Broadway Grosses w/e 12/24/2017: Christmas Comes Early.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. The best week of the year is supposed to be the week after Christmas, not the week before.
Someone forgot to tell w/e 12/24 this old axiom because the run-up to Christmas week this year proved to be historically big.
And guess . . . just guess which show made history.
That’s right . . . a certain hip-hop founding father.
Hamilton did $3.8mm at the Rodgers. $3.8mm in one week! There isn’t a show in town that wouldn’t take that gross for an entire month!
What’s fascinating about this new house record is that the show is 2.5 years old by now . . . proving that the right hype combined with the right pricing strategy can pay off long after opening buzz and your original Tony-winning cast has left town (That’s also why The Lion King did almost $2.7mm last week).
This profitable combination will no doubt further extend the life of musicals in the coming years . . . which will only further the real estate crunch Producers face.
What’s unique about this week is that many of the shows on the list posted their impressive figures on only 7 performances instead of the usual 8. (Shows do 7 performances in this week with the benefit of then being able to do 9 the following week, with less of a penalty).
You know what else this week tells me?
My prediction of a $4mm week . . . is going to come sooner than I even thought.
Here are the Broadway grosses from last week:
| Show Name | GrossGross | TotalAttn | %Capacity | AvgPdAdm |
| A BRONX TALE THE MUSICAL | $708,597.15 | 6,430 | 87.99% | $110.20 |
| ALADDIN | $1,867,971.00 | 13,462 | 97.44% | $138.76 |
| ANASTASIA | $1,232,248.00 | 9,088 | 99.39% | $135.59 |
| BEAUTIFUL | $601,084.66 | 5,224 | 72.74% | $115.06 |
| CATS | $1,033,958.00 | 9,298 | 84.53% | $111.20 |
| CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY | $1,068,406.00 | 9,500 | 90.72% | $112.46 |
| CHICAGO | $556,343.54 | 5,954 | 78.76% | $93.44 |
| COME FROM AWAY | $1,269,564.34 | 7,454 | 101.80% | $170.32 |
| DEAR EVAN HANSEN | $1,862,541.66 | 7,994 | 101.55% | $232.99 |
| FARINELLI AND THE KING | $812,128.84 | 7,193 | 97.77% | $112.91 |
| HAMILTON | $3,797,844.00 | 10,757 | 101.79% | $353.06 |
| HELLO, DOLLY! | $2,295,082.16 | 11,532 | 99.69% | $199.02 |
| HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS | $77,787.15 | 2,243 | 22.83% | $34.68 |
| JOHN LITHGOW: STORIES BY HEART | $117,414.80 | 1,981 | 89.23% | $59.27 |
| JUNK | $352,024.00 | 5,503 | 64.96% | $63.97 |
| KINKY BOOTS | $762,530.75 | 7,390 | 74.14% | $103.18 |
| LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS | $426,713.00 | 4,791 | 68.17% | $89.07 |
| METEOR SHOWER | $812,760.00 | 5,382 | 99.34% | $151.01 |
| MISS SAIGON | $640,809.27 | 7,454 | 72.19% | $85.97 |
| ONCE ON THIS ISLAND | $594,625.96 | 4,985 | 102.32% | $119.28 |
| SCHOOL OF ROCK | $1,058,888.77 | 9,802 | 80.45% | $108.03 |
| SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS | $930,882.60 | 10,920 | 84.78% | $85.25 |
| SPRINGSTEEN ON BROADWAY | $2,411,185.00 | 4,740 | 100.00% | $508.69 |
| THE BAND’S VISIT | $1,144,873.90 | 7,273 | 100.00% | $157.41 |
| THE BOOK OF MORMON | $1,264,284.00 | 7,561 | 101.33% | $167.21 |
| THE CHILDREN | $199,124.80 | 3,943 | 75.83% | $50.50 |
| THE LION KING | $2,682,893.00 | 13,551 | 99.87% | $197.98 |
| THE PARISIAN WOMAN | $520,421.00 | 5,534 | 70.80% | $94.04 |
| THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | $1,175,913.90 | 10,989 | 97.81% | $107.01 |
| THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG | $446,336.25 | 4,935 | 72.23% | $90.44 |
| WAITRESS | $850,369.80 | 6,798 | 92.93% | $125.09 |
| WICKED | $2,220,606.00 | 15,312 | 99.38% | $145.02 |
| TOTALS | $35,796,213.30 | 244,973 | 86.96% | $138.38 |
| +/- THIS WEEK LAST SEASON | +$5,382,501.95 | |||
| PERCENTAGE +/- THIS WEEK LAST SEASON | +17.7% |
*Broadway Grosses courtesy of The Broadway League.
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