Broadway Grosses w/e 9/17/2017: Why shows are stickin’ around in September

 It used to be that shows that were winding down their runs on Broadway in the summertime closed up shop on Labor Day weekend, before the dreaded first two weeks of September.

 

This season we saw two shows (Groundhog Day and Bandstand) run into these low-grossing September weeks and close yesterday instead.

 

Why?

 

Most likely it was because of BroadwayWeek, the 2-for-1 promotion that benefits the newest shows in town, as local bargain hunters who don’t want to pay full price for the new offerings come a runnin’.

 

And it worked, as both of those shows put bigger numbers on the boards, making them money at a time when other shows struggle to make money.  (Since your closing weeks tend to sell more than weeks when there isn’t as much scarcity, it’s sometimes beneficial to close in a down week, as opposed to a week that would sell on its own.)

 

Overall, sales were up 13% from the previous week, thanks a bit to the shows above, as well as to Bette Midler’s return to Dolly (that’s over $1mm right there).

 

Family shows continue to be a bit depressed this time of year, and while I’d normally say the worst of September is over, this weekend’s beginning of the Jewish holidays will keep grosses depressed for a bit longer.

 

Come on Columbus Day.

 

Here are the grosses from last week:

 

Show Name   GrossGross TotalAttn  %Capacity AvgPdAdm
1984 $313,796.58 4,920 63.40% $63.78
A BRONX TALE THE MUSICAL $761,800.76 7,743 92.71% $98.39
A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2 $303,106.00 4,034 65.06% $75.14
ALADDIN $1,330,021.00 13,388 96.90% $99.34
ANASTASIA $868,775.90 9,020 98.64% $96.32
BANDSTAND $757,431.22 8,344 100.97% $90.78
BEAUTIFUL $906,680.04 8,029 97.82% $112.93
CATS $758,050.00 9,433 85.75% $80.36
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY $823,794.00 9,970 83.31% $82.63
CHICAGO $622,109.30 7,560 87.50% $82.29
COME FROM AWAY $1,298,037.50 8,529 101.92% $152.19
DEAR EVAN HANSEN $1,664,830.34 7,958 101.09% $209.20
GROUNDHOG DAY $892,580.90 9,061 92.23% $98.51
HAMILTON $2,932,511.00 10,753 101.75% $272.72
HELLO, DOLLY! $2,322,113.74 11,658 100.78% $199.19
KINKY BOOTS $844,456.05 9,453 82.98% $89.33
MISS SAIGON $695,225.16 9,211 78.06% $75.48
PRINCE OF BROADWAY $387,395.20 4,443 90.01% $87.19
SCHOOL OF ROCK $676,955.21 8,611 70.67% $78.62
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,185,674.00 8,695 101.96% $136.36
THE LION KING $1,791,715.00 13,489 99.42% $132.83
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $933,806.50 11,143 86.78% $83.80
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG $335,892.75 5,034 73.68% $66.72
THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER $308,614.40 5,788 71.78% $53.32
TIME AND THE CONWAYS $92,816.39 1,772 80.47% $52.38
WAITRESS $696,736.05 7,643 91.42% $91.16
WAR PAINT $615,785.50 7,912 84.67% $77.83
WICKED $1,492,476.50 14,542 97.39% $102.63
TOTALS $26,613,186.99 238,136 88.54% $105.05
+/- THIS WEEK LAST SEASON +$4,438,337.13      
PERCENTAGE +/- THIS WEEK LAST SEASON +20.02%      

*Broadway Grosses courtesy of The Broadway League.

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