By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on March 31, 2015 5:40 PM
Four New Shows Began Previews In The Week Ending March 29, 2015: Fun Home, Dr. Zhivago, The Visit, And Something Rotten!, Hoping To Generate Buzz.
“Something Rotten!” And “Doctor Zhivago” Begin Previews
In the week ending March 29, 2015, Something Rotten! was one of four new shows that began previews. Over the course of seven performances at the St. James Theatre, the new musical directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon) brought in $363,874, which represents 68.51% of its gross capacity.
That is not bad for a new show without previous brand name recognition. Furthermore, it has Broadway stars but not Hollywood stars, including Christian Borle, Brian D’Arcy James, Brooks Ashmanskas, and Peter Bartlett.
Discounted Prices Help New Shows Gain Popularity
With a top ticket price of $197.00, the average paid ticket was only $35.30. Therefore, though the average audience capacity was 99.1%, the ticket buyers mostly paid highly discounted rates. This is a good tactic for a new show to gain popularity through word of mouth in its early days.
Furthermore, Doctor Zhivago began previews at the Broadway Theatre on March 27, 2015, playing three performances over this first week. With a weekly gross of $291,270, the show brought in 60.39% of its gross potential, with an average paid admission of $74.02.
“Fun Home” And “The Visit” Also Join The Broadway Ranks
After a wildly successful run at the Public Theatre, Fun Home began previews on March 27, 2015, playing 4 performances in this first week. The show brought in a weekly gross of $218,509, representing 58.56% of its gross potential. With a top ticket price of $200.00, the average paid admission was $77.43, representing a moderate amount of discounting to reach the audience capacity of 100.5%.
This is another new musical that hopes to spread word of mouth through early discounting in the run, but will hope to maintain full audiences at higher-priced tickets after opening.
"The Visit" Began Previews
Finally, The Visit began previews on March 26, 2015 at the Lyceum Theatre. Starring Chita Rivera and Roger Rees, this musical has a book by Terrence McNally, and a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb.
Over its first five performances, the show only brought in $167,410 despite its high pedigree of cast and creative team. This represents 35.12% of the show’s gross potential. With a top ticket price of $225.00, the average paid admission was $46.74, reaching an average audience capacity of 79.5%.
The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending March 29, 2015:
| Show Name | GrossGross | TotalAttn | %Capacity | AvgPdAdm |
| A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER | $642,467 | 6,469 | 89.15% | $99.31 |
| ALADDIN | $1,569,812 | 13,785 | 100.01% | $113.88 |
| AN AMERICAN IN PARIS | $859,762 | 10,620 | 92.45% | $80.96 |
| BEAUTIFUL | $979,932 | 7,279 | 88.68% | $134.62 |
| CABARET | $935,989 | 7,042 | 98.57% | $132.92 |
| CHICAGO | $694,655 | 8,032 | 92.96% | $86.49 |
| DOCTOR ZHIVAGO | $291,270 | 3,935 | 88.75% | $74.02 |
| FINDING NEVERLAND | $1,046,994 | 11,211 | 94.75% | $93.39 |
| FISH IN THE DARK | $1,200,038 | 8,720 | 101.58% | $137.62 |
| FUN HOME | $218,509 | 2,822 | 100.50% | $77.43 |
| GIGI | $483,908 | 7,407 | 78.03% | $65.33 |
| HAND TO GOD | $235,413 | 5,379 | 85.98% | $43.77 |
| HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH | $506,395 | 5,908 | 83.81% | $85.71 |
| HONEYMOON IN VEGAS | $371,576 | 5,020 | 54.57% | $74.02 |
| IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU | $335,706 | 6,144 | 78.53% | $54.64 |
| IT’S ONLY A PLAY | $612,583 | 6,130 | 71.15% | $99.93 |
| JERSEY BOYS | $738,877 | 8,053 | 81.97% | $91.75 |
| KINKY BOOTS | $1,004,700 | 9,875 | 86.68% | $101.74 |
| LES MISÉRABLES | $800,286 | 9,568 | 84.88% | $83.64 |
| MAMMA MIA! | $699,086 | 8,483 | 90.94% | $82.41 |
| MATILDA | $1,137,135 | 11,486 | 100.26% | $99.00 |
| ON THE TOWN | $573,548 | 9,032 | 60.25% | $63.50 |
| ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY | $486,398 | 5,664 | 98.06% | $85.88 |
| SKYLIGHT | $618,692 | 6,215 | 96.87% | $99.55 |
| SOMETHING ROTTEN! | $363,874 | 10,307 | 99.11% | $35.30 |
| THE AUDIENCE | $1,164,962 | 7,584 | 101.35% | $153.61 |
| THE BOOK OF MORMON | $1,529,584 | 8,751 | 102.61% | $174.79 |
| THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME | $792,781 | 7,758 | 95.26% | $102.19 |
| THE HEIDI CHRONICLES | $335,976 | 4,981 | 62.20% | $67.45 |
| THE KING AND I | $776,946 | 8,377 | 100.01% | $92.75 |
| THE LION KING | $2,064,202 | 13,494 | 99.22% | $152.97 |
| THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | $964,013 | 11,422 | 88.96% | $84.40 |
| THE VISIT | $167,410 | 3,582 | 79.51% | $46.74 |
| WICKED | $1,872,149 | 14,604 | 94.78% | $128.19 |
| WOLF HALL PARTS ONE & TWO | $886,920 | 8,877 | 80.23% | $99.91 |
| Totals | $27,962,546 | 284,016 | 88.65% | $94.28 |
Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2015 nytix.com
