It was a tough seven days on Broadway — except for Dear Evan Hansen and a few perennial tourist draws.
With July 4 falling on a Tuesday and many locals away, Hello, Dolly!, A Bronx Tale, War Paint and Beautiful all had their worst sales of the year, according to data from the Broadway League.
Groundhog Day and Waitress, now starring Betsy Wolfe, were near their post-opening lows, and Indecent, which was scheduled to close June 25 and instead extended to August 6, was at just over a third of its gross potential, at $334,000.
Dolly, with Donna Murphy in the lead while Bette Midler has been on vacation, plunged for a second week, down 23 percent to $723,000. Midler returns to the acclaimed Scott Rudin-produced, Jerry Zaks-directed musical revival on Wednesday, with Murphy continuing to perform on Tuesdays. In a review today, Deadline critic Jeremy Gerard called Murphy “absolutely wonderful as the meddling, multitasking matchmaker” Dolly Levi.
Dear Evan Hansen, which won six Tony Awards last month, including best musical, soared 29 percent to $1.7 million, by far its best week. Its average ticket, at $216, was the second-dearest on Broadway, and it’s slowly approaching that of Hamilton, which was at $285.
Tony-winner Ben Platt will be on vacation this week, and sales will indicate how integral the 23-year-old has been to the success of the show, which was directed by Michael Greif and is about an awkward teenage who tells a lie that goes viral. Platt’s contract expires in November, and the production hasn’t said whether he’ll extend or, if he doesn’t, who will replace him.
Mainstay musicals Hamilton, The Lion King and Wicked were all more or less at capacity last week.
Editor: Alice Scovell
