Amy Schumer Concludes in “Meteor Shower”

Steve Martin Play Marks Final Performance January 21st

On November 1, 2017, a new play by Steve Martin, Meteor Shower, began previews at the Booth Theatre, where it then went on to open on November 29, 2017.

This new comedy, which starred Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key in their Broadway debuts, alongside Broadway vets Laura Benanti and Jeremy Shamos, directed by Jerry Zaks (Hello, Dolly!) will play its final performance at the end of this week, on Sunday, January 21, 2018.

Falls Short Of Immense Potential

At the time of its closing, the show will have played 92 performances, including previews. This is the originally scheduled engagement, and although the play made it to the end of its run, it did have a few stumbles along the way.

While the play opened to excellent advances, taking in a healthy $1 million in the first two days that the show went on sale alone, the star power of Amy Schumer, the comedienne who is having her moment, as evidenced by her television show “Inside Amy Schumer” and her films Trainwreck and Snatched, launched the early box office into the stratosphere. However, due to less than stellar reviews, and a bout of illness on the part of the two lead actresses, the show did not reach its full immense potential.

Box Office Started Strong, With A Slight Hiccup

Given the show’s massive advance, the early weeks of box office were very strong. In the first partial week of five performances, the week ending November 5, 2017, the show brought in $631,056, which represented 104.96% of its gross potential.

The following week of eight performances, the week ending November 12, 2017, the show brought in $1,004,202, which represented 104.39% of its gross potential. The next two week stayed strong, with weekly grosses of $1,003,055 and $1,011,810, representing 104.27% and 105.18% of gross potential, respectively.

Small Uptick in Sales

However, it was that following week that included the show’s opening night: November 29, 2017, upon which the show received less positive reviews than the ambitious box office had been anticipating. That next week, the week ending December 3, 2017, the weekly box office decreased by $141,082, bringing it to a weekly gross of $870,728, or 90.52% of gross potential.

With a slight uptick the following week – an increase of $100,293, bringing it to a weekly gross of $971,021, or 100.94% of gross potential – the two weeks after that were not as good, with weekly grosses of $930,826 and $812,760 leading up to the Christmas holiday, which represented 96.76% and 96.56% of gross potential, respectively.

"Meteor Shower" Going Strong

Like the rest of Broadway, New Year’s week was a strong one, and Meteor Shower brought in a weekly gross of $1,112,555, which represented 103.80% with an added ninth performance. However, the following week, the show had to cancel the Sunday matinee on January 7, 2018, due to illness on the part of both Amy Schumer and Laura Benanti.

With just seven shows that week, the gross dropped down to $709,510, or 84.29% of gross potential. Then, in the last reported week of box office figures, the week ending January 14, 2018, the show brought in $935,525, or 97.25% of gross potential. For any other show, especially a straight play, these numbers would be phenomenal.

Record-Breaking Advance for The Booth Theatre

However, with the star power of Amy Schumer and Steve Martin alone, not to mention the attraction of “Key & Peele” member Keegan-Michael Key, Tony winner Laura Benanti, and Tony nominee Jeremy Shamos, there was a time when hopes were even higher for the financial success of this show.

With a record-breaking advance for the Booth Theatre of $7.5 million before the performances even started, the show had a good chance of making its money back, although formal recoupment has not yet been announced. With such big stars, there’s a chance that the running costs may have been prohibitive to this show entering profits.