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Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Start of fall season uplifts Broadway box office as four productions begin previews
Broadway News: With the fall season of productions underway, Broadway’s box office saw a significant uptick.
For the week ending Sept. 18, the 24 productions on Broadway grossed $24,954,517 and played to 91% capacity. These figures are each up 21% and 1%, respectively.
4 comments:
Maggie
said...
It seems like Broadway’s box office numbers went up when shows began to announce that they were going to close soon. Shows will announce their closing dates and then audience members will flock to the theatres to try and see them before they close for good. It is somewhat surprising to me that The Music Man is closing so soon when it is doing so well. Obviously if Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman are leaving that would affect the show, but there are certainly people who would step into the roles and could be great or possibly even better and who could still sell tickets. It is sad that shows like The Kite Runner do not do as well because they do not have as much name recognition, and many Broadway goers only have interest in the things they know. It will be interesting to see how much this rings true when the four shows that are currently in previews have solid numbers as two are revivals that are well-known.
Beetlejuice was able to survive due to its unwaveringly loyal fanbase. They were able to support its reopening, but hearing that it was struggling afterward doesn’t surprise me. The novelty has to wear off at some point. And despite all their fans, they can only afford to go see the show so many times. I’m looking forward to seeing how the new plays in previews do. I imagine Death of a Salesman will do well, and Leopoldstadt is coasting off some Oliviers. With Phantom, it’s kind of like a - why now? What changed? It is possible that with the decrease in tourism due to Covid, Phantom couldn’t support itself and only now is it bending and breaking. It arguably was wise to close Music Man at the time Hugh and Sutton would be leaving. I mean, that was the whole main appeal of the revival - it would have never survived if they were replaced. Instead of fizzling out, they chose to go out with a bang, and sometimes that’s even better than a longer run. Plus, we’ve seen that closing drums up business like crazy, i.e. with Dear Evan Hansen.
I try to follow the Broadway grosses as much as I can and it is good to see that numbers are finally starting to rise again. Broadway has had a very slow reopening after the pandemic with fewer shows than average, lower grosses, and smaller audiences. However, it looks like those figures may be recovering. While it is true that many shows, including some long-running staples, will be closing in the near future, there are more shows set to open than close. In my opinion, this turnover is much needed and healthy for broadway in the long run. As audiences return, I am hopeful that these new productions do well and bring more money and success to the industry. After a few long years of struggling, it will be nice to once again see a full Broadway with occupied theaters, full houses, and employed artists.
I am excited to hear what comes of these previews! I don’t want to say I am glad to hear of all of these closings, but I am excited to see what will take their place, particularly at the Majestic Theater, where Phantom has been since 1988. I was so excited for Beetlejuice to make a comeback post-pandemic, but it has proven to be too expensive of a show to maintain a longer run. I doubt I’ll make it up to New York soon enough to see it, but I am sure it will tour in the future. I will be interested to see what changes are made for a touring production as there are many elements to Beetlejuice that I imagine won’t be possible to tour with without modification. Hopefully we get to see many more new shows in the coming months as these long-running shows close their doors.
4 comments:
It seems like Broadway’s box office numbers went up when shows began to announce that they were going to close soon. Shows will announce their closing dates and then audience members will flock to the theatres to try and see them before they close for good. It is somewhat surprising to me that The Music Man is closing so soon when it is doing so well. Obviously if Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman are leaving that would affect the show, but there are certainly people who would step into the roles and could be great or possibly even better and who could still sell tickets. It is sad that shows like The Kite Runner do not do as well because they do not have as much name recognition, and many Broadway goers only have interest in the things they know. It will be interesting to see how much this rings true when the four shows that are currently in previews have solid numbers as two are revivals that are well-known.
Beetlejuice was able to survive due to its unwaveringly loyal fanbase. They were able to support its reopening, but hearing that it was struggling afterward doesn’t surprise me. The novelty has to wear off at some point. And despite all their fans, they can only afford to go see the show so many times. I’m looking forward to seeing how the new plays in previews do. I imagine Death of a Salesman will do well, and Leopoldstadt is coasting off some Oliviers. With Phantom, it’s kind of like a - why now? What changed? It is possible that with the decrease in tourism due to Covid, Phantom couldn’t support itself and only now is it bending and breaking. It arguably was wise to close Music Man at the time Hugh and Sutton would be leaving. I mean, that was the whole main appeal of the revival - it would have never survived if they were replaced. Instead of fizzling out, they chose to go out with a bang, and sometimes that’s even better than a longer run. Plus, we’ve seen that closing drums up business like crazy, i.e. with Dear Evan Hansen.
I try to follow the Broadway grosses as much as I can and it is good to see that numbers are finally starting to rise again. Broadway has had a very slow reopening after the pandemic with fewer shows than average, lower grosses, and smaller audiences. However, it looks like those figures may be recovering. While it is true that many shows, including some long-running staples, will be closing in the near future, there are more shows set to open than close. In my opinion, this turnover is much needed and healthy for broadway in the long run. As audiences return, I am hopeful that these new productions do well and bring more money and success to the industry. After a few long years of struggling, it will be nice to once again see a full Broadway with occupied theaters, full houses, and employed artists.
I am excited to hear what comes of these previews! I don’t want to say I am glad to hear of all of these closings, but I am excited to see what will take their place, particularly at the Majestic Theater, where Phantom has been since 1988. I was so excited for Beetlejuice to make a comeback post-pandemic, but it has proven to be too expensive of a show to maintain a longer run. I doubt I’ll make it up to New York soon enough to see it, but I am sure it will tour in the future. I will be interested to see what changes are made for a touring production as there are many elements to Beetlejuice that I imagine won’t be possible to tour with without modification. Hopefully we get to see many more new shows in the coming months as these long-running shows close their doors.
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