Honeymoon in Vegas

Broadway Grosses for Week Ending 2/15/15 Reveal New Strength

by Paul Mroczka

Mirren made a big splash last weekend.

Mirren made a big splash last weekend.

Helen Mirren in The Audience had a big first week, selling at 101.1%. That number is based on a short two-performance week. However, it’s expected that Mirren, who won an Olivier a few years ago for The Audience, will do big box office during her limited New York run.

Larry David’s comedy Fish in the Dark continued selling beyond capacity. The comedy realized a .5% increase over the week prior, filling the Cort Theatre at 101.6%, which was third for all shows on Broadway. The comedy earned $21,703 more than it did the week before.

Topping out the capacity stats was The Book of Mormon at 102.6%. The musical came in second in grosses, bringing in a total of $1,648,502. The Lion King was first in terms of gross, realizing $1,726,042, while filling 98.9% of its seats.

On the Twentieth Century

In its first weekend, the revival of On the Twentieth Century gave four performances and sold at 96.5% capacity. The madcap musical, which is produced by the Roundabout, stars Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher. It will be interesting to see if it does better than Honeymoon in Vegas and On the Town, both of which, until this past week, have seen sales slump.

Honeymoon and On the Town

Honeymoon in Vegas enjoyed the biggest gain in capacity of any show on Broadway. The musical sold at 64.9%, which marks a 13.6% jump from last week. Its gross receipts were at $491,146, which was an increase of $131,983 over last week.

The other show that witnessed a marked increase was On the Town. The 13.1% rise in capacity meant that the show sold at 49.3%, realizing $172,536 more in gross receipts, which totaled $552,450 for the week.

Other Box Office news

The Elephant Man was at 101.7%, up 1.5%, while Cabaret rose by 2.5%, coming in at 100.5%. The Elephant Man, which stars Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), closes this week just before the statuettes are given out, and Cabaret, which stars Oscar nominee Emma Stone (Birdman), saw Stone play her final performances this week. It’s said that the nominations helped both productions get added attention and increased ticket sales.

Sales on the Rise

With 18 new productions opening in March and April, eventual improvement in the weather, and Tony buzz developing, we should expect to see ticket sales for Broadway shows continue to rise.

(Note: All figures from this report were provided by the Broadway League. )

Broadway Ticket Sales and Grosses Down Due to Juno

by Paul Mroczka

Jackman in The River had a strong week.

Jackman in The River had a strong week.

Box office numbers for the week ending February 1, 2015 published by The Broadway League revealed the impact that the weather had on shows during the final week of January 2015. In terms of capacity, productions that struggled included On the Town (48.51%) and Honeymoon in Vegas (54.17%).

Others that came in on the low side included You Can’t Take It With You (58.08%), Mamma Mia! (64.90%), and Chicago (65.45%). Of those shows, Mamma Mia! and Chicago lost performances due to the weather forecast. The weather-shortened weekend caused grosses to fall from $21,335,320 the week before to $17,504,766 the week ending Feb. 1.

The River Going Strong

elephant 567

Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man also sold well.

The River, starring Hugh Jackman, showed strength, selling 100.13% capacity. The play, which is at Circle in the Square, will close on February 8. Book of Mormon continued to play at over 100% and to out-gross all shows, bringing in $1,423,750. The top grossing shows that were second, third, and fourth were all family oriented musicals with The Lion King bringing $1,337,983, Wicked seeing $1,291,035, and Aladdin selling $1,119,398 worth of tickets.

Fifth on the list was the revival of the Bernard Pomeranz play, The Elephant Man, starring Bradley Cooper. The show, which will transfer to London, grossed $976,936 last week.

Not Just the Weather

Book of Mormon is still going strong.

Book of Mormon is still going strong.

Although slumping box office numbers can be blamed on the weather, it’s more than that. It seems as if this Broadway season many of the new productions have failed to capture the interest of the public, despite the fact that various shows have garnered very strong reviews.

Perhaps the announcement of the Tony nominees on April 28, 2015, will help some shows. Unfortunately, Sting’s The Last Ship could not sustain itself to possibly benefit from the awards. The musical, which did receive good notices, closed on January 24. The Tony Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on June 7, 2015 on CBS.

Everyone will be carefully eyeing February’s weekly numbers. There should be a flurry of Broadway activity in March and April when four shows open in March and 14 more take to the Broadway boards in April just before the Tony cutoff date. Numbers usually spike upwards at that time.

Will Broadway Ticket Sales See an Uptick This Week?

by Paul Mroczka

On the Town sees slumping sales.

On the Town sees slumping sales.

As noted in an early story, the months of January and February can be especially tough on Broadway shows. The week ending January 25 (the 35th of the 2014-2015 season) saw almost every show lose ground. This time of year can be a tough sale due to weather, a lack of excess cash due to the holidays, and the overall physical and mental drain people feel this time of year.

Shows in the Plus Column

Shows that showed in creased sales few and far between. Those productions that enjoyed increased volume included Chicago (0.2%), It’s Only a Play (1.9%), Kinky Boots (2.0%), and Mamma Mia! (2.5%). Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and The Book of Mormon were both stable, with the former selling 93% and the latter overbooked at 102.6%.

The big winner was Sting’s musical The Last Ship, which closed on January 24. That show saw an increase of 4%, selling at 87.6%. Although The Last Ship garnered fine reviews, it just could not find an audience.

Slow Sales Overall

Sting appeared in The Last Ship in an attempt to boost ticket sales.

Sting appeared in The Last Ship in an attempt to boost ticket sales.

The Broadway front is seeing slow sales overall. The revival of On the Town, which received excellent notices, was at 60.3% for the week ending January 25, and the new musical Honeymoon in Vegas, which reviewers loved, came in at 71.3%. It will be interesting to see how Honeymoon in Vegas will perform in the next few weeks, and if, overall, as the weather improves, sales will spike up.

Figures for the week ending February 1, 2015 will include an extra dark night for some shows, which closed down due to the storm forecast. That forecast proved to be much ado about nothing.

Broadway Grosses Unpredictable During January

by Paul Mroczka

Honeymoon in Vegas Box Office

Honeymoon in Vegas Box Office

Honeymoon in Vegas, which received great reviews, got a bump in ticket sales.

The ‘dead months” for Broadway begin in January with the start of the calendar year and stretch into early March. It’s a time that can be tough on Broadway ticket sales, as people are often low on cash due to holiday spending. Also, the unpredictable and unkind weather, short days and cold nights, and a general letdown after all of the hustle and bustle that defines the time from Thanksgiving through to New Year’s, contribute to uneven ticket sales.

Mid-January Box Office Figures

Mamma Mia! Broadway musical

Mamma Mia! saw a decreased os more than 10%.

The box office numbers as reported by Playbill.com for the week ending January 18, 2015, reveal an overall uptick from those for the week ending January 11th. Most plays and musicals showed an increase in ticket sales for the week running from the 12th to the 18th. Where as for the week ending January 11th every show, except Aladdin and The Book of Mormon, saw a decline from the week prior, which included New Year’s.

Shows that experienced a decline in sales for the week ending January 18th were Cabaret (-1.4%), Chicago (-5.8%), It’s Only a Play (-5.0%), Jersey Boys (-6.3%), Les Misérables (-5.9%), The Lion King (-1.0%), and The Phantom of the Opera (-8.8%). Mamma Mia! posted the only double-digit dovetail, with sales down 12.8%,

Shows Trending Upward

Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance on Broadway

John Lithgow and Glenn Close star in Albee’s A Delicate Balance.

Of the 29 shows presently running on Broadway, 21 either showed no decline or enjoyed an increase in sales. That means 74% of the shows experienced either improved or stable tickets sales.

The show that saw the biggest increase was the revival of Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama A Delicate Balance. There was a 10.1% increase in sales, as the John Golden Theatre reached 83.4% capacity. Two other revivals rebounded nicely, as On the Town notched an increase of 7.7%, going from 58.1% to 65.8%, and You Can’t Take It With You received a 7.2% bump, as it went from 61.3% capacity to 68.5%.

Honeymoon in Vegas

The new musical Honeymoon in Vegas, which garnered wonderful reviews during the week, went from 78.5% to 81.5% capacity. It will be interesting to see if what appears to be the first big hit of 2015 continues to see increased ticket sales during what can be the harshest time of the year for Broadway theatres. Broadway producers will be anxiously eyeing advanced sales for the coming months, as well as daily and weekly grosses.