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Though it’s too soon to say how Sunday’s Tony Awards will impact box office for the night’s winners and losers, figures for the week leading up to the ceremony show big gains for the multi-nominated (and eventual Best Musical winner) A Strange Loop. The Michael R. Jackson musical filled 98% of its available seats during the week ending June 12, a large gain over the previous week’s 89%.
With an average ticket price of $108, A Strange Loop grossed $676,316 for seven performances.
Overall, Broadway box office for the 31 production was up about 7% over the previous week, tallying $31,588,947. Total attendance was up 4% to 240,564.
Bucking the upward trend was Funny Girl, down by $61,332 to $1,116,695 with the Covid absence of star Beanie Feldstein. Attendance of 8,379 was about 86% of capacity, a noticeable dip from the 95% + level typical of the show.
Covid could take a toll on next week’s tally at The Music Man, with star Hugh Jackman out of the show this week due to a positive test following Sunday night’s Tony appearance. The musical revival, which, like Funny Girl was a non-presence in the awards roster, is Broadway’s biggest commercial hit of the season, grossing a massive $3,411,385 last week.
Take Me Out, which won the Tony for Best Revival of a Play, took in a whopping $717,420 during its final week, filling 99.6% of seats at the Helen Hayes Theatre. The revival, which also won a Tony for star Jesse Tyler Ferguson, ended its limited engagement on June 11.
Broadway watchers will certainly be tracking the box office performance of Paradise Square at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, a musical that’s been struggling commercially – last week’s gross was a small $263,147, with attendance at 60% of capacity – but a show that will no doubt benefit from star Joaquina Kalukango’s win in the Leading Actress/Musical category, not to mention her scorching, ceremony-stealing rendition of the production’s showstopper “Let It Burn.”
Also likely to see some post-Tony action are MJ and Company, both taking multiple Tonys and making strong appearances on the broadcast. In the week prior to the Tonys, MJ was filling 96% of its seats, grossing $1,444,057, with Company at 74% and $640,297.
How I Learned To Drive, though it went home empty-handed from the Tonys, played its final week at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre to a more-than-solid 90% of capacity, with the non-profit Manhattan Theatre Club production grossing $288,289.
Mr. Saturday Night, the Billy Crystal musical, returned from a planned weeklong hiatus to 78% houses at the Nederlander Theatre, with box office for the seven performances at $848,030.
Plaza Suite, the Neil Simon revival starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, didn’t register at the Tonys – its sole nomination was for costumes for a play, an award that went to The Skin of Our Teeth – nonetheless had a terrific week at the Hudson Theatre, setting yet another house record (its fourth) with a take of $1,708,386. The production, which had an average ticket price of $220 last week, will end its extended engagement on Sunday, July 10, and is on track to being one of Broadway’s highest grossing play revivals ever.
Box office prospects aren’t so rosy for a trio of critically well-received plays that got no help from Tony Sunday. In the week leading up to the awards ceremony, Hangmen, POTUS and The Minutes were playing to lots of empty seats. Audiences for Hangmen and POTUS were at 50% of capacity, with The Minutes at about 60%.
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $94,491,602, with total attendance of 728,668 at about 83% of capacity.
The 31 productions reporting figures on Broadway last week were Aladdin; American Buffalo; Beetlejuice; The Book of Mormon; Chicago; Come From Away; Company; Dear Evan Hansen; Funny Girl; Girl From The North Country; Hadestown; Hamilton; Hangmen; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; How I Learned To Drive; The Lion King; Macbeth; MJ; The Minutes; Moulin Rouge!; Mr. Saturday Night; The Music Man; Paradise Square; The Phantom of the Opera; Plaza Suite; POTUS; Six; A Strange Loop; Take Me Out; Tina; and Wicked.
All figures courtesy of the Broadway League.