Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 12/15/24

I’m so happy to see The Notebook close on a sold out week and bring in over $1mil. Other than Stereophonic, it was my favorite show I saw this year.

Wow, Elf is the fourth highest grossing show, crossing the 2mil mark. Good for them!

 

That’s a solid finish for NOTEBOOK and ROOMMATE. 

Despite the “but they’re all on book” criticisms, I say ALL IN will be a hit on star power alone. Let’s be honest, most folks would pay top dollar to watch A-listers do anything, just so long as it means they’ll share the same space as them for a time. 

Okay figures for SWEPT AWAY, but remember that this was supposed to be their closing week. They’ll go out with a whimper, as the two-week extension is barely sold. Here’s hoping the Longacre puts up some better numbers when Elmer McCurdy rides into town in the spring ;)

 

 

They gotta let Harry Potter go soon 

SonofRobbieJ said: "Is it me or are these GYPSY numbers kind of insane? I'm seeing it tonight (and I'm really quite excited). I don't remember any of the previous GYPSY revivals pulling in these types of numbers, but maybe I'm simply misremembering."

Bigger theatre than any since original run and very high prices.  The thing that will be interesting is to see how long momentum lasts, particularly if the reviews are mixed.

Updated On: 12/17/24 at 02:47 PM

Swept Away still had a low average ticket price despite being mostly sold out.

Dkinny23 said: "Lumiere2 said: "They played to 95% capacity, and with almost zero comps - these are genuine ticket buyers"

Curious how you know this? I believe you, just wish I could discern from telecharge which is comped vs actual sales."

I was actually going to say the same thing. It's rare for a show to have 0 comps. Reviewers, assoc director, producers, VIPs... even the long running shows still have comps. How do you know this?

Jarethan said: "SonofRobbieJ said: "Is it me or are these GYPSY numbers kind of insane? I'm seeing it tonight (and I'm really quite excited). I don't remember any of the previous GYPSY revivals pulling in these types of numbers, but maybe I'm simply misremembering."

Bigger theatre than any since original run and very high prices. The thing that will be interesting is to see how long momentum lasts, particularly if the reviews are mixed."

Plus the last GYPSY revival was back in 2008 or 2009? Prices were cheaper back then! 
 

Sure...all of that is true. And I get that tickets are more expensive now (I mean...i haven't hit my head). But there are a bunch of people paying the $447 to see this production which just surprises me. Perhaps Audra in a musical is more of a draw than a lot of folks were suspecting. I'm excited to see this tonight after hearing a few audio snippets. Every time I read someone talk about the fact that she's not singing the score 'as intended,' I keep thinking 'Well...neither did Angela Lansbury (transpositions and strange key changes mid-song) nor Tyne Daley (a fabulous performance even though her voice was...thin.).' Plus, I'm one of the few people who apparently loves that strident, high-flying soprano mix she employs when she gets in the area of C/D/E above middle C. Maybe it won't work for me, but I'm ready to go along for the ride. 

Couple of thoughts:

• Flabbergasted by the Great Gatsby gross.  My first thought was that maybe the late Broadway Flash was right about this; my second thought was that we will find out how much of a box office draw Jeremy Jordan has been in another month or so; my third thought was 'will Gatsby EVER make it to Broadway or has the success of this one damn it to regional theatres?  A real shame, given how good Gatsby is,
• I was thinking that Cabaret really didn't do particularly well, despite so many other shows having great weeks.  Then I saw that its average ticket price was $150, which then reminded me of the low capacity in the currently configured theatre (of course, it only saw 91% attendance, despite the reduced seating capacity.  That led me back to the discussions as to who thought it would ever return its investment, given the cost to get it on-board.  I concluded, as I did originally, that the people who put up the money must have assumed that the show would command ridiculous prices for a really extended period of time.  Boy, did they take a big gamble.  I have to admit that I have still not seen it, due to limited slots when in NYC, feedback from this board, and feedback from people I know who have seen it.
• No doubt Chicago's weekly breakeven is impacted by who is in the cast.  Nevertheless, I continue to be amazed at how well the powers that be must manage Chicago's dollars.  If they continue to do that, and periodically increase revenue with niche names, God knows if it will ever close.
• I really feel bad about Hills' grosses.  For my money, this is the best play I have seen in several years.  As great as Laura Donnelly is, I guess they needed a name...Butterworth and Mendes are clearly not enough.
• Finally, I am amazed at how much DBH grossed last week, given that its average ticket price suggests that a good number of tickets were discounted.  I guess the Lunt is bigger than I realized...I always focus on how narrow the theatre is...but it goes back for a long way.