In the week ending October 9, 2016, Broadway saw an all-around surge in ticket sales. Of the 29 shows running, all except for one saw an increase in ticket sales. As for the one show whose box office gross decreased,
The Color Purple, it went down by only $759. The greatest increase was seen by
Wicked, which went up by $351,452 to reach a weekly gross of $1,719,802, which represents 96.6% of its gross potential. The next biggest increase was seen by
School of Rock – the Musical, which went up by $287,396 to reach a weekly gross of $1,081,852. Next in line was
Aladdin, which went up by $224,843 to reach a weekly gross of $1,535,611. Six-figure increases were seen by countless other shows, including
The Lion King, which went up by $193,895 to reach a weekly gross of $2,055,928,
An American in Paris, which went up by $182,104 to reach a weekly gross of $1,119,140,
Matilda, which went up by $167,695 to reach a weekly gross of $821,962, and
Fiddler on the Roof, which went up by $163,437 to reach a weekly gross of $660,544. Overall, the 29 shows running saw a collective box office gross increase of $3,230,891, bringing in a collective gross of $25,903,638. This is an outstanding increase across the board, which is a sign that the fall season is truly kicking into high gear.
New Shows: “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” and “Falsettos”
This past week,
Les Liaisons Dangereuses began previews at the Booth Theatre. For its first preview, which is all that it played this first week, it brought in a gross of $105,177, which represents 99.8% of its gross potential. With a cast led by Liev Shreiber (
A View from the Bridge,
Talk Radio) and Janet McTeer (
Mary Stuart,
God of Carnage), the show is adapted from the original French by Christopher Hampton, whose previous successes with French to English theatrical adaptation also include Yasmina Reza’s
God of Carnage and Florian Zeller’s
The Father. In this case, he adapted the play from the French novel by Choderlos de Laclos. The director is Josie Rourke. Furthermore, the week ending October 9, 2016 saw the second week of previews for
Falsettos, which began on September 29, 2016. This past week, it played seven performances, up from its first week of 4 performances. In this week, it brought in a weekly gross of $404,430, which represents 53.89% of its gross potential. This musical has a book by William Finn and James Lapine, along with music and lyrics by William Finn. The production is directed by James Lapine, and stars Christian Borle, Andrew Rannells, and Stephanie J. Block. This is only the second production of this musical in the vein of Sondheim. While the box office is not yet a runaway success, it will surely be a strong contender for the Tony Award for Best Revival, but time will tell if it can stick around long enough to benefit from the box office boost that that would provide. In any case, the opening night for
Falsettos will take place on October 27, 2016, which should help spur word of mouth. As Andrew Rannells has quite a following from his time in
The Book of Mormon and
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Christian Borle is a favorite from “Smash” as well as shows such as
Peter and the Starcatcher, the show should prove to have a built-in audience, once word spreads that it is up and running.
