Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 3/26/23

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.

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Up for the week by attendance (% of capacity) was: SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (5.4%), A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL (2.9%), BAD CINDERELLA (1.7%), CAMELOT (1.4%), CHICAGO (1%), PICTURES FROM HOME (0.7%), LIFE OF PI (0.4%),

Down for the week by attendance (% of capacity) was: BOB FOSSE'S DANCIN' (-12.8%), LEOPOLDSTADT (-7.9%), HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD (-7.4%), SOME LIKE IT HOT (-7.4%), & JULIET (-4.5%), KIMBERLY AKIMBO (-4.4%), PETER PAN GOES WRONG (-4.2%), ALADDIN (-3.9%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (-2.6%), SHUCKED (-2.5%), PARADE (-2%), A DOLL'S HOUSE (-1.8%), THE LION KING (-1.4%), HADESTOWN (-0.9%), MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL (-0.8%), FUNNY GIRL (-0.6%), SIX (-0.4%), WICKED (-0.4%),

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Really solid start for NYNY and a decent one for PETER PAN. I don't imagine SHUCKED is breaking even yet, but that could happen soon! If DANCIN can sustain this number, they could stick around for a few months. Won't make profit, but could break even each week and maybe lead to a profitable tour.

Classic opening-week dips for both SWEENEY and BAD CINDY (due to press & a mostly-comped opening). We'll see what CINDY looks like next week & beyond.

Updated On: 3/28/23 at 02:33 PM

I bet Lin's involvement with press is helping NYNY a lot. They also had a decent commercial & video content, the likes of which we don't usually see for a new musical this early in its run. Remains to be seen if that can create sustained interest, but most shows should be so lucky to start this strongly.

BETTY22 said: "Impressive.

Bad Cinderella and Dancin must be concerned.

"

I think Bad Cinderella is probably sweating A LOT more than Dancin’ - As I’ve said before, the break even point for the latter is likely far lower than BC. I think Dancin’ has decent legs (no pun intended) for a run of a few months. I’d be more concerned that BC is going to tank but they will keep burning money to keep it open to satisfy ALW’s hubris

ACL2006 said: "Isn't Dancin' a limited run? Bad Cinderella is likely gone by Memorial Day."

DANCIN has not indicated that it's a limited run. It's currently on sale through September 17, which is pretty standard for a block of tickets (about 6 months).

if BC wants to stay open to satisfy ALW's hubris, that will be his own money because no one else in their right mind should think it's a financially viable investment to make. He's enough of a businessman to know when it's time to pull the plug on a show.

Updated On: 3/28/23 at 05:08 PM

Shucked will need great reviews to get that average ticket price up. $56.62 is pretty disastrous for a musical.

I feel like the producers of Shucked are doing exactly what they need to be doing…getting people in the theatre to spread word of mouth. Yes, the average ticket price is awful but lets be real it isn’t a show that anyone was going to pay premium prices for. Hopefully the reviews on Tuesday night will help give it the extra boost it deserves.

Bill Snibson said: "I feel like the producers of Shucked are doing exactly what they need to be doing…getting people in the theatre to spread word of mouth. Yes, the average ticket price is awful but lets be real it isn’t a show that anyone was going to pay premium prices for. Hopefully the reviews on Tuesday night will help give it the extra boost it deserves."

Just to be clear here (and to mainly address the post further up about how the Shucked average ticket price is disastrous), the top ticket price during previews for Shucked ranges from $59.75 to $79.75 on Friday and Saturday evenings. That was the decision of the show's producers to bring back the old days when previews were lower priced and to get butts in seats to help spread word of mouth. There are NO PREMIUM priced tickets for sale for anyone to buy during previews of Shucked. Their average ticket price reflects those lower ticket prices. The real test will be to see their grosses and average ticket price after the show opens.

Wow Dancin, yikes. They might soon be Dancin to the unemployment office! Hope not

I can't explain why, but I'm really enjoying seeing that Camelot, Parade and Sweeney are all doing so well, after Into the Woods having such a successful run. Four serious Broadway pieces of art that deserve exposure, and that audiences deserve to enjoy.

I'm as guilty of anyone as pitting them against each other in terms of Tony analysis, but I still love seeing these three classics packing them in at top prices.

Dumb question, perhaps, but I’m curious:

How does a limited run revival like Parade make money? The box office numbers look pretty good to me, as were the reviews. It seems to be viewed as a serious contender for Best Revival of a Musical. But on its limited run, I’m trying to figure out how investors have any chance of turning a profit unless the show turns into a surprise blockbuster.

This is true of a lot of shows, of course, especially plays. And I understand that a play like Fat Ham, which already won a Pulitzer, would want the credibility of a Broadway run - even if that shouldn’t be necessary - and (at minimum) a Best Play nomination so it might be an easier sell in regional theaters.

I realize producers and investors have a lot of different reasons for backing projects. I’m just trying to understand how the numbers might work for shows like these.

Details here (does anyone have a copy of the presentation? I believe it was shared a while ago):

http://broadwayjournal.com/ben-platt-to-lead-6-5-million-parade-exclusive/

binau said: "Details here (does anyone have a copy of the presentation? I believe it was shared a while ago):

http://broadwayjournal.com/ben-platt-to-lead-6-5-million-parade-exclusive/"

So Parade is arguably currently on track to break even as long as Jason Robert Brown and the rest of the creative team forgo any royalties. I would have to assume most if not all accepted upfront payment in lieu of royalties, knowing this would be a limited run and would be the only way the show would get produced. I do wonder in the creative teams contract if they are forgoing royalties, that once the production breaks even the creative pool is significantly higher than the standard 30-40% for the 1-3 weeks likely left in the show's run.

I do also wonder if Ben Plat is getting a cut of net sales cut and if so does it go as high as Josh Groban's $150K a week for Sweeney Todd.



*Updated to reflect Groban's sales cut maxes out at approximately $150K.

Updated On: 3/30/23 at 01:14 PM