosses? They should be available given that Beetlejuice and Tina have already publicized their record-breaking weeks.

[Hamilfan2]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:08pm

Beetlejuice: *Breaks Winter Garden sales record*
Music Man: “hold my suitcase”

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:13pm

Did they adjust for inflation or nah?

[borneback12]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:13pm

Sure, Beetlejuice may not be Gypsy, but it's surely not the worst show of the last season, let alone the last 30 years. I am sure you are speaking in hyperbole, but are you saying that you thought it was a worse show that "Getting the Band Back Together," "Pretty Woman," or "King Kong?"  My gang of theatergoers who saw everything last year liked it a far more than more of the musicals, including "Be More Chill" and "Tootsie."  Plus I will take a new musical over a jukebox musical or a revival any day.  

Also, I have no idea why folks on this site insist on dogging shows again and again.  We all claim to love theater and then spend all day hating on it.   

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:13pm

CATSNYrevival said: "Did they adjust for inflation or nah?"

The show is a bit bloated.

[schubox]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:15pm

I enjoyed Beetlejuice. I was a little worried after seeing some of the reviews on here but I had a ton of fun and I adore Alex Brightman. Sure it wasn’t ground breaking or anything, but I laughed and enjoyed myself. That’s all I can really ask for

[Pashacar]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:29pm

borneback12 said: "Sure, Beetlejuice may not be Gypsy, but it's surely not the worst show of the last season, let alone the last 30 years. I am sure you are speaking in hyperbole, but are you saying that you thought it was a worse show that "Getting the Band Back Together," "Pretty Woman," or "King Kong?" My gang of theatergoers who saw everything last year liked it a far more than more of the musicals, including "Be More Chill" and "Tootsie." Plus I will take a new musical over a jukebox musical or a revival any day.

Also, I have no idea why folks on this site insist on dogging shows again and again. We all claim to love theater and then spend all day hating on it."

Didn't see PW or KK, but had a far better time at GTBBT (and a million other flops) than at BJ. There was something about the combination of narrative laziness, musical ineptitude, and cynical corporate fingerprints all over the material that I found especially grating.

I'm happy for the people who like BJ, and for those who dislike my favorite shows. Their opinions are as valid as mine!

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:30pm

I can't help but suspect that the show's success has less to do with its much-touted social media presence and more that it's almost a willful backlash against the current more innovated and elevated tone of modern MT hits. There's none of Hamilton's nuance, Dear Evan Hansen's engagement with current hot-button issues, or Jagged Little Pill's wokeness.

It's loud, aggressive, and smartly stupid, targeted directly to the "bored millennial" instead of the now-obsolete "tired businessman." As MT gets better and better at pushing boundaries and innovating, perhaps comfort junk food that tries to be junk food and aspires to nothing further is going to thrive as a palette cleanser.

[gibsons2]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 5:13pm

darquegk said: "There's none of Hamilton's nuance, Dear Evan Hansen's engagement with current hot-button issues, or Jagged Little Pill's wokeness".

Thank god. It felt like a breath of fresh air when I saw it in spring. I'm happy that Beetlejuice succeeded,  it deserves it. 

 

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 5:25pm

Beetlejuice is an unapologetically fun show. It's not there to make you think. It's not there to attempt and elevate the original source material to something higher then it was ever meant to be. It's just there to have a good time at the party. Beetlejuice is like the equivalency of the drunk guy at a kegger that somehow ended up dancing around with a lampshade on his head before the end of the night when none of the lamps in the house even have shades on them. 

And I honestly really respect them for not going down without a fight. So many shows doing business on the better half of okay have gotten run out of their runs to early because they were bullied out by some producer with the money to do whatever they want. Motown comes to mind most recently as a show that just kind of took the blow quietly when their theatre was torn out from under thenm when 'perv who shall not be named' wanted it for Finding Neverland. 

Will they win in the end? No, likely not, but I applaud them and appreciate that they are not going down and out without a very vocal fight.
 

Updated On: 12/2/19 at 05:25 PM

[YvanEhtNioj]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 5:28pm

If THIS is the "worst" thing you've seen..

Congrats to them. Issa cute show. Got drunk, had a great time. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 5:38pm

Scarlet Leigh said: "Beetlejuice is an unapologetically fun show. It's not there to make you think. It's not there to attempt and elevate the original source material to something higher then it was ever meant to be. It's just there to have a good time at the party. Beetlejuice is like the equivalency of the drunk guy at a kegger that somehow ended up dancing around with a lampshade on his head before the end of the night when none of the lamps in the house even have shades on them.

And I honestly really respect them for not going down without a fight. So many shows doing business on the better half of okay have gotten run out of their runs to early because they were bullied out by some producer with the money to do whatever they want. Motown comes to mind most recently as a show that just kind of took the blow quietly when their theatre was torn out from under thenm when 'perv who shall not be named' wanted it for Finding Neverland.

Sorry but you have no idea what you are talking about. That's not how things work.

 

 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 6:02pm

JSquared2 said: "Sorry but you have no idea what you are talking about. That's not how things work."

How does it work? It seems like Music Man tickets are already being sold for the Winter Garden. Is Beetlejuice legally allowed to stay put unless their box office sales drop below a certain threshold? Or is it really just up to the theatre owners to decide?

[joevitus]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 6:07pm

This is only a little depressing because Follies premiered at the Winter Garden. 

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 6:43pm

The Winter Garden theater has almost 1500 seats. With it's incredible history, my first reaction was that it's a little surprising it's never seen a $1.59 million week until now from any show that's been there. In the broad scheme of things, hit shows in other theaters especially during holiday weeks pass that amount routinely. Last week, 10 other shows grossed more than that and 6 of them were in smaller theaters. So great for Beetlejuice but as an all-time record for a larger theater, it's a little like boasting that someone is the tallest person ever in your family and that person is 5'7".

OK, sorry for the interruption. Please resume the endlessly fascinating "It sucks, no it's great, no it's stupid, no it's a lot of fun" debate.

Updated On: 12/2/19 at 06:43 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 7:12pm

UncleCharlie said: "OK, sorry for the interruption. Please resume the endlessly fascinating "It sucks, no it's great, no it's stupid, no it's a lot of fun" debate."

 

HA! Well said. Not sure why this had to turn into a "is Beetlejuice good?" thread when I'm sure there have been plenty of threads about that already. 

I agree with your overall point, Uncle Charlie, but $1.59MM is still nothing to sneeze at. Especially for a show that hasn't reached "juggernaut" or "mega-hit" status. And for a show that hasn't had the same degree of financial consistency as most of the 10 higher-grossing shows. 

What bothers me about this, as with every "box office record" announcement, is (A) they seemingly don't adjust for inflation. Though if they did, it's possible that the record would still be broken because (B) ticket prices are becoming more and more outrageous, which I, and many others, see as a bad thing. The more Broadway becomes an exclusive club for the wealthy, the more records will be broken. 

[hak5]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 8:04pm

CATSNYrevival said: "JSquared2 said: "Sorry but you have no idea what you are talking about. That's not how things work."

How does it work? It seems like Music Man tickets are already being sold for the Winter Garden.Is Beetlejuice legally allowed to stay put unless their box office sales dropbelow a certain threshold? Or is it really just up to the theatre owners to decide?"

Music Man tix are being sold for the Shubert Theatre

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 8:05pm

Joevitus wrote: This is only a little depressing because Follies premiered at the Winter Garden. 

You've got to put the figures into an inflation calculator. What was FOLLIES' highest gross...adjusted for inflation? Actually, adjusting for inflation probably wouldn't show us anything because premium pricing didn't exist in the 70s, 80s or 90s...

 

Updated On: 12/2/19 at 08:05 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 8:15pm

Congrats to them. Had a blast when I saw it and plan to see it again. Loved it.

[Luminaire2]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 8:19pm

Thought these tweets were relevant.

https://twitter.com/casey_mink/status/1201571670542172160?s=21

“ Honestly, the complete financial about-face for Beetlejuice is one of the stories of the year.”

https://twitter.com/mindofmich/status/1201580838850301953?s=21

“/Apparently/ they had claims on the Winter Garden thinking Beetlejuice wouldn’t last the year... read it in a Riedel column so i doubted it...then Leslie Kritzer posted a vid on thanksgiving ending with “and we’re not leaving out theatre so suck it”

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 10:45pm

Luminaire2 said: "then Leslie Kritzer posted a vid on thanksgiving ending with “and we’re not leaving our theatre so suck it”"

So many good shows to see right now, never saw the movie, haven't seen this on any recent NY trips and hadn't planned to see this on my next trip in January. But this quote alone has made me want to. Bravo Leslie.