‘Hamilton’s $3.1M Week Keeps Broadway Box Office On An Even Keel
Posting a $266K uptick and again topping the $3 million mark in weekly ticket sales, Hamilton helped keep Broadway flat in an otherwise blah week that saw New Yorkers and tourists taking to the streets in spring gear during an uncharacteristically balmy February stretch. The American history blockbuster, running at the Nederlander Organization’s Richard Rodgers Theatre, took in a Street-leading $3.13 million, with an average ticket price of $291.37, also the top number among 26 shows. The nearest also-ran was Disney’s The Lion King, $1.9 million at the Nederlanders’ Minskoff.
The big opening of the week was Sunday in the Park With George, a transfer and minimal upgrade from New York City Center, where it first was presented last fall as concert fundraiser for the Encores! series. Rapturous reviews for stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford were all but pre-ordained given the critical reception for the concert, and there were additional cheers for the venue, Ambassador Theatre Group’s refurbished Hudson Theatre. The reception might well revive discussion about the producers’ decision to exempt the limited run from Tony Awards contention. The show sold $893K worth of tickets, 92 percent of potential in the house’s 957 seats, every one of which had a bottom in it.
Three plays and a musical are in previews. Come From Away (right), a tuner about the 7,000 passengers diverted midflight to Gander, Newfoundland, following the attacks of September 11, 2001, did a healthy $601K (63 percent of potential) at the Shubert Organization’s Schoenfeld, where it was SRO. The Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price, with Mark Ruffalo, Tony Shalhoub, Danny DeVito and Jessica Hecht, also was SRO at the American Airlines, where the audience included retired President Barack Obama and daughter Malia.
At the Shuberts’ Belasco, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, with Sally Field and Joe Mantello, posted $415.7K in sales, 45 percent of potential and 77 percent of capacity. And Joshua Harmon’s Significant Other, at the Shuberts’ Booth, brought in $228K, 30 percent of potential in its first week of previews.
Over at the Nederlanders’ Palace, Glenn Close drew $1.3 million in sales for Sunset Boulevard, 79 percent of potential and an average ticket price of $130. At the Shuberts’ Music Box, Dear Evan Hansen continued to show strength, posting $1.13 million in sales, 5.2 percent above potential, at an average price of $141.17.
Total sales across 26 productions during Week 40 of the 2016-17 Broadway season were $25.4 million, a dip from Week 39’s $25.6 million but significantly ahead of the same week a year ago ($20 million), according to the trade group Broadway League.
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