Gabbing Geek Box Office Report – Ryan Takes Over Again

Fun Fact: Only one of the shows in this picture was decent and yet despite all the billboards advertising Broadway performances Watson will only see the now-closed Sbarro and lament its untimely death.

Watson hinted he might be too busy to complete his regularly scheduled box office analysis so I eagerly jumped into the fray to fill the void.  Mostly because it has been far too long since our weekly analysis has covered the box office that really matters: Broadway!  Find out all the jazz-handy details after the break!

The end of August is also the end of the tourist season for summer in New York City, so ticket sales start to take a slight dip between the combination of less visitors seeing shows and less locals taking in a show thanks to back-to-school.  Still, the standard top-grossers appear atop the list such as Book of Mormon, Lion King, and Wicked.  But there are a few noteworthy shows on the list:

• The top show on percentage of potential gross is the newcomer Hamilton!  This makes me incredibly happy because it is one of the best musicals ever written and it deserves to be seen by so many people.  Broadway already knows that this is the year of Hamilton when it comes to award season–they missed the Tony cut-off last year meaning it will win virtually all the musical awards come June, 2016.  Expect a number of cheaper musicals to get a shot on the Great White Way this year because everyone knows Hamilton wins anyway.  But it’s fantastic to see audiences connecting as well. This is a show for the ages like Rent and Lion King before it.  If you have the chance to see it, you would be a fool to miss seeing the original cast performing this show.
• On The Town is limping towards its closing date of September 6 and that shows with its abysmal 22% of potential gross.  Not even the introduction of Misty Copeland, famed ballerina, was enough to give the show much of a lift.
• Finding Neverland is finally feeling the pain from its lack of Tony nominations this year.  The show had been a consistent $1 million per week show for the entire run up to the Tony Awards.  Kelsey Grammer left and the resulting lack of publicity for getting snubbed by Tony voters have left the show struggling.  It used to easily bank over 70% of potential gross, many times crossing north of 80%, but now it’s been languishing in the high 60%s.  Just like Tick Tock the crocodile chasing Captain Hook, there’s a slow march to closing time for Finding Neverland.
• On the flip side of Finding Neverland’s pain is the amazing continued success of Fun Home.  A dramatic musical typically doesn’t enjoy continued success without some awards behind it–Fun Home is making the most of its Best Musical win and continues to book over 90% of its potential gross.

Looking forward to seeing a Broadway show soon?  Let us know in the comments!