'Harmony', 'Purlie Victorious' Close On Upswings

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Broadway said goodbye last week to two well-regarded but underperforming productions, with both Harmony and Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch posting better-than-usual weekly box office as last-chancers grabbed seats.

Harmony, the Barry Manilow-Bruce Sussman musical about the real-life 1920s German singing group the Comedian Harmonists, filled a robust 99% of seats at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, grossing $853,055 for the week ending February 4. That’s a bump of $145,978 over the previous week.

Purlie Victorious, the universally acclaimed revival of the Ossie Davis comedy starring Leslie Odom Jr. and Kara Young, grossed $706,882, a boost of $58,090 over the previous week. Still, the production filled only 81% of seats at the Music Box.

In all, the 25 Broadway productions grossed $23,493,675, a slight 5% bump over the previous week (and nearly identical to last year’s gross for the week). Total attendance was 213,281, about 2% over the previous week and 9% over last year at this time. About 93% of available seats were filled.

Sweeney Todd, which has been slipping in recent weeks after the departures of stars Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford (and before the February 9 arrivals of permanent replacements Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster), showed some improvement. Receipts totaled $857,422, an increase of $81,341 over the previous week, and attendance inching up to 95% of capacity. A possible reason for the boost? The arrival of Heartstopper star Joe Locke in the supporting role of Tobias.

A few other numbers of note:

How To Dance In Ohio, nearing its February 11 close, was up $124,975 to $628,710, with attendance at 94% of capacity at the Belasco;
The ever-durable Chicago had its best non-holiday week in its 27-year history, grossing $939,177;
Doubt: A Parable, the Roundabout’s revival of John Patrick Shanley’s play starring Tyne Daly and Liev Schreiber, began performances at the newly renamed Todd Haimes Theatre, grossing $157,190 for two previews, with attendance at 84% of capacity.