During Thanksgiving week, the best fall in the industry, “Hamilton” grossed over $3 million, and “The Lion King”, “Bad” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” each grossed over $2 million.
effect Tony AwardsHeld on September 26 to showcase the Broadway reopening, it’s hard to discern. “Moulin Rouge!”, which won the Tony award for best musical, sold well throughout the fall, but less than it did in the fall of 2019 (last year the musical grossed $1.5 million a week before Thanksgiving; same week in 2019) . , grossed $2 million).
The decline was particularly difficult for plays struggling in an age when Broadway was dominated by big musicals. Critically acclaimed games “pass over”“Is This a Room” and “Dana H.” sometimes played between half and two-thirds empty houses.
Average ticket prices for all new games except the “Lehman Trilogy” were well below the industry average, indicating that the games were applying for massive discounts. During Thanksgiving week, the average ticket price on “Hamilton” was $297, and on “Chicken & Biscuits” $35.
Aside from “Lehman,” the best seller of the new games was “Thoughts of a Colored Man,” which grossed over $400,000 in some weeks. It has since closed, as with every other play except “The Cursed Child,” which aired on Broadway last fall.
Also, as always, there were musicals that struggled. Opening new musical “Diana” harsh comments and closed a month later, playing in houses with 51 percent capacity and grossing $374,000 (for seven performances) in the week ending December 12. “Girl from the North Country,” which closed but says it plans to reopen in the spring, played to 47 percent capacity viewers and grossed $310,000 that week, and “Flying Over Sunset,” which ended its broadcast early, played to 69 percent capacity and grossed $323,000 that week.
The musical “Jagged Little Pill” featuring Alanis Morissette’s songs was more successful than these performances, but not good enough to go on for long. The show was playing in houses that were about four-fifths full in late fall and grossed $768,000 in the week of December 12. closed one week later.