Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 9/1/24

[Rob]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:18pm

Click below to access all the Broadway grosses from all the shows for the week ending 9/1/2024 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: THE NOTEBOOK (12.3%), MJ THE MUSICAL (10.3%), WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (10.1%), BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL (8.2%), HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD (6.6%), HAMILTON (6.4%), CHICAGO (6.3%), THE BOOK OF MORMON (6.2%), JOB (4.8%), & JULIET (4.5%), THE LION KING (4%), SUFFS (3.9%), HELL'S KITCHEN (2.3%), SIX (1.9%), ALADDIN (1.8%), THE GREAT GATSBY (1.1%), HADESTOWN (0.8%), MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL (0.7%), ONCE UPON A MATTRESS (0.4%), THE OUTSIDERS (0.1%),

Down for the week by attendance (% of capacity) was: CABARET AT THE KIT KAT CLUB (-3%), WICKED (-1.8%),

Click Here to Visit the BroadwayWorld Grosses...

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:22pm

Good bump for most shows for the holiday weekend. Questionable start for The Roommate though, and let’s see how much of a drop Water for Elephants experiences sans Gustin. 

 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:32pm

Great week all around! Not much for any show to complain about before the inevitable fall dips. Nice send-off for Gustin in W4E.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:36pm

What's next at the Music Box?

[two ladies tickets]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:38pm

CoffeeBreak said: "What's next at the Music Box?"

Supposedly it's The Motive and the Cue. They are waiting to announce until Suffs posts a closing notice. 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:47pm

The Outsiders, with the top average ticket price this week, is succeeding beyond all my expectations, and I love that. What do you think is driving its success compared to Kimberly Akimbo and A Strange Loop, the two previous Best Musical winners?

I suspect the familiarity of the title has a lot to do with it. In saying that, I don't mean to question the show's quality at all, but The Outsiders is vastly outperforming its two equally esteemed predecessors. What are your thoughts?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:49pm

kdogg36 said: "The Outsiders, with the top average ticket price this week, is succeeding beyond all my expectations, and I love that. What do you think is driving its success compared toKimberly AkimboandA Strange Loop, the two previous Best Musical winners?

I suspect the familiarity of the title has a lot to do with it. In saying that, I don't mean to questionthe show's quality at all, but The Outsiders isvastly outperforming its two equally esteemedpredecessors.What are your thoughts?"

It’s both the title / familiarity and the lasting impact of Hinton’s novel, which is still analyzed in schools everywhere. 

[BentleyB]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:51pm

kdogg36 said: "The Outsiders, with the top average ticket price this week, is succeeding beyond all my expectations, and I love that. What do you think is driving its success compared toKimberly AkimboandA Strange Loop, the two previous Best Musical winners?

I suspect the familiarity of the title has a lot to do with it. In saying that, I don't mean to questionthe show's quality at all, but The Outsiders isvastly outperforming its two equally esteemedpredecessors.What are your thoughts?"

Many kids in high school are seeing it as individuals or in groups.  I have had 5 different parents call me to get tickets for them to take their teenagers.   We are going back for a 3rd time and taking a 20 year old who is dying to see it. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:51pm

And an attractive cast with good voices. I'm sure that helps. Plus - compared to your two examples - it's a subject matter that is easy to comprehend and sell.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 5:57pm

kdogg36 said: "The Outsiders, with the top average ticket price this week, is succeeding beyond all my expectations, and I love that. What do you think is driving its success compared to Kimberly Akimbo and A Strange Loop, the two previous Best Musical winners?

I suspect the familiarity of the title has a lot to do with it. In saying that, I don't mean to question the show's quality at all, but The Outsiders is vastly outperforming its two equally esteemed predecessors.What are your thoughts?"

I think a lot of it has to do with the appeal of the show--it's a known title which does help, but because it's taught in a lot of schools that means it's something that becomes a little bit more of a family show, or at least one that would appeal to both teenagers and adults.  And it also deals with the idea of family, social structures, wealth disparity, etc, which are all things that are more broadly relevant.

A Strange Loop in particular would always have a somewhat niche audience due to some of the scenes which can be fairly explicit, and some of the topics which certainly stirred up pearl-clutchers, and was generally somewhat esoteric in the sense that it didn't have a traditional plot etc.  Kimberly Akimbo also just felt a little more like an off beat "small" musical, which while interesting to theater folk, didn't really have any "must see" moment that could be marketed (like the rumble in Outsiders) or just the kind of musical song and dance style that people might expect when they think of a Broadway musical.  While it was heavily lauded in theater circles, I didn't really hear anyone casually bringing it up or urging people to go outside of those circles.

[JoeW4]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 6:16pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Questionable start for The Roommate though."


Is it?

$315k for 4 performances (so a theoretical $630k for a full week at the same rate), SRO capacity, $100 average, for what appears to be a small play (I haven't seen it yet, but just assessing from what I've seen/read). I don't know, seems pretty respectable to me, especially for a first week with plenty of time to build buzz.

 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 7:06pm

Did Hell's Kitchen not sell SRO this week? I nice, even 100% capacity.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 7:29pm

kdogg36 said: "The Outsiders, with the top average ticket price this week, is succeeding beyond all my expectations, and I love that. What do you think is driving its success compared toKimberly AkimboandA Strange Loop, the two previous Best Musical winners?

I suspect the familiarity of the title has a lot to do with it. In saying that, I don't mean to questionthe show's quality at all, but The Outsiders isvastly outperforming its two equally esteemedpredecessors.What are your thoughts?"

I think there's four types of Tony winners (I'm just using back to 2011 for examples but it could go back further):

1. The little, somewhat niche show that is critically beloved and wins the Tony. Its life gets prolonged to one degree or another, but only so far because it was never going to be a massive hit even with the Tony win (Fun Home, Gentlemen's Guide, The Band's Visit, A Strange Loop, Kimberly Akimbo, Once)

2. A musical that could have gone either way early on but has already captured the zeitgeist and is on the ascent by the time the Tony win happens. Then the Tony win just confirms the ascent and catapults it into the stratosphere for awhile (Kinky Boots, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown)

3. The major IP property that is already well known because of its title but the Tony win cements it as an acclaimed show too so it ascends to the stratosphere for awhile because its pairing a well known property with a Tony win (Moulin Rouge, The Outsiders).

4. The unstoppable juggernaut that is just a straight up massive hit with no caveats and is destined to win the Tony months ahead of time (The Book of Mormon, Hamilton)

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 7:56pm

As far as "IP" goes, OUTSIDERS has about the same level of recognition as BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY and TUCK EVERLASTING. It built word of mouth because it is genuinely good, and it has a sellable production: a show that looks expensive and interesting and is really inventive in its direction and choreography. Similar to HADESTOWN and ONCE and AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and MATILDA and SPRING AWAKENING (some of those not comparable by IP name value obviously, but the production values became sales assets).

Updated On: 9/3/24 at 07:56 PM

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 7:58pm

I feel like suffs should have had a more aggressive campaign for the Tony.  They should have gotten more political and made a strong progressive argument for the importance of the piece, and why we need it in this moment in time.  They would have been making over a million dollars a week right now.  I don’t see it lasting further than January, but they still look okay for the fall.  Water for Elephants should really close the rear mezz.  Some of those seating charts look rough. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:08pm

When you have two shows with somewhat middling written material, the one with the better production surrounding it wins. And that was OUTSIDERS.

A "preachy" Tony campaign probably would have lost SUFFS even more votes, and a campaign that was too progressive might have turned off some of the more moderate-to-conservative voters and ticket-buyers.

Would love to know how close SUFFS and OUTSIDERS were...bet it was close.

It's a flaw of the business model that a small show basically must win Best Musical to have any shot at success, but that's the world we live in and as long as the running costs and production costs are this high it won't change.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:12pm

I suppose I can't speak for everyone but growing up in the American school system, The Outsiders was a far far bigger name to me than Bridges of Madison County or Tuck Everlasting. 

The idea of pushing how a piece is "important" and "needed" I don't think necessarily works as well and might even turn people off from a piece. (Harmony seemed to try that and look at where they ended up) I think people prefer to let a show's quality stand for itself rather than feeling like they're supposed to go out of obligation or something

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:14pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "As far as "IP" goes, OUTSIDERS hasabout the same level of recognition as BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY andTUCK EVERLASTING. It built word of mouth because it is genuinely good, and it has asellable production: a show that looks expensive and interesting and is really inventive in its direction and choreography. Similar to HADESTOWN and ONCE and AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and MATILDA and SPRING AWAKENING (some of those not comparable by IP name value obviously, but the production values becamesales assets)."

The Outsiders as IP is WAY more well known than Bridges. Not even close. Maybe a little closer for Tuck but still I would say The Outsiders has much more of a lasting cultural impact than Tuck.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:16pm

JoeW4 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "Questionable start for The Roommate though."

Is it?

$315k for 4 performances (so a theoretical $630k for a full week at the same rate), SRO capacity, $100 average, for what appears to be a small play (I haven't seen it yet, but just assessing from what I've seen/read). I don't know, seems pretty respectable to me, especially for a first week with plenty of time to build buzz."
 

Yea, what were you expecting, EDSOSLO858? Patti has been on Broadway frequently and is not a draw when she is not in a musical (and even in a musical her drawing power has limits). Last time Mia Farrow was on Broadway (LOVE LETTERS) sales were abysmal...her best week was $320K. Numbers could definitely grow depending on the response and WOM. It's a respectable start but I can't imagine any sane person thinking this combo would be a juggernaut.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:25pm

As far as "IP" goes, OUTSIDERS has about the same level of recognition as BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY and TUCK EVERLASTING.

Yeah no. 

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:35pm

But the Tony race was not a binary choice like it usually turns out to be. It really seemed like even Hells Kitchen had a chance at winning.  If it was just Suffs vs Outsiders, I could see Suffs winning that.  Maybe they should move to a rank choice voting system.  And I don’t think Outsiders was anywhere near on the level of Suffs in terms of writing. And it certainly did not make up for it in production, I still preferred the direction of Suffs.  It was somewhat controversial that Suffs won both writing awards and not best musical. Lots of people felt that way. 

[Kad]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:38pm

For somebody who repeatedly has said that the Tonys are a sham and don't matter, you sure do fixate on them a lot. 

"Lots of people" thought Suffs was mediocre. And "lots of people" really liked Outsiders.

Updated On: 9/3/24 at 08:38 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:43pm

Broadway Flash said: "It was somewhat controversial that Suffs won both writing awards and not best musical."

Controversial???? Lmao.

Suffs is in good company, alongside Into the Woods, Parade, Ragtime, Urinetown, On the 20th Century, Drowsy Chaperone, Falsettos, and...Woman of the Year. All won Book & Score but not Musical. That the show even made it to Broadway with substantial rewrites after its poor run at the Public is an achievement.

Updated On: 9/3/24 at 08:43 PM

[Wick3]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 8:56pm

Mr. Wormwood said: "kdogg36 said: "The Outsiders, with the top average ticket price this week, is succeeding beyond all my expectations, and I love that. What do you think is driving its success compared toKimberly AkimboandA Strange Loop, the two previous Best Musical winners?

I suspect the familiarity of the title has a lot to do with it. In saying that, I don't mean to questionthe show's quality at all, but The Outsiders isvastly outperforming its two equally esteemedpredecessors.What are your thoughts?"

I think there's fourtypes of Tony winners (I'm just using back to 2011 for examples but it could go back further):

1. The little, somewhat niche showthat is critically beloved and wins the Tony. Its life gets prolonged to one degree or another, but only so far because it was never going to be a massive hit even with the Tony win (Fun Home, Gentlemen's Guide, The Band's Visit, A Strange Loop, Kimberly Akimbo, Once)

2. A musical that could have gone either way early on buthas already captured the zeitgeist and is on the ascent by the time the Tony win happens. Then the Tony win just confirms the ascent and catapults it into the stratosphere for awhile (Kinky Boots, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown)

3. The major IP property that is already well known because of its title but the Tony win cements it as an acclaimed show too so it ascends to the stratosphere for awhile because its pairing a well known property with a Tony win (Moulin Rouge, The Outsiders).

4. The unstoppable juggernaut that is just a straight up massive hit with no caveats and is destined to win the Tony months ahead of time (The Book of Mormon, Hamilton)"

I agree but also keep in mind the Tonys is a competition and there’s only 1 winner for Best Musical. Thus it also depends which other musicals gets nominated that year. In some years like 2004 the competition is fierce. I bet if WICKED or MATILDA or COME FROM AWAY were in another season it would have won Best Musical. If we didn’t have the pandemic, then Moulin Rouge would have had more competition. 

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 9/3/24 at 9:25pm

I don’t care about the Tony awards but sadly other people do care about them and it influences them to see the best musical winner.  Outsiders probably got a plurality and ended up with the award.  Most voters very well could have thought Suffs was more worthy than Outsiders.  So yes, I do take issue with the Tony awards for a number of reasons.