Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 12/1/24

[Rob]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 2:46pm

Click below to access all the Broadway grosses from all the shows for the week ending 12/1/2024 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 (% of capacity) was: CHICAGO (35.4%), BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL (18.3%), & JULIET (9.6%), HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD (9.5%), MAYBE HAPPY ENDING (9.3%), THE NOTEBOOK (8.8%), THE GREAT GATSBY (8.8%), ONCE UPON A MATTRESS (7.3%), HADESTOWN (6.6%), CABARET AT THE KIT KAT CLUB (5.1%), MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL (4.8%), SIX (4.8%), STEREOPHONIC (4.7%), HELL'S KITCHEN (3.5%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (2.4%), ROMEO + JULIET (1.6%), SUFFS (1.6%), HAMILTON (1.5%), THE OUTSIDERS (1%), ALADDIN (0.6%), MJ THE MUSICAL (0.3%), ELF (0.3%), LEFT ON TENTH (0.2%), THE LION KING (0.1%),

Down for the week by attendance (% of capacity) was: SWEPT AWAY (-10.8%), WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (-9.8%), GYPSY (-7.5%), A WONDERFUL WORLD: THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG MUSICAL (-6.7%), OUR TOWN (-3.8%), SUNSET BLVD. (-2.2%), TAMMY FAYE (-2.2%), CULT OF LOVE (-0.7%), DEATH BECOMES HER (-0.7%), THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA (-0.5%), THE ROOMMATE (-0.2%),

Click Here to Visit the BroadwayWorld Grosses...

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 2:48pm

Thrilled to see MAYBE HAPPY ENDING gaining momentum!

[TigerBait88]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 2:52pm

Yes yes Debbie Downers…we know this isn’t quite a money making week for Maybe Happy Ending but it’s continued improvement and shows a 750k/90% week is within reach. Baby steps…I believe this show can make it!! 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 2:54pm

Salivating over most of these numbers as if they were a Thanksgiving turkey!

Happy trails to ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, Shoshana Bean at HELL'S KITCHEN, and Jacqueline B. Arnold and music director Julie McBride over at MOULIN ROUGE! (Leaving for SMASH and REDWOOD, respectively.)

That's a great first full week for GYPSY, not so much for EUREKA DAY.

ELF cracked the top 4 grossers last week, and MAYBE HAPPY ENDING might be gaining some steam...

Yowza, some of these new shows on the other side of the spectrum. I'm a little shocked WATER FOR ELEPHANTS and THE ROOMMATE haven't seen much of a bump before they close soon.

 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 2:57pm

TigerBait88 said: "Yes yes Debbie Downers…we know this isn’t quite a money making week for Maybe Happy Ending but it’s continued improvement and shows a 750k/90% week is within reach. Baby steps…I believe this show can make it!!"

What makes their operating costs so high for such a small cast? Is it due to the technical elements?

[Ravanne_1]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 2:58pm

IdinaBellFoster said: "Thrilled to see MAYBE HAPPY ENDING gaining momentum!"

This is mostly really good news for MHE. Average ticket price is finally over $100 and they broke the $700k mark for the week. But it something of a mixed bag because despite being a holiday week, capacity was at 88%. Still, these are much better numbers for MHE and this is the first week that they came close to (or actually managed to) cover their operating costs. This was a holiday week and most shows were up significantly, Many by a lot more. We know that the holiday season is usually some of the best time for shows because of all the tourists so we need to see how well they sustain these numbers. Still, this is excellent news for the show.

Gypsy looks like it's going to be another monster hit. And I'm glad that Suffs is getting some real audience love for the final weeks. As for Tammy... ouch. I'm thinking they should just close and put that poor show out of its misery because it's got to be excruciating for the cast to have to play to such tiny audiences.

Updated On: 12/4/24 at 02:58 PM

[TigerBait88]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:00pm

IdinaBellFoster said: "TigerBait88 said: "Yes yes Debbie Downers…we know this isn’t quite a money making week for Maybe Happy Ending but it’s continued improvement and shows a 750k/90% week is within reach. Baby steps…I believe this show can make it!!"

What makes their operating costs so high for such a small cast? Is it due to the technical elements?"

Yes and the higher rent/operating costs (or so I’ve read) of the theatre but yeah…mostly the tech elements are what’s to blame.

[Sauja]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:02pm

Will Left on Tenth close shop early? And why on earth did Tammy Faye not just close this past Sunday?

[VotePeron]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:02pm

I think even a 4 person, straight-play with a fixed unit set would still probably cost $550,000 these days. It's just what it costs, and why it baffles me why anyone would want to produce a Broadway show.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:07pm

What’s the house record for the Marquis? That has be close to it, no?

edit: I guess I blocked from my memory Beetljuice’s second run there. They broke 2 million multiple times.

Updated On: 12/3/24 at 03:07 PM

[TigerBait88]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:07pm

Ravanne_1 said: "IdinaBellFoster said: "Thrilled to see MAYBE HAPPY ENDING gaining momentum!"

This is mostly really good news for MHE. Average ticket price is finally over $100 and they broke the $700k mark for the week. But it something of a mixed back because despite being a holiday week, capacity was at 88%. Still, these are much better numbers for MHE and this is the first week that they came close to (or actually managed to) cover their operating costs.This was a holiday week and most shows were up significantly, Many by a lot more. We know that the holiday season is usually some of the best time for shows because of all the tourists so we need to see how well they sustain these numbers. Still, this is excellent news for the show.”

“Many by a lot more?” Huh? Unless I am misunderstanding what you meant, only four shows had higher capacity increases than MHE…

That being said, I get it’s a tiny bit worrying it didn’t do even better on a holiday weekend but quite a few of its new show rivals had objectively BAD Thanksgiving weekends. I’ll take this all day. Onward and upward. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:08pm

Call_me_jorge said: "What’s the house record for the Marquis? That has be close to it, no?"

BEETLEJUICE grossed $2,462,831 in its penultimate week. 

[DaveyG]

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

EDSOSLO858 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "What’s the house record for the Marquis? That has be close to it, no?"

BEETLEJUICE grossed $2,462,831 in its penultimate week."

Beetlejuice actually holds two records - the number EDSOSLO858 quoted is for a nine-performance week. They also have the eight-performance week record at the Marquis with $2,146,200.

Maybe Elf will break the eight-performance week record Christmas week? It will probably be close. Good for them - I loved it. 
 

Updated On: 12/3/24 at 03:12 PM

[Dkinny23]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:14pm

I've never been more invested in a show's fate than I am for Maybe Happy Ending! Seems I'm not alone haha. Really great week for them, I'm hoping the momentum continues. They still have work to do, but so far, I'll take the win for this week! 

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:15pm

I don't think I can remember numbers as bad as Tammy Faye's. You've gotta feel for the cast. I've never seen such a resounding "we don't want this" from critics, usual theatergoers, and casual ticket buyers. 

Elsewhere, some of these jumps in grosses from the previous week are INSANE. The Lion King picked up an extra $876K...a bump that is more than the entire weekly gross of some other struggling productions. And Elf's numbers show just how desperate tourists are for familiar Christmas fare. I really don't think its worth the high ticket prices and was sort of baffled at the glowing reviews, but good for them.

Is the 1.8 million figure a record for The Outsiders? Very impressive, especially since a story about class warfare and a bunch of teens beating the crap out of each other doesn't exactly scream "holiday fun for the whole family" (which is normally the kind of shows that drive the high numbers during these weeks).

And add me to the chorus of folks tickled by the Maybe Happy Ending grosses. Keep going!!

[DaveyG]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:15pm

So delighted for MHE. If they can stick around through the Tonys, I think they have a real shot at winning some big awards.

[pablitonizer]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:16pm

Yikes Tammy! Those numbers are even worse than last week, I can't believe it's playing at 38% capacity, the palace must be a ghosttown. It must be so hard for the entire cast, it should have closed before Thanksgiving. 

 

So happy for Death becomes her! Swept away and A wonderful world are definitely in trouble and might close by January, terrible numbers. MHE seems to have increased but I'm not sure it's strong enough to survive the entire winter 

Updated On: 12/3/24 at 03:16 PM

[scripps]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:17pm

What a mistake it was to bring Swept Away in for a commercial run. One could argue that they couldn't have picked a worse time of year to open but was there ever a good time? At least we have a cast recording to look forward to.

Updated On: 12/3/24 at 03:17 PM

[LuckyDipster]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:21pm

It's nice to see Back To The Future doing well again.  I hope these last few weeks are kind to them.

[Lumiere2]

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

Taking bets now: which posts a closing notice first, Wonderful World or Swept Away?

I thought they were both good (not great, but I liked them enough), but these are the two shows with open runs sitting at the bottom of the grosses and capacity lists - and by quite a large margin too.

Personally, I think Swept Away makes it to MLK weekend (maybe President's Day?) and then it sails off into...the...um, the...well, it sails somewhere.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:25pm

This was the best-attended and highest-grossing Thanksgiving week in Broadway's recorded history. Congrats to all who made this happen!

 

[Ravanne_1]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:35pm

Out of the 38 shows the grosses track, MHE was 13th from the bottom in capacity. Not terrible by any stretch, but the number isn't quite as great when we look at total number of tickets sold. The Belasco isn't the biggest theater, so MHE's 88% ended up being fewer tickets sold than MJ's 87% because The Neil Simon theater has a lot more seats available. When we look at total number of tickets sold for the week, MHE is still 13th from the bottom. If we look at average ticket price, MHE is 8th from the bottom. 

And again, this is a holiday week. Demand is at a premium and at least as far as capacity, MHE is still somewhat underperforming. The numbers are a lot better, and I really want to see how the next few weeks go. One or two relatively good weeks realistically isn't going to be enough to sustain the show but if we keep seeing this kind of improvement, then its chances of long term survival are better. I don't see this show ever really being profitable because it is having such a challenge just to meet its weekly expenses, but I do expect it to last at least through the new year.

It's basic economics, in the end, that will decide how this goes. A show like Death Becomes Her can sell tickets at around $110 each, but they sold over 11,000 tickets this week. if MHE sold every ticket they had available, they'd be maxing out at under 8,000 seats per week. I think that between the costs of running the show and the size of the theater which has a cap on just how many people are going to be able to see it, MHE has some significant issues. 

Updated On: 12/3/24 at 03:35 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:36pm

scripps said: "What a mistake it was to bring Swept Away in for a commercial run. One could argue that they couldn't have picked a worse time of year to open but was there ever a good time? At least we have a cast recording to look forward to."

Shows like swept away and maybe happy ending didn’t get a choice when to come in. The offer was made Nd they accepted or not.  Neither are we’re or are expected to run beyond  early winter and have shows behind them for the spring  

.
wonderul world is a little different with its connection to roundabout 

Updated On: 12/3/24 at 03:36 PM

[Claudia Draper]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:36pm

JESUS.. $949.50 top price for Romeo + Juliet ..  Why ?!?!

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/3/24 at 3:44pm

TigerBait88 said: "IdinaBellFoster said: "TigerBait88 said: "Yes yes Debbie Downers…we know this isn’t quite a money making week for Maybe Happy Ending but it’s continued improvement and shows a 750k/90% week is within reach. Baby steps…I believe this show can make it!!"

What makes their operating costs so high for such a small cast? Is it due to the technical elements?"

Yes and the higher rent/operating costs (or so I’ve read) of the theatre but yeah…mostly the tech elements are what’s to blame."

I also don't fully understand how tech elements can be that expensive *per week.* Even though Maybe Happy Ending has a small cast, is the production renting super hi-tech equipment that can only be used by a trained/licensed professional(s) that cost $$$ per week? Sometimes I wonder if these tech folks earn more than the cast!

Updated On: 12/3/24 at 03:44 PM