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Broadway lost six productions on January 15 – including the top-grossing The Music Man – to the usual January roster-thinning, and each show went out on a happy note with strong attendance.
With 29 productions on the boards, Broadway grossed $33,859,988 for the week ending January 15, down about 9% from the previous week when there were 32 productions reporting figures. Total attendance was 247,667, a 10% drop commensurate with the fewer shows. Overall capacity percentage remained at about 93%.
Each of the six final-week shows filled at least 90% of seats at their venues, and all reported significant increases in box office dollars from the previous week. A Strange Loop, for example, set a new house record at the Lyceum, beating (with eight performances) the 2020 record set by Jack Thorne’s A Christmas Carol (and that was for nine performances).
The Music Man, meanwhile, set previous 8-show records in 53 out of 54 performance weeks and the 9-show record 51 times. The production broke its own house record 10 times during its run, routinely selling out with some of the highest ticket prices on Broadway. Last week’s average Music Man ticket price was a big $288.73, topping runners-up Funny Girl and Hamilton by a healthy margin.
(All house records, of course, are due at least in part to year-over-year ticket price increases).
The six shows playing final weeks were:
- A Strange Loop, grossing $955,591 (up $461,485) and filling 99.31% of seats;
- Death of a Salesman, $914,407 (up $197,794), 97.56%
- Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & the Pool, $762,803 (up $109,129), 97.43%;
- Ohio State Murders, $641,977 (up $280,735), 93.50%;
- The Music Man, $3,589,149 (up $442,985), 101.89%
- Topdog/Underdog, $572,922 (up $171,867), 93.03%
New to the roster was Pictures From Home starring Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein and Zoë Wanamaker. Playing four previews at Studio 54, the play took in $283,572, filling 93% of seats. Opening night is February 9.
Filling only about 75% of seats at the Shubert, Some Like It Hot fell short of the 90%+ level of most other shows last week. The musical grossed $921,894. The Collaboration was at about 83% of capacity at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, grossing $351,840 and earning its third and final one-week extension (the play now runs through Saturday, February 11).
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,036,878,642, with total attendance of 7,967,176 at about 87% of capacity.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For the complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.