Broadway Grosses w/e 7/21/2019: The Power’s BACK!
Power was restored to Broadway last week as shows rebounded 12% to a collective gross of $34M. Twenty-nine shows recovered from the 10% dip last week and then some.
Two more closings were announced last week, Waitress and Beautiful. These announcements are part of a summer trend but feel different because of their 3 and 5 year runs, respectively. There continues to be less room for productions that are not blockbusters. And these shows’ closings might also be telling us something about what we’ll be seeing overall in the fall.
Ken has a theory about all these closings . . . and it looks like his prediction of a market correction is already coming true (sadly). We’re already down over 9% from last year. See here for his thoughts (which he recently updated!).
NOTE FROM KEN: Hey all – I hijacked this blog from Ryan to point out something I find fascinating in the numbers below. Why, sure, sure, it’s easy to be amazed at Hamilton‘s $3M+ gross . . . but you know what is even MORE phenomenal? The Lion King did $2.5M+. And it’s over 20 years old. (The movie press is certainly giving it a boost.) The question I have for you is . . . do you think Hamilton will be doing those kinds of numbers in 20 years? Comment below, cuz I’m oh so curious as to what you think.
You can find the rest of the figures below, courtesy of The Broadway League:
| Show Name | GrossGross | TotalAttn | %Capacity | AvgPdAdm |
| AIN’T TOO PROUD | $1,559,925.00 | 11,376 | 99.86% | $137.12 |
| ALADDIN | $1,796,003.00 | 15,060 | 96.89% | $119.26 |
| BE MORE CHILL | $462,584.90 | 5,382 | 75.51% | $85.95 |
| BEAUTIFUL | $511,025.40 | 6,073 | 73.99% | $84.15 |
| BEETLEJUICE | $1,036,333.30 | 11,196 | 93.74% | $92.56 |
| CHICAGO | $641,526.15 | 7,492 | 86.71% | $85.63 |
| COME FROM AWAY | $912,674.40 | 8,539 | 102.04% | $106.88 |
| DAVE CHAPPELLE | $1,638,061.00 | 9,037 | 100.14% | $181.26 |
| DEAR EVAN HANSEN | $1,231,800.14 | 7,998 | 101.60% | $154.01 |
| FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE | $311,165.00 | 4,332 | 46.56% | $71.83 |
| FROZEN | $1,282,940.50 | 13,058 | 96.93% | $98.25 |
| HADESTOWN | $1,312,048.00 | 7,445 | 101.38% | $176.23 |
| HAMILTON | $3,102,306.00 | 10,758 | 101.80% | $288.37 |
| HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, PARTS ONE AND TWO | $1,401,672.50 | 12,976 | 100.00% | $108.02 |
| KING KONG | $766,092.25 | 10,853 | 78.06% | $70.59 |
| MEAN GIRLS | $1,083,275.75 | 9,894 | 100.96% | $109.49 |
| MOULIN ROUGE! | $1,724,491.50 | 9,128 | 100.15% | $188.92 |
| OKLAHOMA! | $584,810.50 | 4,974 | 95.51% | $117.57 |
| PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL | $659,450.00 | 7,561 | 80.92% | $87.22 |
| THE BOOK OF MORMON | $1,065,743.10 | 8,711 | 104.00% | $122.34 |
| THE CHER SHOW | $783,030.00 | 8,056 | 72.97% | $97.20 |
| THE LION KING | $2,538,151.00 | 13,551 | 99.87% | $187.30 |
| THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | $1,121,101.10 | 12,297 | 95.77% | $91.17 |
| THE PROM | $737,373.15 | 7,861 | 94.03% | $93.80 |
| TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD | $1,969,931.99 | 11,689 | 101.82% | $168.53 |
| TOOTSIE | $947,725.70 | 9,729 | 75.91% | $97.41 |
| WAITRESS | $628,158.50 | 6,953 | 83.17% | $90.34 |
| WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME | $537,000.80 | 4,656 | 99.83% | $115.34 |
| WICKED | $1,917,793.00 | 15,189 | 98.58% | $126.26 |
| TOTALS | $34,264,193.63 | 271,824 | 91.68% | $122.52 |
| +/- THIS WEEK LAST SEASON | -2,591,727.80 | |||
| PERCENTAGE +/- THIS WEEK LAST SEASON | -7.03% |
Today’s blog was guest-written by Ryan Conway, President of Architect Theatrical. Find out more here!
Podcasting
Ken created one of the first Broadway podcasts, recording over 250 episodes over 7 years. It features interviews with A-listers in the theater about how they “made it”, including 2 Pulitzer Prize Winners, 7 Academy Award Winners and 76 Tony Award winners. Notable guests include Pasek & Paul, Kenny Leon, Lynn Ahrens and more.
