Last week on Broadway, Funny Girl continued a meteoric rise brought on by new leading lady Lea Michele with the highest-grossing week of its entire run, breaking the August Wilson Theatre's all-time record and joining the venerable $2 Million Club. Surprisingly, the musical revival did so without selling out houses鈥攁verage capacity was at 96%鈥攖hanks to a pricey $213 average ticket price, second only to fellow high grosser The Music Man.
Though $2 million is a rarity at the box office for Broadway shows, Funny Girl was in good company last week with only the sixth highest total. Regular chart toppers The Music Man, The Lion King, Hamilton, and Wicked all brought in receipts in excess of $2 million (The Music Man, led by Tony winners Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, broke the $3 million mark for the 26th time) to be the top four shows of the week. The Phantom of the Opera, riding high as it readies to complete its historic run at the Majestic Theatre next April, took the fifth spot, itself bringing in $2.04 million.
Ain't No Mo', no doubt bolstered by a number of performances bought out by celebrities in a high-profile attempt to save the struggling play, enjoyed the highest grossing week of its run, bringing in $499,303鈥攁 203% increase from the week previous. The show was also one of Broadway's best attended, with 92.96% of seats filled. Despite the valiant effort and impressive box-office improvement, the Jordan E. Cooper play is scheduled to play its final performance December 23.
Overall, grosses remained steady even with one less production (KPOP closed December 11). The 34 currently running shows brought in $37.29 million cumulatively, with 86.35% of seats filled, a continuation of the Main Stem's healthy holiday season.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- The Music Man
- The Lion King
- Hamilton
- Wicked
- The Phantom of the Opera
- Funny Girl
- MJ The Musical
- Aladdin
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Beetlejuice
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical
- SIX: The Musical
- The Book of Mormon
- & Juliet
- Into the Woods
(16 of 34 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- The Phantom of the Opera
- Hamilton
- MJ The Musical
- Hadestown
- The Music Man
- Wicked
- The Book of Mormon
- The Lion King
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- SIX: The Musical
- Funny Girl
- Aladdin
- Ain't No Mo'
- The Collaboration
- & Juliet
- Beetlejuice
- A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical
(17 of 34 currently running productions)
