During the 23rd week of the Broadway season, the week ending Oct. 29, grosses dipped at box offices across Broadway. Nineteen of the 28 currently running productions reported decreases compared to the week prior. In comparison — for the week ending Oct. 22 — 13 of 28 shows reported dips at the till compared to the week before.
For the week ending Oct. 29, the overall Broadway box office grossed $26,480,578 compared to $28,106,860 the previous week. This marks a 5.8% decrease. The number of productions running remained steady.
Ten productions grossed over $1 million: “Aladdin,” “Back to the Future,” “Hamilton,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “MJ,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Wicked” and “The Lion King,” the latter of which grossed over $2 million.
However, 10 productions (some overlapping with those in the $1 million club) reported decreases of over $100,000 compared to the week prior. “& Juliet,” “A Beautiful Noise,” “Back to the Future,” “Kimberly Akimbo,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Shucked,” “SIX,” “Some Like It Hot,” “Sweeney Todd” and “The Book of Mormon” took in at least $100,000 less than they did the week before.
That said, the top-three earners were “The Lion King” ($2,064,480), “Wicked” ($1,922,483) and “Merrily” ($1,840,835). “Merrily” broke its own box office record for an eight-performance week at the Hudson Theatre.
“Merrily” also topped the charts for highest average ticket price ($238.20). Rounding out the top three of average ticket price were “Hamilton” ($167,68) and “Sweeney Todd” ($160.12). On the other end, “The Shark Is Broken” ($59.50), “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” ($68.95) and “Shucked” ($87.84) saw the lowest average ticket price.
In terms of attendance, Broadway’s overall attendance dipped slightly, playing to 86.5% capacity compared to 89.5% capacity the week prior.
Thirteen shows played to more than 90% capacity: “& Juliet,” “Aladdin,” “Hadestown,” “Hamilton,” “I Need That,” “Jaja’s,” “MJ,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Sweeney Todd,” “The Book of Mormon,” “The Lion King,” “Wicked” and “Merrily,” the latter of which played to 100% capacity.
Two shows played to less than 60% capacity: “Melissa Etheridge: My Window” and “The Shark Is Broken.”
“I Need That” and “Harmony” remained in previews.
