Broadway box office held fairly steady heading into trick or treat season, with receipts for the week ending Oct. 29 at $26,480,578 (about 6% down from the previous week) and attendance at 218,581 (a slip of just 3%).
Staying strong was Merrily We Roll Along, enjoying another sell-out week, with the roster’s top average ticket price of $238.20 pushing the weekly gross to a new Hudson Theatre house record of $1,840,835.
Notable too was I Need That, the new Theresa Rebeck comedy starring Danny DeVito and daughter Lucy DeVito. At 94% of capacity at American Airlines Theatre, the non-profit Roundabout Theatre Co. production grossed $608,910 for seven previews. Opening night is Nov. 2.
Non-prof, subscriber-based Manhattan Theatre Club’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding filled 99% of seats at the Friedman, grossing $351,235 with an average ticket of $68.95.
Other shows hitting the 99% (or above) capacity mark were Hamilton (grossing $1,767,882) and The Lion King (the roster’s top earner at $2,064,480). Other shows filling at least 90% of their seats included & Juliet, Aladdin, Hadestown, MJ, Moulin Rouge!, Sweeney Todd, The Book of Mormon and Wicked.
Harmony, the Barry Manilow-Bruce Sussman musical, was at 77% of capacity at the Ethel Barrymore, grossing $519,165 for seven previews. Opening night is Nov. 13.
In its final week at the Hayes, The Cottage, starring Eric McCormack and Laura Bell Bundy, took in $368,129, with attendance at 76% of capacity.
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $652,375,141, with total attendance at 5,350,057.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.