Tony Winners Thrive at the Box Office

The Band’s Visit and Harry Potter Soar to New Heights

This week's box office reflected the first ticket revenue following the Tony Awards. Best Musical, The Band’s Visit, saw an increase of $119,202 to reach a gross of $1,069,845, which represents 104.42% of its gross potential. This is the first time that this musical has crossed the million dollar mark, and also exceeded 100%, since just after the new year. The show has been running since October 2017, and following its excellent reviews, the box office did have a period of high performance between Thanksgiving and mid-January, but since then, the revenues have been middling.

This past week, The Band’s Visit had an average paid admission of $128.71, the highest since the last week of 2017, with a top ticket price of $297.00, and the audience capacity was filled up to 100.0% of its potential. Meanwhile, Best Play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, reached the highest weekly gross of its run. The show went up by $176,187 to reach a weekly gross of $2,277,446, which represents 114.53% of its gross potential. With a top ticket price of $296.50, the average admission was $175.51, the highest of the run to date, and the audience was filled up to 100.0% of its capacity, as it has been throughout the run.

Angels in America and Once on This Island Also See a Boost

Angels in America took home the award for Best Revival of a Play, Best Leading and Featured Actor– for Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane, respectively. That show saw a box office increase this past week of $77,105 to reach a weekly gross of $994,108, which represents 73.0% of gross potential. While there is still room for growth, these numbers are the highest of any week yet of the run. As this show entails a hefty amount of time in theatre over the course of two plays, there is still a barrier to entry for the more casual theatregoer. Still, the boost of buzz from the Tony Awards should continue to propel this show’s box office throughout its run.

As for the winner of the award for Best Revival of a Musical, Once on This Island, that show saw a box office increase of $80,188 this past week, bringing it to a weekly gross of $617,297, or 77.92% of its gross potential. Similarly, this revival still has room for growth, but these are also the highest numbers – both in terms of weekly gross and gross potential ­– that the show has seen throughout its run. The Tony Awards have a strong power over the box office, and it is no wonder that producers place such a high importance on Tony recognition.