The Color Purple Increased The Greatest Of Any Show This Past Week Following A Nadir. Meanwhile, Three Shows Closed.


“The Color Purple” Leaps Back Into The Game

In the week ending June 26, 2016, the biggest increase in ticket sales from the week before was seen by the revival of The Color Purple. Since this musical revival began previews on November 10, 2015, it has had better weeks and worse weeks, fluttering around an average of 74.39% of its gross potential.

Around Christmas and New Years, the show broke through the million dollar mark, reaching its record gross thus far of $1,008,774 in the week ending December 27, 2015. However, the week before last, it reached its lowest ever weekly gross in a full performance week: $560,484, which represents 53.44% of its gross potential.

Winner Of Two Tony Award

Of the four Tony Award nominations that the show received, The Color Purple won two: Best Revival of a Musical, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Cynthia Erivo. In any case, in the wake of the Tony Awards, this show was experiencing lackluster box office performance. However, this past week, it took a leap upwards, becoming the show with the greatest increase in ticket sales from the week before. The show increased by $238,537 to reach a weekly gross of $799,021, which represents 76.19% of its gross potential. While this still isn’t extraordinary, it is a major step up from the dangerously low figures the show was bringing in the previous week.

Three Shows Close And Experience Minor Upturns

On June 26, 2016, three shows played their final performances of the run. The King and I, which had been running in revival since March 12, 2015, played its final performance this past Sunday. At that point, it had played a total of 499 performances, on top of 39 preview performances.

This was therefore quite a long run for this musical revival, which received 9 nominations at the 2015 Tony Awards, winning four: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Kelli O’Hara, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Ruthie Ann Miles, and Best Costume Design of a Musical for Catherine Zuber. The show managed to ride this wave and bring in solid box office throughout the summer of 2015, and then to sustain for an entire year after.

"The King And I" Increases In Final Week

In its final week of performances, The King and I increased by $164,236, bringing in a final weekly gross of $840,824, which represents 73.4% of its gross potential. In addition, that same day, Bright Star also played its final performance. Unlike The King and I, Bright Star closed precipitously after 109 performances on top of 30 previews. This new musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell received good reviews, but failed to ignite at the Tony Awards of the box office.

In its final week of performances, Bright Star increased by $158,776, bringing in a final weekly gross of $708,013, which represents 77.6% of its gross potential. Finally, Long Day’s Journey Into Night also played its last performance this past Sunday, June 26, 2016. That show, in a Roundabout Theatre Company production, only experienced a modest upturn in its final performance week, increasing by $11,078 to reach a weekly gross of $502,602, which represents 86.2% of its gross potential.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending June 26, 2016:
Broadway-Show-Ticket-Analysis-06-26-16
# Show Name GrossGross TotalAttn %Capacity AvgPdAdm
4 ALADDIN $1,671,568 13,791 99.82% $121.21
32 AN ACT OF GOD $306,916 3,624 68.75% $84.69
18 AN AMERICAN IN PARIS $746,218 8,636 64.29% $86.41
11 BEAUTIFUL $922,959 7,868 95.86% $117.31
21 BRIGHT STAR $708,013 8,321 99.63% $85.09
25 CHICAGO $577,914 6,848 79.26% $84.39
13 FIDDLER ON THE ROOF $852,656 10,254 75.09% $83.15
22 FINDING NEVERLAND $661,493 8,545 71.02% $77.41
29 FULLY COMMITTED $426,533 5,381 73.59% $79.27
31 FUN HOME $384,193 5,230 88.34% $73.46
2 HAMILTON $2,007,222 10,732 101.55% $187.03
24 JERSEY BOYS $590,406 6,698 68.18% $88.15
19 KINKY BOOTS $742,726 7,868 69.07% $94.40
12 LES MISÉRABLES $899,993 10,581 93.87% $85.06
28 LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT $502,602 5,181 100.70% $97.01
10 MATILDA $990,756 11,258 98.27% $88.00
15 ON YOUR FEET! $836,484 8,224 63.22% $101.71
8 PARAMOUR $1,000,730 10,756 70.91% $93.04
6 SCHOOL OF ROCK $1,250,456 11,724 98.03% $106.66
23 SHE LOVES ME $654,651 7,374 92.18% $88.78
16 SHUFFLE ALONG, OR, THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED $814,942 7,404 96.11% $110.07
20 SOMETHING ROTTEN! $712,837 8,138 71.51% $87.59
5 THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,371,455 8,740 102.49% $156.92
17 THE COLOR PURPLE $799,021 8,209 97.63% $97.33
27 THE CRUCIBLE $514,916 6,273 82.54% $82.08
30 THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME $392,158 5,406 66.38% $72.54
26 THE HUMANS $562,088 4,498 97.61% $124.96
14 THE KING AND I $840,824 8,370 99.93% $100.46
1 THE LION KING $2,113,062 13,570 100.01% $155.72
9 THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $998,680 11,066 86.18% $90.25
7 WAITRESS $1,100,048 8,436 100.91% $130.40
3 WICKED $1,969,159 14,629 97.97% $134.61
TOTALS $28,923,676 273,633 86.59% $101.42
Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2016 nytix.com