Bette Midler

LAVISH ‘DOLLY!’ EARNS MODEST RETURNS

August 23, 2018 by Philip Boroff

EXCLUSIVE: Investors in Scott Rudin’s celebrated revival of Hello, Dolly! have earned a profit of 5 percent, according to two people familiar with the production.

In a flop-filled business, recouping is considered the benchmark for success, and investors months ago earned back their money. The musical was the talk of the 2016-17 season, won four Tony Awards, and last week was the third-bestselling musical, behind Hamilton and The Lion King. For angels seeking prestige, glamour and the satisfaction of helping to create a revival worthy of the iconic, 1964 original, Dolly delivered and made them money.

Others, however, expected more from a production that’s grossed $126 million.Continue Reading

NOR’EASTER PUTS DAMPER ON BROADWAY GROSSES; ‘CAROUSEL,’ ‘FROZEN’ SHINE

March 5, 2018 by Philip Boroff

Disney’s Frozen and Scott Rudin’s revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel performed promisingly in an otherwise wet and dismal week.

Frozen was a near sellout, grossing $984,000 in five previews. Its composers, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, picked up their second Academy Award last night, for best original song with Remember Me, from the Disney film Coco, which shouldn’t hurt Frozen‘s prospects when it opens at the St. James on March 22.

PRIME ‘MORMON’ SEATS SELL FOR $150 AMID WINTER LULL

February 5, 2018 by Philip Boroff

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

‘HAMILTON,’ ‘EVAN HANSEN’ POST RECORDS IN BROADWAY’S BESTSELLING THANKSGIVING; SPRINGSTEEN EXTENDS

November 27, 2017 by Philip Boroff

Noah Galvin in Dear Evan Hansen/Nathan Johnson

Broadway can be thankful for big-spending tourists, as grosses soared 11 percent from a year earlier in its bestselling Thanksgiving week ever.

Among the musicals posting weekly records were Hamilton, Hello, Dolly! with Bette Midler, Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Broadway in all sold $39 million, with an average seat of $147.50.

Hamilton took in $3.5 million, a 4 percent jump from the week ending on Jan 1, 2017. It was the highest-grossing seven days for any Broadway musical. Evan Hansen rose 16 percent from the week before to $2 million, even as Noah Galvin replaced Tony Award-winner Ben Platt in the lead. The average Evan Hansen ticket was $244, not too far behind Hamilton, at $321 .Continue Reading

TICKETS AVERAGE $497 FOR SPRINGSTEEN’S TRIP DOWN THUNDER ROAD

October 10, 2017 by Philip Boroff

Only Bruce Springsteen can overshadow Hamilton and Hello, Dolly!

After just five performances, Springsteen’s mostly solo show at the Walter Kerr Theatre grossed $2.3 million, with an average ticket of $496.72 — surely a Broadway record. Hamilton has long sported the highest average, which was $272 last week, according to the Broadway League, and has been as dear as $310.

‘EVAN HANSEN’ SOARS, MIDLER-FREE ‘DOLLY’ PLUNGES AMID JULY 4 BOX OFFICE MUDDLE

July 10, 2017 by Philip Boroff

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.Continue Reading

FROM ‘OSLO’ TO ‘COME FROM AWAY,’ TONYS PROVIDE BOUNCE

June 19, 2017 by Philip Boroff

The Tony Awards delivered at the box office.

Many winners at Radio City Music Hall on June 11 had their bestselling weeks to-date after being recognized for achievement and, in the case of musicals, making the most of the international platform to present songs from their shows.

‘EVAN HANSEN,’ ‘DOLLY!’ & THEATER’S CHALLENGES IN AN ON-DEMAND WORLD: THE JESS CAGLE INTERVIEW

June 8, 2017 by Philip Boroff

“Like Christmas Day and sex with supermodels, Broadway seasons are often far more exciting during the anticipation stage.” So began Jess Cagle’s December 1997 review of Broadway’s The Lion King in Entertainment Weekly. (He gave it an A+).

Two decades later, Cagle, 51, is editor-in-chief of People; editorial director of Time Inc.’s Style and Entertainment Group, which includes EW, In Style and Essence; and his conversations with actors, directors and other celebrities — known as The Jess Cagle Interview — are distributed by Sirius XM. We spoke on May 16. Edited excerpts follow:

‘NATASHA,’ ‘DOLLY’ & ‘DOLL’S HOUSE 2’ LEAD TONY NOMINATIONS

May 2, 2017 by Philip Boroff

Bette Midler in ‘Dolly’/Julieta Cervantes

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Hello, Dolly! and A Doll’s House, Part 2 got the most Tony Award nominations this morning in their respective categories.

Natasha competes against Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away and Groundhog Day the Musical in the all-important new musical category. Among the high-profile snubs, the new musicals A Bronx Tale, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Amelie got no nominations. Also bageled was the hit musical revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, although star Glenn Close, who won for the role in 1995, was out of contention.

BAREILLES, MIDLER, RUFFALO SELL OUT; STAR-LESS PLAYS FLAT

April 18, 2017 by Philip Boroff

Easter week was flush for Broadway’s flashiest star vehicles and dismal for serious new plays, Pulitzer Prize notwithstanding.

Two Scott Rudin productions in previews tell the story: Hello, Dolly! with Bette Midler passed $2 million for the first time, its average ticket rose $8 to $201, according to sales figures released by the Broadway League. Meanwhile Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House Part 2 was little changed at $91,000, with an average ticket of $24.