Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis w/e 06/05/2016

Broadway Takes A Dip After Memorial Day Weekend

In the week ending June 5, 2016, Broadway took in much less at the box office than it had in the previous week, which had included Memorial Day weekend. The first week of June, though the start of the summer months bringing an influx of tourists, was not itself a big bump week.

Still, as the Tony Awards are around the corner, the added buzz from the winners and the performances at the ceremony should provide a boost for the following weeks. In any case, this past week, of the 36 shows currently running, only six saw an increase in ticket sales, however negligible.

"American Psycho" Sees Big Increase In Final Week Of Performances

The biggest increase was seen by American Psycho, which prematurely played its final performance on June 5, 2016. In its final week of performances, the wannabe cult musical brought in $620,083, which was an increase of $179,965 from the previous week, as well as the highest gross of its run. This represented 58.91% of the show’s gross potential, a number that it only beat in the first partial week of previews, when $365,186 over 4 performances accounted for 68.86% of gross potential.

Besides American Psycho, the only other notable increase was seen by An Act of God, returning for a second summer in a row and now starring Sean Hayes, which went up by $170,751 because it played its first full performance week of 8 shows (up from only 2 performances last week). Despite this increase, the gross only represented 38.07% of its potential. The only other gross increases were negligible in the 4 or 5-digit amounts; these shows were: She Loves Me, Blackbird, Eclipsed, and The Father.

Long Running Shows Have Trouble Staying Afloat

In this slump week, the biggest decreases were seen by some of the long running shows, or those that were new last season but in light of this year’s upcoming Tony Awards, are starting to seem old hat. The biggest decrease was seen by An American in Paris, the biggest runner-up contender for last year’s Tony Award for Best Musical (which was ultimately taken home by Fun Home). An American in Paris saw a decrease in its weekly gross of $182,005, bringing it to a weekly gross of $681,148, or 46.3% of its gross potential.

Another big decrease was seen by the long-running musical The Phantom of the Opera, which went down by $169,144, bringing it to a weekly gross of $857,783, or 56.6% of its gross potential. Furthermore, Kinky Boots, the 2013 winner for Best Musical, went down by $104,049, bringing it to a weekly gross of $606,568, or 48.9% of its gross potential.

Decreases For "Chicago", "Les Misérables", "Wicked", and "Hamilton"

The Cirque du Soleil show Paramour is also having a tough time keeping up with the potential of its giant venue, the Lyric Theatre; this past week, it decreased by $102,493, bringing in a weekly gross of $1,024,450, or just 56.7% of its large gross potential. Something Rotten! which was also a contender for last year’s Tony Award for Best Musical, took a dip of $100,491 this past week, bringing it to a weekly gross of $628,040, or 46.6% of its gross potential. Other long-running shows decreased such as Chicago (went down by $90,713), Les Misérables (went down by $70,327), and Wicked (went down by $59,607). Meanwhile, even Hamilton saw a slight decrease in ticket sales this past week of $62,934, bringing it to a weekly gross of $1,854,989, or 139.0% of its gross potential.