Broadway Grosses w/e 12/24/2017: Christmas Comes Early.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. The best week of the year is supposed to be the week after Christmas, not the week before.
Someone forgot to tell w/e 12/24 this old axiom because the run-up to Christmas week this year proved to be historically big.
And guess . . . just guess which show made history.
That’s right . . . a certain hip-hop founding father.
Hamilton did $3.8mm at the Rodgers. $3.8mm in one week! There isn’t a show in town that wouldn’t take that gross for an entire month!
What’s fascinating about this new house record is that the show is 2.5 years old by now . . . proving that the right hype combined with the right pricing strategy can pay off long after opening buzz and your original Tony-winning cast has left town (That’s also why The Lion King did almost $2.7mm last week).
This profitable combination will no doubt further extend the life of musicals in the coming years . . . which will only further the real estate crunch Producers face.
What’s unique about this week is that many of the shows on the list posted their impressive figures on only 7 performances instead of the usual 8. (Shows do 7 performances in this week with the benefit of then being able to do 9 the following week, with less of a penalty).
You know what else this week tells me?
My prediction of a $4mm week . . . is going to come sooner than I even thought.
Here are the Broadway grosses from last week:
| Show Name | GrossGross | TotalAttn | %Capacity | AvgPdAdm |
| A BRONX TALE THE MUSICAL | $708,597.15 | 6,430 | 87.99% | $110.20 |
| ALADDIN | $1,867,971.00 | 13,462 | 97.44% | $138.76 |
| ANASTASIA | $1,232,248.00 | 9,088 | 99.39% | $135.59 |
| BEAUTIFUL | $601,084.66 | 5,224 | 72.74% | $115.06 |
| CATS | $1,033,958.00 | 9,298 | 84.53% | $111.20 |
| CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY | $1,068,406.00 | 9,500 | 90.72% | $112.46 |
| CHICAGO | $556,343.54 | 5,954 | 78.76% | $93.44 |
| COME FROM AWAY | $1,269,564.34 | 7,454 | 101.80% | $170.32 |
| DEAR EVAN HANSEN | $1,862,541.66 | 7,994 | 101.55% | $232.99 |
| FARINELLI AND THE KING | $812,128.84 | 7,193 | 97.77% | $112.91 |
| HAMILTON | $3,797,844.00 | 10,757 | 101.79% | $353.06 |
| HELLO, DOLLY! | $2,295,082.16 | 11,532 | 99.69% | $199.02 |
| HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS | $77,787.15 | 2,243 | 22.83% | $34.68 |
| JOHN LITHGOW: STORIES BY HEART | $117,414.80 | 1,981 | 89.23% | $59.27 |
| JUNK | $352,024.00 | 5,503 | 64.96% | $63.97 |
| KINKY BOOTS | $762,530.75 | 7,390 | 74.14% | $103.18 |
| LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS | $426,713.00 | 4,791 | 68.17% | $89.07 |
| METEOR SHOWER | $812,760.00 | 5,382 | 99.34% | $151.01 |
| MISS SAIGON | $640,809.27 | 7,454 | 72.19% | $85.97 |
| ONCE ON THIS ISLAND | $594,625.96 | 4,985 | 102.32% | $119.28 |
| SCHOOL OF ROCK | $1,058,888.77 | 9,802 | 80.45% | $108.03 |
| SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS | $930,882.60 | 10,920 | 84.78% | $85.25 |
| SPRINGSTEEN ON BROADWAY | $2,411,185.00 | 4,740 | 100.00% | $508.69 |
| THE BAND’S VISIT | $1,144,873.90 | 7,273 | 100.00% | $157.41 |
| THE BOOK OF MORMON | $1,264,284.00 | 7,561 | 101.33% | $167.21 |
| THE CHILDREN | $199,124.80 | 3,943 | 75.83% | $50.50 |
| THE LION KING | $2,682,893.00 | 13,551 | 99.87% | $197.98 |
| THE PARISIAN WOMAN | $520,421.00 | 5,534 | 70.80% | $94.04 |
| THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | $1,175,913.90 | 10,989 | 97.81% | $107.01 |
| THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG | $446,336.25 | 4,935 | 72.23% | $90.44 |
| WAITRESS | $850,369.80 | 6,798 | 92.93% | $125.09 |
| WICKED | $2,220,606.00 | 15,312 | 99.38% | $145.02 |
| TOTALS | $35,796,213.30 | 244,973 | 86.96% | $138.38 |
| +/- THIS WEEK LAST SEASON | +$5,382,501.95 | |||
| PERCENTAGE +/- THIS WEEK LAST SEASON | +17.7% |
*Broadway Grosses courtesy of The Broadway League.
No, no pricing strategy or synthetic hype made Hamilton the success it is. That notion devalues the real success of the show, people love it and feel they must see it at any cost. The producers have only exploited this situation, and good on them for that. Don’t delude yourself into thinking it’s success has spawned a replicable formula. It ain’t the case.