Air-conditioned Broadway held its own as New York City plunged ever deeper into a hot summer last week, with total box office receipts keeping steady at $31,520,593, a tiny increase of 2% over the previous week.
Total attendance for the 30 Broadway productions was 257,204, consistent with the previous week but up nearly 15% over the same period last season.
A trio of shows ending their runs last week – the week ending July 23 – saw box office climb even higher as last-chancers snapped up tickets. Camelot took in $780,457, a boost of $189,142 over the previous week, with attendance at 96% of the Vivian Beaumont’s capacity. Life of Pi closed its run on a strong note, grossing $585,043 ($75,517 over the previous week), with 93% of the Schoenfeld’s seats occupied. And Peter Pan Goes Wrong, struggling in recent weeks after a strong start in the spring, was up by $102,412 to $550,082. Still, the popular West End farce filled only 75% of seats in its final week at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore.
A roster of recent arrivals continued to attract audiences, with the David Byrne-Fatboy Slim musical Here Lies Love filling nearly every seat at the Broadway Theatre, even if receipts were down a tad (to $760,065) what with opening week comps and press seats.
Back To The Future: The Musical, in previews at the Winter Garden, seems to have the making of the summer’s breakout hit, grossing $1,376,420 for the week and playing to near-capacity audiences. The adaptation of the classic Michael J. Fox film comedy opens August 3.
The Cottage played seven previews at the Hayes, filling 94% of seats and grossing $292,887 with a modest $76 average ticket price. The Sandy Rustin comedy, directed by Jason Alexander and starring Eric McCormack, Laura Bell Bundy, Lilli Cooper and Alex Moffat, opened to tepid reviews July 24.
Good Night, Oscar, starring McCormack’s former Will & Grace castmate Sean Hayes, had its best week since beginning performances in April, grossing $833,274, with attendance at the Belasco at 85% of capacity. The engagement ends August 27.
Parade, the hit musical revival starring Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond that closes Sunday, August 6, had a terrific week, grossing $1,295,630. That’s an 8-performance house record for the Jacobs, and the production is on track to continue apace in its final two weeks.
Beating them all was The Lion King, still roaring after 25 years with a gross of $2,469,996.
Nineteen of the 30 shows were at 90% of capacity or more, with Hadestown, Hamilton, Here Lies Love, Parade and Sweeney Todd selling out.
Considerably less stellar were A Beautiful Noise (with attendance at 59% of capacity) and Once Upon a One More Time (52%). New York, New York and Grey House have both posted closing notices for July 30, with the former filling 69% of its seats last week and the latter at 80%.
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $286,926,863 with total attendance of 2,351,883 at 88% of capacity.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.