Broadway sold $43 million of tickets in the week ending on Sunday, up 10 percent from a year ago for its best Thanksgiving ever.
In an ugly week for stocks but fine one for tourism and premium pricing, most shows bounced, especially musicals that performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Prom, an all-new show that featured the parade’s (much-publicized) first-ever televised same-sex kiss, jumped 40 percent from the previous week to $565,000, according to the Broadway League; Dear Evan Hansen gained 15 percent to $1.7 million and My Fair Lady, now with Laura Benanti, was up 32 percent to $1.4 million.
Network, starring Bryan Cranston and directed by Ivo van Howe, was the hottest of the season’s new plays: standing room only with an average ticket of $158. It grossed $1.3 million. Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, with Jeff Daniels, also did $1.3 million, with an average seat of $124. (It played only seven previews instead of the customary eight, in the relatively large 1,437-seat Shubert Theater. It enjoyed a laudatory 60 Minutes segment last night.)
Frozen had its best week to-date, up 41 percent to $2.3 million.
Overall attendance was 299,000. That’s slightly up from a year ago. Broadway’s average ticket price was $144, vs. $147.50 in Thanksgiving week 2017.
Long-running hits cleaned up. With composer Lin-Manuel Miranda out and about promoting Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns, Hamilton had its second-richest week on Broadway, at $3.8 million, with an average ticket of $354. Wicked had its second-best week of the year: $2.5 million, with a $165 average seat. The Lion King’s average ticket was $206, grossing $2.8 million.
Among the laggards, Head Over Heels, with music by the Go-Go’s, barely budged at $208,000 and announced a Jan. 6 closing. And Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song fell to $236,000, its worst full week since opening at the beginning of the month to strong reviews. If only it had been part of the parade.
