By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on February 09, 2017 5:02 PM
Sunset Boulevard Began Previews On Broadway To A Promising Start Starring Glenn Close, Hamilton Continued To Magnificently Defy Odds By Bringing In A Gross Of $3.2 Million
$3.2 Million Weekly Gross Makes Up For Other Shows’ Deficit
In the week ending February 5, 2017, Hamilton brought in a stupendous weekly gross of $3,214,897. This is the second best gross of the year for this mega-hit musical, only bested by the week ending January 1, 2017, which had a weekly gross of $3,335,430. Over a regular week of eight performances, this past week saw Hamilton bring in an extraordinary 110.65% of its gross potential. With a top ticket price of $849.00, the average paid admission was $298.92, which is the highest average ticket price the show has seen, with the exception of Christmas and New Years weeks.
With 21 shows running this past week, the collective gross was $19,874,004, which is a small decrease of only $130,704 from the previous week’s collective gross of $20,004,708. While the same number of shows were running, the only difference in the slate was that The Front Page closed, and Sunset Boulevard began previews, swapping comparable grosses. Beyond that, almost every single show saw a decrease in ticket sales from the previous week – with the exception of Hamilton – and also Dear Evan Hansen increased by the negligible amount of $8,415.
"Hamilton" is Thriving at the Broadway Box Office
Hamilton’s extraordinary increase of $833,694 from the week before made up for 18 individual shows’ decreases in ticket sales. It is thus the case that Hamilton is carrying the entire Broadway industry on its back. While it is to be expected that the majority of shows will begin to pick up as the spring season gets underway, at this point in the dead of winter, only Hamilton is thriving.
“Sunset Boulevard” Has Promising First Partial Week
This past week, Sunset Boulevard began previews in a new revival starring Glenn Close, who also starred in the production that ran in 1994-95. With a partial first week of five preview performances, Sunset Boulevard brought in a weekly gross of $833,694, which represents 68.4% of its gross potential. With a top ticket price of $297.00, the average paid admission was $120.48, and the audience was filled up to 82.4% of its gross capacity.
In terms of the scheme of the Broadway industry, Sunset Boulevard took the place of The Front Page – not literally in the same theatre (The Front Page played at the Broadhurst Theatre; Sunset Boulevard is running at the Palace Theatre) – but in terms of contributing to the collective gross in measuring the industry performance from week to week. In its final week of performances, the week ending January 29, 2017, The Front Page brought in $1,073,605, which represented 80.5% of its gross potential.
Broadway Show is Expected to See an Increase at the Box Office
With Sunset Boulevard only running five performances this past week, it brought in just $833,694, which although representing less of its gross potential, fills a sizable portion of the vacancy left by the financially successful revival of The Front Page. In any case, Sunset Boulevard is likely to see an increase of interest as word of mouth spreads – not only because of the beloved status of the play’s star, Glenn Close, but also because Sunset Boulevard is a classic of both stage and screen, and it has remained alive in many viewers’ hearts due to the timelessness of the film, which was released in 1950. Sunset Boulevard is scheduled to run until June 25, 2017.
