The girl with the lower back tattoo can put butts in seats.
In its first full week of previews, Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower, starring Amy Schumer, grossed a cool $1 million, according to stats released by the Broadway League. It’s a sellout with an average ticket of $161, which is 21 percent higher than the average for Larry David’s 2015 comedy Fish in the Dark at this point in its run. (Meteor Shower also stars Keegan-Michael Key and Laura Benanti.)
The Parisian Woman, Beau Willimon’s political drama starring Uma Thurman, did an impressive $580,000 over five previews, with an average of $122.
The strong showing suggests that with several celebrated actors in plays, this season won’t be a replay of 2016-17. Then, just two plays recouped — a starry revival of The Front Page and the kitschy comedy Oh, Hello. Play grosses overall tumbled last season for a second year in a row, a trend likely to be reversed by Schumer, Thurman, Denzel Washington (The Iceman Cometh), Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield (Angels in America), Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons (The Boys in the Band) and Harry Potter.
The Band’s Visit grossed $830,000 in the week that it opened. That suggests that once David Yazbek and Itamar Moses’ acclaimed show dispenses with most of its press comps, it will be a strong contender for the season’s first hit musical.
Editor: Alice Scovell
