Broadway Journal

‘HARRY POTTER’ & THE CURSED BOX OFFICE YARDSTICK

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The last week of July 2019 was business as usual for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child  on Broadway. Sales rose less than 2 percent to $1.4 million, according to data from the Broadway League, the trade association of producers and theater owners.

But there was a huge increase in a closely watched measure in those seven days. Harry Potter ‘s sales jumped from 84 percent of its “gross potential” to 101 percent, according to the same posting. What changed was the basis for comparison.  After four months of claiming a weekly gross potential of $1.7 million, the production slashed the figure to $1.4 million.

Like average ticket prices, sales relative to gross potential is an important signifier of a show’s box office strength. But gross potential, which the League posts weekly with other box office figures, loses value as a benchmark of success when it fluctuates along with ticket prices.Continue Reading

INCLUSIVENESS AS BIG BOX OFFICE & OTHER TONY TAKEAWAYS

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Hunter Arnold, Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen

Hadestown’s strong sales and its Tony Award for Best Musical may advance the cause of female theater artists more effectively than any speech advocating for industry inclusiveness.

The inventive folk opera, which won eight awards at Radio City Music Hall Sunday night, is an all-but-guaranteed hit — and just the latest musical written in part or entirely by a woman to demonstrate staying power.

Of the dozen new musicals running on Broadway longer than a year, six have a female composer, lyricist or book writer. (They are Wicked,  Waitress,  Mean Girls,  Frozen,  Come From Away  and Beautiful, the Carole King jukebox show.)Continue Reading

MORRISSEY SELLS BRISKLY WITH $425 TOP TICKET

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Morrissey’s seven-night engagement at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre sold well in the first hour of general public availability, suggesting a bright future for rock stars on Broadway.

As of 11 am, scattered seats were available in the front orchestra for $399, or $424.70 with Ticketmaster fees, and for $279 in the mezzanine and rear orchestra. Tickets topped out at $850 for Bruce Springsteen, who ended 236 performances at the Walter Kerr in December. His shows went for thousands in the secondary market.Continue Reading

RECORD WEEK CAPS RECORD YEAR — WITH HIGHEST PRICES FOR LONG-RUNNING HITS (TABLE)

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Hamilton composer Lin-Manuel Miranda & director Thomas Kail/Tammy Shell

Broadway celebrated 2019 with a slew of milestones: highest-grossing week and year in history and best-attended week and year since at least 1984, according to the Broadway League.

Long-running shows such as Wicked  ($3.4 million), The Lion King  ($3.7 million) and Hamilton  ($4 million) recorded their best sales last week and charged their highest average prices, with tourists continuing to flock to Broadway’s biggest brands.

Hamilton,  whose composer-lyricist, Lin-Manuel Miranda, returns to the show next week for a short engagement in San Juan, Puerto Rico, became the first Broadway show to clear $4 million over eight performances.Continue Reading

THE PLAY BOOM & DERREN BROWN’S ‘SECRET’ AMBITION: WEEKLY WRAP

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Derren Brown

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.

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‘FROZEN,’ ‘MEAN GIRLS’ POST WORST WEEK SINCE OPENING

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Mean Girls

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

‘BAND’S VISIT’ SPEEDS TOWARD RECOUPMENT

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EXCLUSIVE: On Broadway, selling out isn’t a prerequisite for cleaning up.

Band’s Visit/Matthew Murphy

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.

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MUSICALS’ AVERAGE TICKET JUMPS TO $126; PLAYS REBOUND

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Mean Girls/Joan Marcus

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.

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