By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on October 06, 2014 6:07 PM
In The Week Ending October 5, 2014, The Real Thing And The Last Ship Began Performances, Both Performing Fine But Not Excellently In Their Pre-Critiqued Phases.
“You Can’t Take It With You” Showing Some Improvement
In the week ending October 5, 2014, the recently opened Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman 1937 comedy You Can’t Take It With You grossed $571,079. This is an increase of $189,751 from the week before, although that week was a $150,889 decrease from the week before that.
This past week’s gross represents 57.91% of the gross potential. The reason these numbers are interesting to analyze is because the show opened at the beginning of this past week of recorded figures, on September 28, 2014. It received magnificent reviews, though the financial data is still bordering on mediocre.
Rave Reviews Can't Sway Box Office
In particular, during the last week of previews, the numbers were particularly dire, reaching only 39.18% of the gross potential. This is partly because critics received complimentary tickets to review the show, along with the largely comped opening night performance.
Nevertheless, it appears the rave reviews were barely enough to get the box office back up to speed for the numbers it was doing in previews. Time will tell if word of mouth spread enough to make this a hit.
New Shows: “The Real Thing” And “The Last Ship”
The Roundabout Theatre Company production of The Real Thing began previews on October 2, 2014, running for just 5 performances in its first performance week. In that time, it grossed $264,607, which represents just 66.49% of its gross potential.
Meanwhile, it filled 90.9% of the seats across the five performances, who represents a heavy degree of discounting and papering (giving out complimentary tickets). This Tom Stoppard classic stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ewan McGregor, Cynthia Nixon, and Josh Hamilton, and is sure to pick up at least somewhat as performances are underway.
Broadway Newbies Intrigue Audiences
Meanwhile, Sting’s musical The Last Ship began performances on September 29, 2014, playing 7 performances in its first week. Over that time, it grossed $533,382, which represents 49.39% of its gross potential. It filled only 72.1% of the seats over those seven performances.
The discrepancy between The Last Ship and The Real Thing, in addition to the number of performances, is that the former is a musical and therefore plays in a larger theatre, with a higher gross potential. In any case, it will be interesting to see whether critics and audiences alike will take to this somber musical set in rural England with a score by a Grammy winning Broadway newbie.
The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending October 5, 2014:
| Show | GrossGross | Total Attn | %Cap | AvgPdAdm |
| A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER | $849,170 | 7,053 | 97.20% | $120.40 |
| ALADDIN | $1,318,128 | 13,582 | 98.53% | $97.05 |
| BEAUTIFUL | $1,279,354 | 8,271 | 100.77% | $154.68 |
| CABARET | $537,342 | 4,632 | 64.84% | $116.01 |
| CHICAGO | $479,306 | 5,935 | 68.69% | $80.76 |
| CINDERELLA | $487,724 | 7,706 | 55.01% | $63.29 |
| DISGRACED | $292,989 | 4,674 | 72.74% | $62.68 |
| HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH | $528,099 | 5,639 | 80.00% | $93.65 |
| IF/THEN | $456,099 | 7,946 | 75.76% | $57.40 |
| IT’S ONLY A PLAY | $1,248,660 | 8,637 | 100.99% | $144.57 |
| JERSEY BOYS | $844,166 | 8,256 | 84.04% | $102.25 |
| KINKY BOOTS | $1,157,229 | 10,219 | 89.70% | $113.24 |
| LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL | $762,599 | 5,651 | 103.57% | $134.95 |
| LES MISÉRABLES | $666,437 | 7,589 | 67.33% | $87.82 |
| LOVE LETTERS | $214,065 | 3,956 | 46.30% | $54.11 |
| MAMMA MIA! | $659,381 | 7,874 | 84.41% | $83.74 |
| MATILDA | $713,487 | 8,205 | 71.62% | $86.96 |
| MOTOWN THE MUSICAL | $981,415 | 10,300 | 85.43% | $95.28 |
| ON THE TOWN | $565,544 | 11,625 | 77.54% | $48.65 |
| ONCE | $358,134 | 5,617 | 66.30% | $63.76 |
| PIPPIN | $402,674 | 5,148 | 65.00% | $78.22 |
| ROCK OF AGES | $332,574 | 3,868 | 82.93% | $85.98 |
| THE BOOK OF MORMON | $1,611,038 | 8,739 | 102.47% | $184.35 |
| THE COUNTRY HOUSE | $196,922 | 4,773 | 91.79% | $41.26 |
| THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME | $501,192 | 7,063 | 99.12% | $70.96 |
| THE LAST SHIP | $533,382 | 6,779 | 72.06% | $78.68 |
| THE LION KING | $1,853,776 | 13,456 | 98.94% | $137.77 |
| THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | $818,490 | 9,955 | 77.53% | $82.22 |
| THE REAL THING | $264,607 | 3,362 | 90.86% | $78.71 |
| THIS IS OUR YOUTH | $358,375 | 5,472 | 64.47% | $65.49 |
| WICKED | $1,406,222 | 13,235 | 91.45% | $106.25 |
| YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU | $571,079 | 7,048 | 82.11% | $81.03 |
| Totals: | $23,249,657 | 242,265 | 81.55% | $92.25 |
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
