This Was A Fairly Average Week On Broadway, With Notable Successes Including All The Way, While Holler If Ya Hear Me And Mothers And Sons Struggle.


“All The Way” Gaining Momentum

All the Way is the Tony Award winning Best Play of 2014, and that success is showing at the box office. It helps that the star of the show is Bryan Cranston, one of America’s most celebrated actors for such performances as his leading role as Walter White on the television show Breaking Bad.

Written by Robert Schenkkan and directed by Bill Rauch, this play has been doing excellently at the box office since it began performances on February 10, 2014. It has been hovering over the $1 million mark, with a steady increase since the awards season has begun.

Tough Competition With Top-Earning Broadway Musicals

But after this play has shown well above others in several awards ceremonies, national word has spread. In the week ending June 15, 2014, the show grossed $1,229,459, which was an increase of $288,909, the highest increase of any show this week.

With an average paid ticket of $128.90, the show reached 89.86% of its gross potential. This is a very high number specifically for a play, putting it in competition against some of the top-earning musicals.

“Holler if Ya Hear Me” Still Struggling

This Tupac Shakur inspired musical opened at an unusual time, too late for Tony Award consideration and when the summer season is beginning, when many tourists go for lighter musical fare. Though a musical, this show deals with themes that may be traditionally less desirable in the warmer season. Though the show will open later this week and is still in previews, it is still abnormally low that it only grossed $163,586 in a week of eight performances.

With an average paid admission of $24.35, the show only made 18.32% of its gross potential, by far the lowest of any show this past week. The second lowest show in terms of reaching its gross potential, Mothers and Sons, just announced that it will be closing at the end of next week. With a weekly gross of $156,116, it only grossed 20.34% of its gross potential.

Other Shows Having Difficulties

There are other shows that are earned less than half of their gross potential, many of which are produced by not for profit theatre institutions.

Casa Valentina, produced by Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, only earned 43.73% of its gross potential, though it was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play, which it did not win. Furthermore, Violet, a musical produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company, only grossed 44.42% of its potential.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending June 16, 2014:

Broadway-Show-Ticket-Analysis-6-15-14
Show Name GrossGross TotalAttn %Cap AvgPdAdm
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER $851,262.00 6,984 96.25% $121.89
A RAISIN IN THE SUN $1,290,437.00 8,368 100.00% $154.21
ACT ONE $370,426.00 5,162 79.37% $71.76
AFTER MIDNIGHT $567,577.50 6,624 79.92% $85.69
ALADDIN $1,332,136.50 13,788 100.03% $96.62
ALL THE WAY $1,229,459.00 9,538 83.84% $128.90
BEAUTIFUL $1,170,050.00 8,266 100.71% $141.55
BULLETS OVER BROADWAY $773,110.00 8,616 66.07% $89.73
CABARET $731,191.75 6,584 92.16% $111.06
CASA VALENTINA $256,272.00 3,837 74.48% $66.79
CHICAGO $492,950.45 6,079 70.36% $81.09
CINDERELLA $760,204.45 10,301 73.54% $73.80
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH $1,071,625.12 7,216 102.37% $148.51
HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME $163,585.50 6,719 77.19% $24.35
IF/THEN $802,082.00 8,642 82.40% $92.81
JERSEY BOYS $820,917.90 8,439 85.90% $97.28
KINKY BOOTS $1,372,011.00 10,909 95.76% $125.77
LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL $457,174.00 3,876 94.72% $117.95
LES MISÉRABLES $1,038,248.77 10,138 89.94% $102.41
MAMMA MIA! $629,849.20 7,501 80.41% $83.97
MATILDA $1,047,221.70 11,219 97.93% $93.34
MOTHERS AND SONS $156,116.00 2,818 43.92% $55.40
MOTOWN THE MUSICAL $991,943.50 9,948 82.51% $99.71
NEWSIES $770,523.70 9,067 95.64% $84.98
OF MICE AND MEN $806,630.19 8,124 94.64% $99.29
ONCE $438,505.51 5,557 65.59% $78.91
PIPPIN $565,734.00 6,487 81.91% $87.21
ROCK OF AGES $280,008.25 3,589 76.95% $78.02
ROCKY $761,451.00 8,629 71.15% $88.24
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,604,506.92 8,752 102.63% $183.33
THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN $515,389.00 5,776 67.29% $89.23
THE LION KING $2,043,643.00 13,596 99.97% $150.31
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $984,108.99 11,686 91.01% $84.21
THE REALISTIC JONESES $442,301.71 5,021 71.98% $88.09
VIOLET $342,638.00 4,248 72.34% $80.66
WICKED $1,969,827.00 15,271 99.01% $128.99
Totals: $29,901,118.61 287,375 84.44% $99.61

Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2014 nytix.com