Broadway‘s busy, busy spring of new shows came to an end today with this morning’s Tony nominations announcement, and while the impact, if any, of the nominations won’t be felt at the box office for a while, there were some indications last week about how things could pan out.
The Great Gatsby, for example, starring Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada, opened to mixed reviews and received only one Tony nod (for costumes) but already seems to be building an audience. Filling 98% of seats at the Broadway, the musical grossed $1,028,276 – and that’s with five heavily comped press performances and opening night.
Other recent arrivals scored some impressive numbers for the week ending April 28. Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, even with a Wednesday matinee canceled, took in $1,701,828, all seats filled. Illinoise, the dance musical set to Sufjan Stevens music, opened at the St. James with eight heavily comped press performances, filling 91% of seats and grossing $728,487.
Hell’s Kitchen, even with a couple weeks of heavily-comped performances, took in a hefty $1,290,438 last week.
Among other recent arrivals, Patriots, Mary Jane, Uncle Vanya, Mother Play, An Enemy of the People, Stereophonic, The Notebook, The Outsiders and The Wiz all played to houses at least 90% full.
Falling below the 90% threshold were such spring openers as Lempicka, Suffs, The Heart of Rock and Roll, The Who’s Tommy and Water For Elephants. Suffs and Water For Elephants likely have the best shot at seeing some uplift from multiple Tony nominations (six for Suffs, seven for Elephants).
In its final week of performances, the great Kimberly Akimbo grossed $627,285, with 83% of seats filled.
In all, the 36 Broadway productions on the boards last week grossed a total $37,553,464, about 8% higher than the previous week and 18% greater than last season. Attendance of 307,754 was at about 92% of total capacity.
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,432,412,076, with total attendance at 11,418,278.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.