“Dolly” Has Her Best Week Yet of Over Two Million Dollars On Broadway

Bette Midler Shines in “Hello, Dolly!” on Stage and at the Box Office

This past week, the week ending April 30, 2017, the hit revival of the musical Hello, Dolly! brought in its highest weekly gross since it began performances on March 15, 2017. While this is the second time the musical has crossed the $2 million mark in a week, this was the largest gross yet at $2,105,474 over only 7 performances. That represents 128.9% of the show’s gross potential, making it the highest gross of any show this past week in terms of gross potential.

In comparison, the next highest was Waitress starring Sara Bareilles, which brought in 118.7% of its gross potential, followed by Hamilton, which brought in 105.9% of its gross potential this past week. Hello, Dolly! is in the unique position of only having to play 7, or sometimes even fewer, performances each week, while still keeping pace or exceeding the rest of the shows’ box office. Bette Midler, at age 71, is at the top of her game, and her fans are coming out in hoards to pay top dollar to see her in the timeless role of Dolly Gallagher Levi.

Tony Award Nominee Stars in Broadway Show

Starring opposite her is David Hyde Pierce in the role of Horace Vandergelder, who recently received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Bette Midler, who is up for the equivalent Actress award, is likely a shoe-in to win. This past week, with a top ticket price of $748.00, the average paid admission was $205.29, which was the second highest average ticket price, only exceed by Hamilton’s at $259.59.

Overall Broadway Industry Box Office Takes a Dip

While Hello, Dolly! had its best week yet, the overall Broadway industry saw a slight downturn this past week. With the 36 shows currently running, the collective box office for the entire industry was $32,511,675, which is a decrease of $1,895,057 from the week before, only taking into account these 36 shows. The average percentage reached of gross potential across the board was 68.26%, down from 71.48% the previous week, and the average paid admission was $109.39, down from $113.94 the week before.

The biggest increase was seen by Hello, Dolly!, which went up by $654,220 from the week before; that number is so large because the previous week only had 6 performances. Following that, the next biggest increase was seen by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which went up by $141,025 to reach a weekly gross of $1,151,021, or 82.8% of its gross potential. Then, Groundhog Day went up by $106,936 to reach a weekly gross of $755,009, or 57.5% of its gross potential.

Some Shows See Small Increases

Smaller increases were seen by The Little Foxes, which went up by $75,892 to reach a weekly gross of $402,742, Six Degrees of Separation, which went up by $49,857 to reach a weekly gross of $361,926, A Doll’s House, Part 2, which went up by $33,436 to reach a weekly gross of $144,520, Bandstand, which went up by $28,638 to reach a weekly gross of $508,757, Dear Evan Hansen, which went up by $21,081 to reach a weekly gross of $1,235,972, Indecent, which went up by $20,276 to reach a weekly gross of $241,757, and Oslo, which went up by $6,799 to reach a weekly gross of $241,757. Meanwhile, the biggest decreases were seen by Wicked ($381,084), Hamilton ($343,259), Aladdin ($338,658), School of Rock ($311,293), and The Lion King ($225,058). Therefore, the biggest dip was seen due to the lessening of interest in the most popular musicals this past week.