Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 12/22/19

[Rob]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 3:09pm

Click below to access all the Broadway grosses from all the shows for the week ending 12/22/2019 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: THE LIGHTNING THIEF (11.2%), DERREN BROWN: SECRET (7.9%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (5.9%), THE ILLUSIONISTS - MAGIC OF THE HOLIDAYS (5.6%), FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME (4.2%), FROZEN (2.8%), ALADDIN (2.6%), WICKED (2%), SLAVA'S SNOWSHOW (0.8%), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (0.4%), BEETLEJUICE (0.4%), THE LION KING (0.4%), DEAR EVAN HANSEN (0.3%), HAMILTON (0.2%), HADESTOWN (0.1%), WAITRESS (0.1%),

Down for the week by attendance was: TOOTSIE (-17.3%), CHICAGO (-10.7%), SLAVE PLAY (-8.1%), THE INHERITANCE (-6.8%), HARRY CONNICK, JR. - A CELEBRATION OF COLE PORTER (-6.4%), JAGGED LITTLE PILL (-5.8%), OKLAHOMA! (-4.6%), THE SOUND INSIDE (-3.2%), AIN'T TOO PROUD (-3.1%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (-1.3%), AMERICAN UTOPIA (-0.6%), MOULIN ROUGE! (-0.6%), COME FROM AWAY (-0.5%), MEAN GIRLS (-0.4%), TINA - THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL (-0.4%), TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (-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: 12/23/19 at 3:27pm

Oh my, those numbers for The Inheritance. I was going to see it again in March, I hope it survives that long

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 3:38pm

CHRISTMAS CAROL broke the record again this week (not surprising though!) I really hope the show recoups and the producers will bring the play back again on Broadway in the future (most likely different cast but that's fine!)

[EthelMae]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 4:06pm

Wow. For most of the shows, let it always be Christmas!

[hveasey]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 4:48pm

ModernMillie3 said: "Oh my, those numbers for The Inheritance. I was going to see it again in March, I hope it survives that long "

I wasn’t planning on seeing it again for a little while longer but with the ticket deals they’ve been offering and those grosses, I decided to see it again in the next two weeks as I’m concerned the plug might get pulled sooner rather than later.

On the other hand, they did just release a whole new block of tickets and I’d be surprised to see it not run at least until the Tonys. This really isn’t a show that appeals to the holiday tourist crowd so I wouldn’t expect it to be doing great grosses during this period anyways.  I think the Inheritance made a big mistake not opening in February/March when awards hype might carry them for longer and then they could’ve done a big marketing push during Pride month.

[laurensambrose]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 4:52pm

I know it'll be fine since it has less than a month left on Broadway, but Oklahoma's grosses are making me so sad  

[SomeOtherMe]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 4:52pm

On the other hand, they did just release a whole new block of tickets and I’d be surprised to see it not run at least until the Tonys.

Assuming they stay open until the Tony's, do we think that chances of them winning "Best Play" is high, though?

 

Updated On: 12/23/19 at 04:52 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 5:00pm

SomeOtherMe said: "On the other hand, they did just release a whole new block of tickets and I’d be surprised to see it not run at least until the Tonys.

Assuming they stay open until the Tony's, do we think that chances of them winning "Best Play" is high, though?"

It'll likely be nominated, but the spring is bringing heavy hitters like Hangman, The Lehman Trilogy, and The Minutes. The Sound Inside was a critical darling, and Slave Play will still loom large. 

 

[goodlead]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 5:38pm

I remember when the weeks before Christmas were dead because everyone was shopping or at parties.  But what a change this week's grosses represent.

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 6:14pm

Producer of Christmas Carol says they plan to bring it back next year.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 6:29pm

Wick3 said: "CHRISTMAS CAROL broke the record again this week (not surprising though!) I really hope the show recoups and the producers will bring the play back again on Broadway in the future (most likely different cast but that's fine!)"

It will recoup only if/when mounted again next year.

[LexiGirl]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 7:32pm

InTheBathroom1 said: "Producer of Christmas Carol says they plan to bring it back next year."

I was hoping so. I really wanted to see it on my Christmas trip this year, but couldn’t fit it in. I’d make it a priority for next year if they brought it back.

[msmp]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 10:51pm

Anyone know why MR dropped over 400k last week? Not that it's performing poorly or anything, it was just an eye-catching dropoff.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 11:04pm

msmp said: "Anyone know why MR dropped over 400k last week? Not that it's performing poorly or anything, it was just an eye-catching dropoff."

They only did 7 shows. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 11:18pm

goodlead said: "I remember when the weeks before Christmas were dead because everyone was shopping or at parties. But what a change this week's grosses represent."

In the 60s and 70s, Broadway was a ghost town in December for all but Christmas week. The week before Christmas week was as I recall probably the worst week of the year.  I can remember once seeing Funny Girl fairly late in its run the week before Christmas in a Majestic Theater orchestra that was literally 20% full.   The result for me was a sad performance regardless of what was actually happening on-stage.  
 

Christmas week was great, but never like it is today, where we can anticipate that almost 20 shows will sell out or be above 95% capacity.  

[goodlead]

Posted: 12/25/19 at 10:25am

Jarethan, did Funny Girl transfer to the Majestic near the end of its run?  I'm surprised it could take such a sought-after house as it was winding downl

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/25/19 at 11:23am

Kad said: "SomeOtherMe said: "On the other hand, they did just release a whole new block of tickets and I’d be surprised to see it not run at least until the Tonys.

Assuming they stay open until the Tony's, do we think that chances of them winning "Best Play" is high, though?"

It'll likely be nominated, but the spring is bringing heavy hitters like Hangman, The Lehman Trilogy, and The Minutes. The Sound Inside was a critical darling, and Slave Play will still loom large."

I’d also say that releasing another block of tickets doesn’t guarantee it’ll be around that long. Lots of struggling shows (Summer, anyone?) release another block of tickets then announce closing a little later before those dates approach. I’m assuming productions to do that for two reasons. One is for the optics of projecting confidence that it’ll be around to attract ticket buyers and secondly to survey advance ticket sales. I’m glad I have tickets to see both parts the Sunday after next. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 12/25/19 at 11:56pm

goodlead said: "Jarethan, did Funny Girl transfer to the Majestic near the end of its run? I'm surprised it could take such a sought-after house as it was winding downl

It moved to the Majestic 2 years into its run, I assume to make the Winter Garden available for Mame.  The best part, though, is that it moved to the Broadway after that and closed there (interestingly, as did the original runs of Cabaret, Fiddler, and Mame -- all in the sixties.  So, in those days, the Broadway appears to have been the theatre where old hit shows went to finally die (a huge theatre made some sense when two-fers were the main source for any discounted tickets).  

But, back then, shows moved frequently, before some of the stage unions got out of control, causing moving costs to skyrocket out of economic viability in all but the rarest cases.  To cite one example, The Subject Was Roses -- a small play that absolutely could not afford costly moves -- played at at least 4 different theaters during its original run in the mid-sixties (including, believe it or not, the Broadway for a short stint).  As I recall, they did not sell seats in the rear mezzanine.  Even so, it must have been totally ridiculous playing in that theatre.

The plot thickens though.  I was wrong about seeing Funny Girl the week before Christmas, as it was not at the Majestic long enough to play Christmas.  I am assuming that I actually saw it during Holy Week, which was also an incredibly deadly week for NY theatre back then.  To put tin perspective, the theatre was positively deserted when I saw it at the Majestic, yet it managed to run another year (maybe it went on two-fees some time around then?????).  That is how bad the week before Easter and Christmas were...if you were not a huge hit, business went down mega (much more pronounced than today)...if you were just surviving, you died those weeks.

 

 

Updated On: 12/25/19 at 11:56 PM

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/26/19 at 12:02am

Jarethan - this is fascinating. What are two-fees?

[After Eight]

Posted: 12/26/19 at 1:29am

“What are two-fees?”

 

Twofers were discount coupons in the shape of tickets that one presented at the box-office. The name implies two for the price of one, but that wasn't always the case. One could also buy a single reduced-price ticket as well. I have a collection of some of them from back in the day. The Star-Spangled Girl charged $4.50 for a $7.50 orchestra seat, excluding the 1st ten rows of the orchestra. Barefoot in the Park charged $3.90 for a $6.75 orchestra seat, excluding the 1st 8 rows of the orchestra.

[inception]

Posted: 12/26/19 at 8:03am

What do you call it when you see a show twice in one week then?

I guess I'm helping out next week's grosses. Saw Moulin Rouge last night, woke up early this morning, looked on Ticketmaster and saw a single center orch priced $100 less * than seats in same row for matinee. Decided to see MR again, and bail on seeing Tootsie.

Will likely go pick up the Tootsie ticket at will call 12:30 - 1 ish & give, it to 1st person looking for a seat. It is an aisle seat rear orch.

*edit: just checked my records, & this 2nd MR ticket is only $35 more than what I paid to seat near the top of the mezz last night

Updated On: 12/26/19 at 08:03 AM

[inception]

Posted: 12/26/19 at 1:21pm

inception said: "What do you call it when you see a show twice in one week then?

I guess I'm helping out next week's grosses. Saw Moulin Rouge last night, woke up early this morning, looked on Ticketmaster and saw a single center orch priced $100 less * than seats in same row for matinee. Decided to see MR again, and bail on seeing Tootsie.

Will likely go pick up the Tootsie ticket at will call 12:30 - 1 ish & give, it to 1st person looking for a seat. It is an aisle seat rear orch.

*edit: just checked my records, & this 2nd MR ticket is only $35 more than what I paid to seat near the top of the mezz last night"

Update: No one wants to see Tootsie, or is in a group, left ticket with girl working at TKTS sign board

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 12/26/19 at 2:03pm

I think you should go see Tootsie if it’s not too late, and if you haven’t already seen it! Moulin will be around for another few years at least.

[ModernMillie3]

Posted: 12/26/19 at 2:24pm

Tootsie is great, don't miss it!

[ModernMillie3]

Posted: 12/26/19 at 2:24pm

Tootsie is great, don't miss it!