Last week on Broadway was the first full week after Tony nominations were revealed May 1, so the May 13 grosses data is the first real look at how shows' box-office takes were affected. Keeping in mind that this is also a period where lots of shows are comping in Tony voters, Death Becomes Her enjoyed the biggest gain from a show that is a contender for this year's much-coveted Best Musical prize. The musical, which is tied with Maybe Happy Ending and Buena Vista Social Club for the distinction of being the most Tony-nominated production of the season (10 nods each), saw a precipitous rise in sales last week, to the tune of $267,678.
The next highest climb was Othello. Despite a total shutout from the Tony noms, the production brought in $163,667 more than the week previous. It's also already recouped its entire initial investment鈥攚hich is to say these movements can't be completely correlated to Tony nominations.
Also seeing some modest bumps were Best Musical nominee Maybe Happy Ending, which made it into The $1 Million Club for only the second time in its run so far; Best Play nominees Purpose and John Proctor is the Villain; and Best Revival of a Musical nominee Sunset Blvd. All of those increases were six figures or very nearly so.
And those gains were indicative of Broadway on the whole, which saw an overall increase of just over a point compared to the previous week. The 40 currently running shows brought in a combined $43,501,430, more than 20% up from the same week last season. Attendance also saw a modest increase, along with average paid ticket price. Usual suspects Good Night, and Good Luck; Othello; Glengarry Glen Ross; Wicked; and The Lion King took the top five spots. Good Night, and Good Luck; Othello; and Glengarry Glen Ross have all announced that they've recouped their initial investments within the last two weeks.
There are still two weeks of the season left (apologies for misstating that last week鈥攖here are 53 weeks in this Broadway season, as it turns out!). So far, the numbers are beating the same period last season by 19.84%, an impressive feat. Especially with the aid of that 53rd week, Broadway can pretty safely expect to close out this season much happier than last, and that's fantastic news. Needless to say, the looming specter of possible tariffs and reports of reduced international tourism could well shape what the months ahead look like on Broadway, but for now at least, things are looking pretty nice.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Good Night and Good Luck ($3.81 million)
- Othello ($3.23 million)
- Glengarry Glen Ross ($2.44 million)
- Wicked ($2.13 million)
- The Lion King
- Hamilton
- Death Becomes Her
- MJ The Musical
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Gypsy
- Just in Time
- Buena Vista Social Club
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Sunset Boulevard
- The Outsiders
- Hell's Kitchen
- Aladdin
- Oh, Mary!
- Maybe Happy Ending
(19 of 40 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Just in Time (102.99%)
- Good Night, and Good Luck (101.75%)
- John Proctor is the Villain (101.52%)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (101.06%)
- Wicked (100%)
- Othello (100%)
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- The Outsiders
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Buena Vista Social Club
- Death Becomes Her
- Hamilton
- Purpose
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Operation Mincemeat
- Oh, Mary!
- Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
- Hadestown
- The Lion King
- Hell's Kitchen
- Pirates! The Penzance Musical
- Aladdin
- & Juliet
(23 of 40 currently running productions)
