Broadway Grosses: Week Ending March 27, 2022

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/29/22 at 4:50pm

https://playbill.com/grosses

MUSIC MAN remains #1.

The shows with the lowest attendance % were TINA, CHICAGO, PHANTOM, COME FROM AWAY, and DEAR EVAN HANSEN.

Shows with an average ticket price under $100 ($100 generally being viewed as the bare minimum of sustainability) - PARADISE SQAURE, BIRTHDAY CANDLES, ALADDIN, CHICAGO, PHANTOM, COME FROM AWAY, TAKE ME OUT.

Of the newest shows starting previews, FUNNY GIRL grossed an impressive $200,793 for its 1 performance (with an average price of $164.05). AMERICAN BUFFALO started decently, with $683,547 across 6 performances (average ticket price $121.80).

Updated On: 3/29/22 at 04:50 PM

[Bigserver1]

Posted: 3/29/22 at 5:22pm

Paradise Square under $50 average ticket price. I get that it's previews, but damn...That is rough

[OhHiii]

Posted: 3/29/22 at 5:35pm

Bigserver1 said: "Paradise Square under $50 average ticket price. I get that it's previews, but damn...That is rough"

All that paper will bring that ATP down VERY quickly. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/29/22 at 5:39pm

Is there a reason why BWW isn’t doing a weekly post via Rob like they did pre-pandemic?

[Rob]

Posted: 3/29/22 at 6:05pm

It'll be back next week! The list of things that wound up broken via some changes in how they're reporting data and various things we've upgraded in the time since we last used that system has been ... challenging! 

[Lumiere2]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 2:26am

OhHiii said: "Bigserver1 said: "Paradise Square under $50 average ticket price. I get that it's previews, but damn...That is rough"

All that paper will bring that ATP down VERY quickly."

You know what I find interesting? I wonder if PARADISE SQUARE is fudging some of the numbers so their attendance numbers appear higher. 

The report today says they "sold" 7,287 of a possible 7,848 tickets. That breaks down to 981 people per performance.

But the Barrymore has a capacity of 1,058 seats - sure enough, that's how many tickets were available each night when WAITRESS played the same theatre just a few months ago.

So did the PARADISE SQUARE team just remove 80 seats from the house? While that's totally possible, I wouldn't be surprised if they intentionally aren't selling a section of seats so they can claim the house capacity is lower....therefore inflating the reported attendance.

The show claims 92.8% of the house was full last week. But selling 7,287 tickets (yes, even counting the comp'd ones) over eight shows in a 1,058 seat theatre is actually only 86% full. That's a big difference.

Side note: $47 average ticket price is unquestionably being lowered due to how many free (or heavily discounted) tickets have been given out to build word-of-mouth. And it doesn't seem to be working.

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 7:27am

^This was addressed in the thread you cross posted in:  Paradise Square is using the Orchestra pit which would remove several rows of seats, Waitress did not as the band was onstage.   That could easily account for 80 seats.

[OhHiii]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 8:51am

Lumiere2 said: "Side note: $47 average ticket price is unquestionably being lowered due to how many free (or heavily discounted) tickets have been given out to build word-of-mouth. And it doesn't seem to be working.”

Papering at this level isn’t a word of mouth strategy, it’s an optics strategy and to avoid the actors from performing to empty houses. When word gets out a show is papering THIS much THIS early, it’s a nail in the coffin. Once the papering pool is depleted, capacity will plummet. 

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:14pm

re papering, I would say it is an everything strategy. As hard as it is for some here to wrap their heads around, producers and general managers don't pigeonhole. A good producer wants to sell every ticket at the highest possible price and to fill every seat regardless of the reason. Believe it or not, WOM is selling tickets to this. Not for top dollar, but for something and at this point "every dollar (as well as every tuchas) is precious." I put that in quotes because it was said by one of the wise ones.

There is already evidence, incidentally, that the papering that is happening has drilled down to the tertiary level of paper sources. Yes, there are three levels of desirability in papering lol.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:21pm

dramamama611 said: "Paradise Square is using the Orchestra pit which would remove several rows of seats, Waitress did not as the band was onstage. That could easily account for 80 seats."

Side note -- I was pleasantly surprised to see an open pit at PARADISE SQUARE, something that is kind of rare on Bway these days. From the front mezz, you can see most of the orchestra members (including a harp) playing below and seemingly a little higher-up than usual.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:22pm

Shiiiiii I hope Paradise Square lasts until May when I'm seeing it. Not a great start but possible good word of mouth might keep it alive throughout the Summer. 

[BwayFan252]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:54pm

These numbers don't look too great for Come From Away or Dear Evan Hansen. How long do you guys see these shows sticking around?

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 1:01pm

My money is on Dear Evan Hansen closing by end of the year. Come From Away even sooner.

[Rainah]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 1:32pm

BwayFan252 said: "These numbers don't look too great for Come From Away or Dear Evan Hansen. How long do you guys see these shows sticking around?"

Hard to say. Both shows have low costs so I could see them trying to stick it out and if it gets better. CFA was doing good business before the pandemic - not hamilton levels, but good. 

DEH may wait and see if everyone forgets the movie and whether their brand is permanently damaged by it or not. We'll see. Lots of shows have survived bad movie adaptions. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 1:52pm

Unless CFA and DEH are absolutely cash-strapped, I don't see them closing up shop until they see how the summer tourism season does. We are still in a weird time. I don't expect the grosses will grow THAT much (they may have just run their course), and then closing would happen around Labor Day.

End-of-summer could be a big time for a lot of shows closing this year –– possibly as many as these two, Doubtfire, Tina, MJ, Company, Chicago, Phantom.

ALADDIN's numbers are dangerously close to dropping under $1M per week, and that is a big expensive musical...but Disney is also its own landlord and we know they have plenty of money. I don't know if AIDA would appropriate play the cavernous New Amsterdam, but perhaps the PRINCESS BRIDE musical or that awful-looking revival of BEAUTY?

[SharksVsJets]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 3:37pm

BwayFan252 said: "These numbers don't look too great for Come From Away or Dear Evan Hansen. How long do you guys see these shows sticking around?"

I hope CFA can hang around until at least mid-June so it can break the house record for most performances at the Schoenfeld/Plymouth (currently held by Jeckyll and Hyde).

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 4:14pm

Ermengarde, you think there is a chance that Phantom will end its 34 year run this summer?  

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 4:27pm

Phantom4ever said: "Ermengarde, you think there is a chance that Phantom will end its 34 year run this summer?"

I would never bet money on Phantom or Chicago! But Phantom appears to be in "treading water" territory right now, and Chicago is def losing money. Both shows have so much money in the bank and unique arrangements with the Shuberts that we can't really speculate when they would close.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 4:48pm

Chicago has Pamela Anderson coming in, so I'm sure they're fine. 

Phantom probably has a lot in the vault money wise, and it's kind of the flagship Broadway show at this point. I don't see either going anywhere.

[schubox]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 4:59pm

Sutton Ross said: "Shiiiiii I hope Paradise Square lasts until May when I'm seeing it. Not a great start but possible good word of mouth might keep it alive throughout the Summer."

I have tickets in June and was thinking the same thing

[SisterGeorge]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 5:25pm

I may have missed this, but I did't see any stats about COMPANY this week or last. I assume this means it's doing just OK, neither soaring nor flailing?

[OhHiii]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 5:33pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Phantom4ever said: "Ermengarde, you think there is a chance that Phantom will end its 34 year run this summer?"

I would never bet money on Phantom or Chicago! But Phantom appears to be in "treading water" territory right now, and Chicago is def losing money. Both shows have so much money in the bank and unique arrangements with the Shuberts that we can't really speculate when they would close."

What metric are you using to define "treading water"? Shubert arrangements aside, I assure you at $800K+, Phantom is just fine and turning a couple hundred thousand profit lol. Chicago at over $500K without currently paying a "celebrity" salary isn't losing money either. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 5:43pm

SisterGeorge said: "I may have missed this, but I did't see any stats about COMPANY this week or last. I assume this means it's doing just OK, neither soaring nor flailing?"

You must have missed –– $887,745.61 last week.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 5:50pm

Pamela Anderson is playing 8 weeks. Chicago will be back in the $500Ks after that without a bona fide star (or maybe even with Anderson –– I don't know what kind of draw she'll be for full-price ticketbuyers, especially if her performance isn't stellar). Not knowing exact figures, I have to assume Chicago costs north of $600K per week to run, with Phantom north of $750K.

Like I said, I wouldn't bet money on Chicago and Phantom going anywhere (and if I did, I'd bet Chicago before Phantom). But if the longrunning tourist shows continue to struggle to find an audience in this new world, then it might be time to call it quits. When Phantom eventually announces –– which might be after we're all dead –– they could give 8 months notice and probably see a rise in sales, with people wanting to see it one final time.

[KKeller6]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 6:05pm

Would seem odd for CFA to go thru January and February just to close in the next month or two.