By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on January 10, 2017 10:19 AM
Four Shows Concluded Their Runs On A High Note: The Encounter, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Falsettos, And The Color Purple, In An Overall Great Week In The New Year.
Following Extraordinary Holiday Weekend, Broadway Settles On A High Note
In the week ending January 8, 2017, on the surface it appears that Broadway took a big dip in ticket sales. However, considering two weeks back, it is clear that while the whole industry brought in $12,516,673 less from the week before, the previous week had brought in $19,296,476 more than the week before that, meaning that this past week saw an increase of almost $7 million from Christmas week, which was also a very good week.
As reported, the month of January has been seeing a string of closures, both from long-running shows that have finally determined they have exhausted their stay on Broadway, and from newer shows that either planned for a limited engagement, or couldn’t make the cut to stick around.
January Is Generally Considered A Slow Time
In any case, this past week, of the 29 shows that were still running, the collective weekly gross was $29,567,891, which represents 81.32% of the industry’s gross potential. In comparison, the week prior, New Year’s week, brought in a collective gross over 33 shows that represented 99.32% of its gross potential.
To take it back one week further, the week ending December 25, 2016, which included the Christmas holiday, brought in 75.16% of gross potential for the 32 shows that were running that week. Therefore, although January is generally considered to be a slow time on Broadway, this past week showed that the industry is keeping up its momentum well into the first month of the New Year.
"Hamilton" Continues To Bring In Audiences
To examine some of the heavy hitters, Hamilton brought in a weekly gross this past week of $2,445,491, which represents 103.4% of its gross potential, although that is down from the previous week by $878,939. The Lion King dropped by $1,052,647 from the week before, mostly due to returning to a regular 8-performance week as opposed to the special holiday 9-performance week, bringing in a weekly gross of $2,045,683, which represents 114.2% of its gross potential.
As for Wicked, that musical brought in a weekly gross of $1,845,325, which is a decrease of $1,317,278 from the previous 9-performance week, and which represents 103.7% of the show’s gross potential.
A Slight Increase For The Shows In Their Final Week
This past week marked the closure of four shows on Broadway, three of which saw a slight increase in ticket sales even in a week where every single other show decreased in comparison to the previous week.
To begin with the musicals, The Color Purple, which ran for just over a year, brought in a final weekly gross of $1,173,670, which is a tiny increase of $1,579 from the week before, even though the final week had only 8 performances, whereas New Year’s week had 9.
"Falsettos" LImited Engagement Concludes
That also marked the highest weekly gross of the entire run for this Tony Award winning revival. In addition, Falsettos concluded its limited engagement this past Sunday. In its final performance week, the William Finn and James Lapine musical, which starred Christian Borle and Andrew Rannells, brought in a weekly gross of $661,019.
In comparison to the previous week, it decreased by $51,150, but that is because it played only 7 performances in the final week. Even with just 7 performances, the final week was the highest gross reached besides the previous week, reaching its peak gross potential of 76.78%.
Mixed Reviews Make It Difficult To Stay Afloat
In addition, two straight plays concluded their runs this past Sunday. Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which starred Liev Shreiber and Janet McTeer, brought in a final weekly gross of $442,767, which was an increase of $47,145, despite playing one fewer performance compared to New Year’s week.
While the show began its run with optimistic grosses, reaching a peak weekly gross of $702,992 in the week ending October 23, 2016, once the mixed reviews came out, the show had difficulty remaining afloat. Still, the final week did show a surge of interest.
Small Increase For "The Encounter"
Finally, Simon McBurney’s one-man show The Encounter played its final performance this past week, bringing in a final weekly gross of $344,130. This was an increase of $9,714 from the week before, again despite playing one fewer performance.
This was almost the best week of the run, with the exception of the week ending October 23, 2016, the same week as Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ peak, which brought in a weekly gross of $347,331 for The Encounter.
