Broadway audiences' love of stars in plays is apparently not going anywhere! Last week in its first full week of performances, the new Broadway revival of Art took the mantle as the fifth highest-grossing production on Broadway. That used to be a rarity for the non-musicals. Then we had the bonanza of last season's Othello starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, Glengarry Glen Ross with Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk, Goodnight, and Good Luck with George Clooney, and others. Art looks like it will become the next entry in this trend, bringing in $1.25 million even in the relatively small-capacity Music Box Theatre.
Also seeing a big boost at the box office last week was John Proctor is the Villain, which ended its run at the Booth September 7. Theatregoers eager to see the Kimberly Bellflower play one last time sent receipts to the second-highest total of its entire run, $1.05 million, an increase in excess of $200,000 compared to the week prior. The only week that exceeded that sum for the cult favorite play was the week of original star Sadie Sink's July 13 final bow.
That being said, Broadway grosses cumulatively fell by almost 18% last week, with just $25.14 million coming in across the 27 currently running shows. The caveats there are that we were down one show compared to the week prior—RIP to Best Play winner Purpose—and the bulk of last week was post Labor Day, more or less the unofficial end to the summer holiday and therefore NYC's peak tourism season.
And unsurprisingly, that drop is led not by falling ticket prices (although they did fall, too) but simply by less people being in seats. Average ticket price fell to a still-healthy $116.86, while overall attendance numbers fell steeply, by nearly 10%. Turns out when everyone's back home and school has started again, there's less time to take in a Broadway show.
Also unsurprisingly, Broadway's biggest hits continued to rake it in. Art took the fifth spot of the top five, which was otherwise filled with usual suspects Hamilton, with $2.15 million; Wicked, with $2 million; Mamma Mia!, with $1.5 million; and The Lion King, with $1.4 million. Hamilton and Wicked were both complete sell-outs, too.
Broadway Week began September 8 to try and keep things going in a traditionally slow period for the Main Stem, offering buy-one-get-one tickets to most shows. And that means if you can get yourself to Manhattan right now, that end of summer problem is your opportunity for some of Broadway's most cost-effective tickets.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Hamilton ($2.15 million)
- Wicked ($2 million)
- Mamma Mia!
- The Lion King
- Art
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Just in Time
- Oh, Mary!
- Death Becomes Her
- John Proctor is the Villain
- MJ The Musical
(11 of 27 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Just in Time (102.88%)
- John Proctor is the Villain (102.51%)
- Hamilton (101.18%)
- Oh, Mary! (100%)
- Wicked (100%)
- Art
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Mamma Mia!
- Hadestown
- Death Becomes Her
- The Lion King
(11 of 27 currently running productions)
