Four New Shows Began Previews In The Week Ending March 29, 2015: Fun Home, Dr. Zhivago, The Visit, And Something Rotten!, Hoping To Generate Buzz.


“Something Rotten!” And “Doctor Zhivago” Begin Previews

In the week ending March 29, 2015, Something Rotten! was one of four new shows that began previews. Over the course of seven performances at the St. James Theatre, the new musical directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon) brought in $363,874, which represents 68.51% of its gross capacity.

That is not bad for a new show without previous brand name recognition. Furthermore, it has Broadway stars but not Hollywood stars, including Christian Borle, Brian D’Arcy James, Brooks Ashmanskas, and Peter Bartlett.

Discounted Prices Help New Shows Gain Popularity

With a top ticket price of $197.00, the average paid ticket was only $35.30. Therefore, though the average audience capacity was 99.1%, the ticket buyers mostly paid highly discounted rates. This is a good tactic for a new show to gain popularity through word of mouth in its early days.

Furthermore, Doctor Zhivago began previews at the Broadway Theatre on March 27, 2015, playing three performances over this first week. With a weekly gross of $291,270, the show brought in 60.39% of its gross potential, with an average paid admission of $74.02.

“Fun Home” And “The Visit” Also Join The Broadway Ranks

After a wildly successful run at the Public Theatre, Fun Home began previews on March 27, 2015, playing 4 performances in this first week. The show brought in a weekly gross of $218,509, representing 58.56% of its gross potential. With a top ticket price of $200.00, the average paid admission was $77.43, representing a moderate amount of discounting to reach the audience capacity of 100.5%.

This is another new musical that hopes to spread word of mouth through early discounting in the run, but will hope to maintain full audiences at higher-priced tickets after opening.

"The Visit" Began Previews

Finally, The Visit began previews on March 26, 2015 at the Lyceum Theatre. Starring Chita Rivera and Roger Rees, this musical has a book by Terrence McNally, and a score by John Kander and Fred Ebb.

Over its first five performances, the show only brought in $167,410 despite its high pedigree of cast and creative team. This represents 35.12% of the show’s gross potential. With a top ticket price of $225.00, the average paid admission was $46.74, reaching an average audience capacity of 79.5%.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending March 29, 2015:

Broadway-Show-Ticket-Analysis-3-29-15
Show Name GrossGross TotalAttn %Capacity AvgPdAdm
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER $642,467 6,469 89.15% $99.31
ALADDIN $1,569,812 13,785 100.01% $113.88
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS $859,762 10,620 92.45% $80.96
BEAUTIFUL $979,932 7,279 88.68% $134.62
CABARET $935,989 7,042 98.57% $132.92
CHICAGO $694,655 8,032 92.96% $86.49
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO $291,270 3,935 88.75% $74.02
FINDING NEVERLAND $1,046,994 11,211 94.75% $93.39
FISH IN THE DARK $1,200,038 8,720 101.58% $137.62
FUN HOME $218,509 2,822 100.50% $77.43
GIGI $483,908 7,407 78.03% $65.33
HAND TO GOD $235,413 5,379 85.98% $43.77
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH $506,395 5,908 83.81% $85.71
HONEYMOON IN VEGAS $371,576 5,020 54.57% $74.02
IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU $335,706 6,144 78.53% $54.64
IT’S ONLY A PLAY $612,583 6,130 71.15% $99.93
JERSEY BOYS $738,877 8,053 81.97% $91.75
KINKY BOOTS $1,004,700 9,875 86.68% $101.74
LES MISÉRABLES $800,286 9,568 84.88% $83.64
MAMMA MIA! $699,086 8,483 90.94% $82.41
MATILDA $1,137,135 11,486 100.26% $99.00
ON THE TOWN $573,548 9,032 60.25% $63.50
ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY $486,398 5,664 98.06% $85.88
SKYLIGHT $618,692 6,215 96.87% $99.55
SOMETHING ROTTEN! $363,874 10,307 99.11% $35.30
THE AUDIENCE $1,164,962 7,584 101.35% $153.61
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,529,584 8,751 102.61% $174.79
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME $792,781 7,758 95.26% $102.19
THE HEIDI CHRONICLES $335,976 4,981 62.20% $67.45
THE KING AND I $776,946 8,377 100.01% $92.75
THE LION KING $2,064,202 13,494 99.22% $152.97
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $964,013 11,422 88.96% $84.40
THE VISIT $167,410 3,582 79.51% $46.74
WICKED $1,872,149 14,604 94.78% $128.19
WOLF HALL PARTS ONE & TWO $886,920 8,877 80.23% $99.91
Totals $27,962,546 284,016 88.65% $94.28

Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2015 nytix.com