Derren Brown‘s challenge: make a vacant Broadway theater appear out of thin air.
In a conversation with Adam Green at the New Yorker Festival on Oct. 7, the British illusionist said he’s “hopefully doing Broadway next spring, fingers crossed.” Greg Day, his United Kingdom-based spokesman, told Broadway Journal that Brown seeks to bring in Secret later this season. Ben Brantley called the show “enthrallingly baffling” when it played off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater in 2017.
Sales of Frozen and Mean Girls took a hit last week as schools reopened and Broadway contended with oppressive heat and competition from the latter rounds of the U.S. Open tennis championships in Queens.
Disney’s Frozen fell 16 percent to $1.6 million, the lowest since the adaptation of the 2013 animated movie opened in March. Mean Girls, produced by Lorne Michaels and the late Stuart Thompson and based on the Tina Fey movie, dropped 21 percent to $1.2 million, its weakest seven days since opening in April.Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: On Broadway, selling out isn’t a prerequisite for cleaning up.
The Band’s Visit, which is considered a lock for best new musical at the Tony Awards tomorrow, has repaid well over half of its $8.75 million capitalization, according to two people familiar with the production. They report that it’s on track to make its investors whole by Labor Day.
Matt Polk, a production spokesman, declined to comment.
The Broadway season that ended on Sunday was strong but not stellar.
Overall attendance: up 4 percent to 13.8 million, according to the Broadway League. Grosses rose 17 percent, to $1.7 billion. The average price of a ticket for a musical gained 11 percent to $125.70 — thanks to strong demand for Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, The Lion King, Hello, Dolly! with Bette Midler and, increasingly, Mean Girls, which looks like a hit.
EXCLUSIVE: Maybe Frozen isn’t critic-proof after all.
Following mixed reviews and turmoil in the secondary market, Disney has cut some ticket prices for the musical — one of the most highly anticipated of the season.
The best orchestra seats for Tuesday and Thursday of this week were originally $227.50, according to a February group sales memo from Disney. As of Monday afternoon, Ticketmaster was offering three tickets 11th-row center at the St. James for Tuesday for $100 less — $127.50 each — plus fees. Other center orchestra for both nights near the stage are $169.50. Balcony seats that were $99.50 are now $79.50.
There’s New Year’s week, when the city is packed with tourists and many shows have nine performances, and then there’s every other week. Last week was a record for the latter.
Bruce Springsteen, Denzel Washington, Harry Potter, Frozen and spring break for public schools lifted Broadway to its highest-grossing week that didn’t coincide with the New Year’s holiday. It was the fifth-highest-grossing week in history.
EXCLUSIVE: This season, every night is kids’ night on Broadway.
While theatergoers still pay up for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s historical hip-hop, Broadway’s fastest-growing onstage demographic are princesses, princes, witches and wizards. With the Harry Potter plays and Mean Girls early in previews and Frozen opening on Thursday, family-friendly sales are likely to stay elevated.
Broadway Journal hasn’t crunched the numbers for every season, so we can’t say that family show sales are at record levels — but industry veterans we spoke to said it seems that way.
EXCLUSIVE: The Frozen fractals appear to be falling into place for Disney.
Reviews aren’t out until the March 22 opening of Disney Theatrical Productions’ adaptation of the 2013 blockbuster animated film, but it has already raised prices for performances next year.
U.S. stocks aren’t the only market under pressure.
Yesterday’s Super Bowl and the mid-Winter funk contributed to Broadway lowest grosses in four months. Sales last week dipped 10 percent to $24.9 million, according to the Broadway League.
The upside to lower grosses: more affordable theater.
The average ticket to the Tony Award-winning musical comedy The Book of Mormon was $133, the lowest in almost seven years. (Prices may have been skewed because there were seven performances, instead of the customary eight.) Seventh-row center are available for tomorrow for $149.50. (Tickets still go for as much as $477.50 on weekends.)Continue Reading
There’s nothing like a closing notice to get playgoers’ attention. Sustaining that isn’t easy.
Indecent grosses soared 60 percent to $606,000 last week, according to data from the Broadway League. It was by far the best week for Paula Vogel’s historical drama — about the controversial 1923 Broadway production of God of Vengeance — since it began previews in April.
Indecent had announced a Sunday, June 25, closing, but late on Thursday, June 22, lead producer Daryl Roth said she was inspired by the sales surge to rescind her decision and run it until August 6. Restarting a box office, with no advance sales, is challenging. A quick check of Telecharge suggests wide availability for this week.Continue Reading
