Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 12/16/18

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: HEAD OVER HEELS (6.7%), THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG (4.8%), AMERICAN SON (2.3%), ONCE ON THIS ISLAND (1.7%), MEAN GIRLS (1.4%), WICKED (1.3%), THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT (0.5%), THE NEW ONE (0.4%), TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (0.3%), HAMILTON (0.2%), THE LION KING (0.2%), COME FROM AWAY (0.1%), NETWORK (0.1%),

Down for the week by attendance was: RUBEN & CLAY'S FIRST ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CAROL FAMILY FUN PAGEANT SPECTACULAR (-12.2%), MY FAIR LADY (-7.9%), BEAUTIFUL (-6.9%), KINKY BOOTS (-5.7%), THE BAND'S VISIT (-5.0%), WAITRESS (-4.8%), CHICAGO (-4.5%), KING KONG (-4.5%), ANASTASIA (-4.2%), PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL (-4.0%), THE ILLUSIONISTS - MAGIC OF THE HOLIDAYS (-3.3%), THE CHER SHOW (-2.9%), SUMMER (-2.6%), THE PROM (-2.4%), THE WAVERLY GALLERY (-2.0%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (-1.8%), THE FERRYMAN (-1.6%), TORCH SONG (-1.4%), ALADDIN (-1.0%), FROZEN (-0.6%), SCHOOL OF ROCK (-0.3%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (-0.2%),

Click Here to Visit the BroadwayWorld Grosses...

Miles2Go2 said: "Nothing too surprising here. Most of the shows that are struggling have either already announced their closing dates or were limited runs to begin with. Waitress is sure to get a bump when Sara pops back into the pie shop. Not sure how long The Prom can hang on though. As HoH and OOTI have proven, some shows can continue to run a long time despite poor box office if they get an angel investor or just continue to make poor financial decisions."

I really want The Prom to hang in there. I haven't seen it yet (going next week!), but it looks like the kind of show that is right up my alley. I'm crossing my fingers that the producers keep it open in hopes of Tony nominations.

I saw The Band's Visit over the summer, and am really hoping it can continue to find an audience. The scale isn't as grand as other Best Musical winners, but it was beautiful, intimate, and unique.

I guess all the people who painstakingly interpreted the grosses each week are the same people who abandoned the site?

Jarethan said: "On a separate note, I have wondered for some time if this board likes TBV much more than the typical regular theatergoer. I know about 15 - 20 peoplewho have seen it, and I may be the person among that numberwho liked it the most. The problem is that -- despite being familiar with the score, which I really like-- I was restless on more than a few occasions, despite the fact thatit is only 90 minutes long. On the night that I went, the other three people with whom I attended the performance-- all of whom attend at least 12 - 15 performances a year (vs. my 40-50 a year, which is nothing compared to a lot of people on this board) -- all said they were pretty bored throughout, although all thought that Katrina Lenk was outstanding and the theme of the show was commendable. I suspect that this show has pretty much run its course, although I do admire the producer's creative approach to getting through the winter."

I can only speak for myself here, but I thought TBV was slow until it got to "Beat of a Heart." For me, that's when I was really pulled in to stories that were going on with the characters.

I describe TBV to friends in a few ways. One is that it's about what happens when strangers see parts of each other's lives they normally don't. Another is that it's like watching an indie or foreign film - some days you're in the mood for that, and some days you're in the mood for a blockbuster. Neither is inherently good or bad, but indie movies do tend to have more a niche audience.

Just my two cents.

Kitsune said: "Jarethan said: "On a separate note, I have wondered for some time if this board likes TBV much more than the typical regular theatergoer. I know about 15 - 20 peoplewho have seen it, and I may be the person among that numberwho liked it the most. The problem is that -- despite being familiar with the score, which I really like-- I was restless on more than a few occasions, despite the fact thatit is only 90 minutes long. On the night that I went, the other three people with whom I attended the performance-- all of whom attend at least 12 - 15 performances a year (vs. my 40-50 a year, which is nothing compared to a lot of people on this board) -- all said they were pretty bored throughout, although all thought that Katrina Lenk was outstanding and the theme of the show was commendable. I suspect that this show has pretty much run its course, although I do admire the producer's creative approach to getting through the winter."

I can only speak for myself here, but I thought TBV was slow until it got to "Beat of a Heart." For me, that's when I was really pulled in to stories that were going on with the characters.

I describe TBV to friends in a few ways. One is that it's about what happens when strangers see parts of each other's lives they normally don't. Another is that it's like watching an indie or foreign film - some days you're in the mood for that, and some days you're in the mood for a blockbuster. Neither is inherently good or bad, but indie movies do tend to have more a niche audience.

Just my two cents."

Extremely well put on both points. Re the latter point, the thing that is interesting FOR ME is that I have much more patience sitting though slowly paced indie films than through slowly paced Broadway shows. I hate to admit it, but I think it has to do with comfort. In a live performance, I always have to sit up straight, I sometimes have a problem with the heads in front of me; bottom line, I am rarely comfortable. When I watch an indie, I am usually in a movie theatre that is not super-crowded, so I can find a seat where I am likely to not have someone right next to me (or in front), and I can slouch to my heart's content. If I am home, I will stretch out on the sofa, although there are not as many indies available from home. Being comfortable makes a big difference, and -- at least with TBV -- I was not comfortable.

Don't think BAND's VISIT was ever competing with a PRETTY WOMAN audience. It definitely was appealing to the ticketbuyers giving FERRYMAN and NETWORK $1 million-weeks, however.

Yeah for THE CHER SHOW!!!

TBV is ONCE with a Mideast accent.

Nothing happens in the most interesting ways, in lives lived by very normal and yet interesting people. Just like the people we meet every day. The people meet, they connect and they separate.

Then life goes on.

Maybe they learned something that makes the rest of life better. Maybe not. That's not the point. It's 'a moment in the woods' and that's worth remembering. By them. And by us.

Every few years it's a good thing to settle back for an evening into remembering how good it is to just to be alive. Then we can go back to the bombast of Broadway.

I think a good show is a good show but I do wonder if I would have loved The Band's Visit as much if it hadn't been such an off-Broadway gem. I haven't seen the Broadway production. Framing and context matter. I have no criticism for the show's marketing. I can't say I've ever seen them pretend it's a big, flashy musical. And they can't really adapt the size of the theater or the pricing any more than they have to perhaps line up with the audience's expectations of this kind of "indie movie" storytelling.

Not a great start for Choir Boy. But i wonder if it will be another A Doll’s House, Part 2 - a slow start, although it was well received on the boards here, and when the critic’s reviews came in, the grosses increased sharply

HogansHero said: "why do these things always seem to devolve into a discussion of what individual people here think of a show. TBV has an audience, it has very positive reviews. who cares if someone here doesn't like it? This is a discussion of business, not taste."

Because we are humans and not robots. Human's greatest gift and is their ability to go off on tangents. It brings us together.

Miles2Go2 said: "mordav said: "Not a great start for Choir Boy. But i wonder if it will be another A Doll’s House, Part 2 - a slow start, although it was well received on the boards here, and when the critic’s reviews came in, the grosses increased sharply"

But A Doll House, Part 2 was an open run, correct. Choir Boy has a closing date of February 17th so every week counts even more."

I could be wrong, but I think A Doll’s House, Part 2 was initially a limited engagement, that then extended (with the grosses falling off as the opening cast left). But anyway, hopefully the critics responses for Choir Boy will match the acclaim it has received here, and the grosses will increase accordingly.