It's "here we go again" over at the Winter Garden as Mamma Mia!, back for a second Broadway outing, debuts in the top five top grossers in its full week back on the boards. And the production still has room to grow. That "full" week had just seven preview performances, and the ABBA jukebox musical is set to begin adding the traditional eighth weekly performance next week. Opening night is August 14.
The revival played just one single preview the week prior, and brought in an equally impressive $261,796. The show did not fully translate that performance into its first full week, which would have seen the show handily making The $2 Million Club. But having brought in $1.57 million, the fourth-highest total of the week, I doubt anyone is too upset about that over at the Winter Garden. The size of that house—one of Broadway's largest—demands an audience favorite on its stage, and early indications are that it's found one (again) in Mamma Mia!
Also seeing big increases at the box office last week were Gypsy, with theatregoers rushing to the Majestic for one last chance to see six-time Tony winner in the classic musical before its final performance August 17; and Oh, Mary!, which got an $80,000 boost thanks to its new leading lady, Jinkx Monsoon (new co-stars Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Urie, and Jenn Harris no doubt helped there, too).
All in all, Broadway is continuing to enjoy a strong summer, with cumulative grosses going up by more than 3% compared to the week prior. An increase in attendance actually outpaced those revenue gains, at a 6.17% increase, making last week a slightly better one for those in search of lower-cost tickets. The 251,610 tickets sold last week averaged at $123.22 across the 29 currently running shows.
And by the way, looking at the entire season cumulatively here in its 11th week, we're currently outpacing the same period in last season by almost 9%. Considering last season was the highest-grossing in Broadway history, that's an excellent place to be. Ironically, leading that data is the same thing that helped make last season such a banner year, too: inventory. We've had 2,897 performances for theatregoers to choose from so far this season, and in the same period from last season, we had just 2,619—a 10% increase. There's lots of reasons why we've been seeing that figure steadily increase post-pandemic, including the success of what shows do open on Broadway. Closed shows, after all, mean less performances. But it also has a lot to say about how much the pipeline of plays and musicals was affected by that pandemic pause. Either way, we're far from mad to see the old girl sustaining her comeback.
Filling in the rest of the top five were usual suspects Wicked, with $2.24 million; The Lion King, with $2.23 million; Hamilton, with $1.7 million; and Aladdin, with $1.46 million.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Wicked ($2.24 million)
- The Lion King ($2.23 million)
- Hamilton
- Mamma Mia!
- Aladdin
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Death Becomes Her
- MJ The Musical
- Just in Time
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Oh, Mary!
- Gypsy
- The Outsiders
- Buena Vista Social Club
(14 of 29 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Just in Time (103.24%)
- Maybe Happy Ending (102.47%)
- John Proctor is the Villain (102.19%)
- The Outsiders (101.95%)
- Hamilton (101.43%)
- Mamma Mia! (100.31%)
- Hadestown (100.08%)
- Oh, Mary! (100%)
- Wicked (100%)
- Purpose
- Death Becomes Her
- The Lion King
- Buena Vista Social Club
- Aladdin
- The Book of Mormon
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- & Juliet
- MJ The Musical
- Operation Mincemeat
(19 of 29 currently running productions)
