Tony Nominations Were Announced This Past Week. An American In Paris And Fun Home Were Nominated For Best Musical But Didn’t Change Much At The Box Office.


“The Heidi Chronicles” And “Living on Love” Close

On May 3, 2015, both The Heidi Chronicles and Living on Love played their final performances on Broadway. Both shows chose to shutter their doors due to having received poor box office performance. Living on Love also closed having failed to receive any Tony nominations. The Heidi Chronicles, which received one nomination for Elisabeth Moss for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, announced its closing prior to the revelation of the Tony nominations.

Both shows saw a slight, but not significant, increase in sales in their last week of performances. Living on Love played its final week with a weekly gross of $160,105, which represents only 16.58% of its gross potential. This was not its all-time high; that took place in the week ending April 12, 2015, which was its first full week of performances, when it brought in $198,392.

Slight Increases In Sales During Final Weeks

Still the final week saw a slight upturn of $4,459 from the week before, when the show had previously been declining in the two weeks prior. However, the show never broke through the $200,000 mark for any weekly gross, and therefore needed to close in order to avoid losing more unnecessary money.

As for The Heidi Chronicles, the final week saw an upturn of $65,046, bringing the final gross to a high of $378,471. This is the largest gross earned in any week of the run, although it still only represents 42.47% of the gross potential. Despite earning good reviews, the box office was not up to speed, and the show therefore closed after 80 performances.

No Real Change Yet For “An American In Paris” Or “Fun Home”

Two musicals that appear to be perhaps the strongest contenders for the Tony Award for Best Musical – An American in Paris and Fun Home – budged only slightly in the week ending May 3, 2015, although this week marked the announcement of these Tony nominations. However, in the month to come before the Tony Awards in early June, chances are that interest will continue to develop as buzz spreads for this hot race.

Fun Home, which was a relatively unknown title before coming to Broadway from the Public Theater, brought in $531,985 this past week, which is an increase of $95,812 from the week before. In fact, this is the largest increase of any show this past week, but it is still not hugely significant.

"An American In Paris" Joins Millionaire's Club

The show reached its highest potential of its weekly gross yet at 71.37%, but there is still room for growth to be competing the millionaire’s club along with other celebrated musicals. As for An American in Paris, buzz has already taken off as the show has been in the millionaire’s club for the past three weeks. This past week, it brought in $1,220,231, which represents 84.20% of its gross potential.

Although this show was a surprise at the Tony nominations, sweeping with an incredible 12 nominations, many for newcomers, it already seems to be exciting at the box office. In this past week following the nominations, however, it actually brought in $15,016 less than the week before. As the Tonys approach, this show too will likely continue to creep upwards in its box office grosses.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending May 3, 2015:

Broadway-Show-Ticket-Analysis-05-03-15
Show Name GrossGross TotalAttn %Cap AvgPdAdm
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER $500,038 5,148 70.95% $97.13
AIRLINE HIGHWAY $157,029 3,419 68.16% $45.93
ALADDIN $1,408,344 13,785 100.01% $102.16
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS $1,220,231 13,026 96.98% $93.68
BEAUTIFUL $1,033,010 7,421 90.41% $139.20
CHICAGO $598,993 7,457 86.31% $80.33
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO $515,163 7,994 67.61% $64.44
FINDING NEVERLAND $1,093,498 11,308 93.98% $96.70
FISH IN THE DARK $1,158,381 8,694 101.28% $133.24
FUN HOME $531,985 5,700 97.60% $93.33
GIGI $550,516 6,833 61.71% $80.57
HAND TO GOD $346,364 4,758 76.05% $72.80
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH $418,702 4,203 69.56% $99.62
IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU $350,281 4,849 59.78% $72.24
IT’S ONLY A PLAY $584,042 6,078 70.54% $96.09
JERSEY BOYS $575,211 5,913 60.19% $97.28
KINKY BOOTS $901,034 8,471 74.36% $106.37
LES MISÉRABLES $571,832 7,732 68.59% $73.96
LIVING ON LOVE $160,105 4,821 56.16% $33.21
MAMMA MIA! $660,796 7,718 82.74% $85.62
MATILDA $735,660 9,430 82.31% $78.01
ON THE TOWN $501,640 7,944 52.99% $63.15
ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY $489,687 5,639 97.63% $86.84
SKYLIGHT $776,373 6,401 99.77% $121.29
SOMETHING ROTTEN! $801,033 11,243 84.31% $71.25
THE AUDIENCE $1,166,293 7,534 100.68% $154.80
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,407,988 8,749 102.59% $160.93
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME $631,589 6,320 77.60% $99.93
THE HEIDI CHRONICLES $378,471 5,455 68.12% $69.38
THE KING AND I $998,387 8,376 100.00% $119.20
THE LION KING $1,908,299 12,937 95.13% $147.51
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $837,178 10,503 81.80% $79.71
THE VISIT $194,145 4,342 60.24% $44.71
WICKED $1,387,456 12,512 86.60% $110.89
WOLF HALL PARTS ONE & TWO $724,737 6,805 61.51% $106.50
Totals $26,274,485 269,518 80.12% $93.66

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