Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 1/26/20

[Rob]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 3:56pm

Click below to access all the Broadway grosses from all the shows for the week ending 1/26/2020 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: GRAND HORIZONS (13.4%), WICKED (4.8%), A SOLDIER'S PLAY (4.3%), CHICAGO (3.5%), FROZEN (3.3%), BEETLEJUICE (1.6%), THE LION KING (1.1%), ALADDIN (0.9%), DEAR EVAN HANSEN (0.8%), MOULIN ROUGE! (0.3%), MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON (0.2%),

Down for the week by attendance was: THE INHERITANCE (-7.4%), AIN'T TOO PROUD (-5.2%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (-3.3%), TINA - THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL (-1.8%), JAGGED LITTLE PILL (-1.5%), MEAN GIRLS (-1%), TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (-0.4%), COME FROM AWAY (-0.2%), HADESTOWN (-0.2%), HAMILTON (-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.

[ModernMillie3]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 4:00pm

Oh man, those numbers for The Inheritance. Sigh. I truly hope it lasts until March. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 4:03pm

West Side Story went UP $160K.  I guess the protests are a success??

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 4:13pm

West Side Story had 8 performances this week instead of the 7 they have been doing.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 4:18pm

Four thoughts:

-- Laura Linney is selling a lot of tickets at MTC, based their usual early in the run grosses.  Sorry that I will not see this, given the negative feedback on this board, although the critics were much more positive.

-- I amazed that WSS is grossing what it is even before the reviews come out.  I know that the director has a following (I would probably be considered a follower, even though I managed to miss his most acclaimed production), but still!

--  Dynamic pricing makes me wish that I was in NYC in January, and that is saying something because I now spend 7 months in Florida to get away from winter.

-- If a move is going to be costly, I am betting that Beetlejuice will close  in June.  I am amazed that the grosses have stayed above $1.0M thus far in January, but that is probably not enough to justify a costly move (as I understand, all moves are costly; but, if they do have to rebuild the set, and everything that goes along with that, it may be too risky an additional investment. 

 

 

Updated On: 1/27/20 at 04:18 PM

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 4:24pm

Oof. Grand Horizons and The Inheritance. I’m hoping to see The Inheritance again when I get back there for work in next couple months, but I’m not sure how much longer investors will continue to pump money into a sinking ship.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 5:04pm

As others have said in previous weeks, and as others will probably continue saying each week for the next few months:

I would guess that The Inheritance has been losing money since previews, maybe even since week 1. And if that's true, the fact that they haven't closed yet suggests that the powers that be are perfectly fine continuing to keep it running despite losing money, as is sometimes the case with passion projects like this, Head Over Heels, The Prom, etc. So more than likely they will either see through their full extended run, or if they decide to close earlier, I expect it will be sometime after Tony noms, if their nominations fail to boost their advance. The earliest I can realistically imagine them closing at this point is on their originally-planned March closing date, but I would be surprised if they did that. 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 5:12pm

Good points. I would imagine the hope of Tony noms/wins is what is keeping it going.

Also, am I correct that Grand Horizons is being produced by a non-profit?

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 5:34pm

Miles2Go2 said: "Good points. I would imagine the hope of Tony noms/wins is what is keeping it going.

Also, am I correct that Grand Horizons is being produced by a non-profit? "

But honestly will Tony noms or wins help a show that clearly very few are interested in seeing? I think not. The Tonys become less and less relevant by the year. The nominations and wins will help with future productions but I don’t think it will help Broadway by much. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 5:41pm

Bettyboy72 said: "Miles2Go2 said: "Good points. I would imagine the hope of Tony noms/wins is what is keeping it going.

Also, am I correct that Grand Horizons is being produced by a non-profit? "

But honestly will Tony noms or wins help a show that clearly very few are interested in seeing? I think not. The Tonys become less and less relevant by the year. The nominations and wins will help with future productions but I don’t think it will help Broadway by much."

And they tend to be more beneficial to musicals.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 5:58pm

I have to believe the investors know Tony wins won’t boost box office much. As JBroadway stated, this is likely a passion project for them and they are hoping for some Tony noms/wins regardless of whether there is a corresponding box office boost. I have to remind myself that the people pumping more money into these shows are likely so wealthy that their show-related economic losses are just a drop in the bucket. Still, they didn’t get rich by throwing good money after bad. Will be interesting to see if they keep the show afloat until the Tony Awards.

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 6:08pm

How about those numbers for David Byrne's American Utopia! 148.65% of Gross Potential and an average ticket price of $204.79. Saw it last Friday. It's a lot of fun, very entertaining and wildly creative, but still...

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 6:09pm

do we know what the nut is for The Inheritance?

[SpookyFish13]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 6:22pm

Miles2Go2 said: "I have to believe the investors know Tony wins won’t boost box office much. As JBroadway stated, this is likely a passion project for them and they are hoping for some Tony noms/wins regardless of whether there is a corresponding box office boost. I have to remind myself that the people pumping more money into these shows are likely so wealthy that their show-related economic losses are just a drop in the bucket. Still, they didn’t get rich by throwing good money after bad. Will be interesting to see if they keep the show afloat until the Tony Awards."

I'm really hoping that it will stay open until the summer so I'll get a chance to see it, but it's not looking too likely at this point. Bless those deep-pocketed investors.

[Wick3]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 6:26pm

Miles2Go2 said: "I have to remind myself that the people pumping more money into these shows are likely so wealthy that their show-related economic losses are just a drop in the bucket. Still, they didn’t get rich by throwing good money after bad. Will be interesting to see if they keep the show afloat until the Tony Awards."

Very true. I don't know who the investors are but they have probably invested in other Broadway productions in the past and made $$$. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 6:36pm

HogansHero said: "do we know what the nut is for The Inheritance?"

 

We don't, as far as I'm aware. I'm bad at estimating these sorts of things, as my earlier comment may or may not have given away. What would be your estimate for the running cost? 

For comparison, if we look at Slave Play, the NYTimes reported that they would need to make 60% of their potential grosses to make a profit. When I first read that, I read that to mean that their running cost was 60% of their gross potential (which would make the running cost about 500K). I now realize that I might have misread that, and that the article actually meant that they needed that percentage in order to recoup, which would, of course make the running cost much lower. 

But let's say I was right the first time and they were referring to the their nut. If Slave Play was 500K, we can probably guess that Inheritance has a higher nut, if for no other reason than that the cast is larger, and the theatre's capacity is a bit higher. 

Inheritance has only broken $500,000 a few times in its run (though I now see I was probably wrong earlier when I said they haven't made their nut since the first week). Plus I may still be wrong about Slave Play. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 6:58pm

What's the total cast size for THE INHERITANCE? I know there are 22 main cast/understudies but I can't find my slip with the names/bios of all the additional guys at the end of part 1 (each of those would make AEA minimum). The nut has to be at least $450K.

There's still a long time til the Pulitzer Prize announcement (not that that has helped Sweat and some others) and an even longer time til the Tony noms.

[goodlead]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 7:16pm

In "The Season," William Goldman used the phrase "snob hit" for plays like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, etc., usually imports from Britain that were thought to be "important," and therefore must-sees.  Probably "The Inheritance" producers thought their play would attract an audience as a snob hit.  But it didn't work.

[LuPita2]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 7:19pm

That's an interesting take. A "snob hit" thinking it was very important and essential viewing. Is it because of the subject matter or the length? Would anyone consider Angels in America a snob hit? 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 7:22pm

Miles2Go2 said: "
Also, am I correct that Grand Horizons is being produced by a non-profit? "

I don't believe anyone answered this, but yes, it's produced by Second Stage, which is a nonprofit. Luckily they have the Take Me Out revival up next, which should help replenish the coffers after this and Linda Vista.

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 9:05pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "What's the total cast size for THE INHERITANCE? I know there are 22 main cast/understudies but I can't find my slip with the names/bios of all the additional guys at the end of part 1 (each of those would make AEAminimum). The nut has to beat least $450K."

Actually half minimum per a deal as I understand it. I doubt the nut is that much, but I also doubt they are not under water. But I don't know any numbers here.

 

[PeterC6482]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 9:08pm

The Inheritance has always been an open-ended run. The 3/1/20 date was for the initial block of tickets. It was not the closing date.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 1/27/20 at 11:30pm

For what it’s worth there is an “ensemble” in Lehman’s Trilogy and they are paid $1000/wk so prob something similar to that for The Inheritance. Or maybe less since they’re not in every show.

[Will3700]

Posted: 1/28/20 at 11:03am

I am still praying it will be open til at least the Tony;s I have tickets for May 23. It was the first show I put on my list for our May trip and I saved my coveted Saturday spot  for both parts. We have 14  shows scheduled with 2 Mondays still available. I don't even  have anything I;d want to replace The Inheritance.

[Impossible2]

Posted: 1/28/20 at 11:48am

LuPita2 said: "That's an interesting take. A "snob hit" thinking it was very important and essential viewing. Is it because of the subject matter or the length? Would anyone consider Angels in America a snob hit?"

Yes and Angels also lost a fortune on Broadway.

Inheritance lasted less than 3 months in London once it hit the West End.

It sold out at £40 per part in a tiny government funded theatre, but it died once it had to sell commercially at West End prices.

Why they thought Broadway would be any different is beyond me especially when Angels had already flopped there.