By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on December 28, 2016 4:32 PM
Hamilton Broke Its Box Office Records Again. The Present Is Demonstrating Strong Promise With Cate Blanchett. The Front Page Winds Down.
Christmas Week Proves Lucrative For Hit Broadway Musical
In the week ending December 25, 2016, Hamilton outperformed its own outstanding best box office records once again. Over just eight performances, it brought in the jaw-dropping weekly gross of $3,303,538, which represents 104.9% of its gross potential.
This is an increase of $1,063,050 from the week before. With a top ticket price of $998, the average paid admission was $307.16, which is substantially higher than the average paid admission for every single other show.
Hamilton Increases Ticket Prices
To illustrate, the next biggest weekly gross over this past week ending in Christmas was Wicked, which brought in $2,245,595 over eight performances, which represents 126.2% of its gross potential. In the case of Wicked, the top ticket price was $240, and the average paid admission was $153.29.
Therefore, Hamilton is playing with fire by dramatically increasing all prices of tickets across the theatre, such that the percentage reached of their gross potential is not significantly higher than usual, but the revenue is still enormous. The last time Hamilton raised ticket prices so significantly was the week of Thanksgiving, the week ending November 27, 2016, in which the weekly gross was $3,260,089.
Tourists Prove Willingness To Splurge
In the case of the Christmas holiday this past week, tourists visiting town for the occasion were even more willing to splurge on tickets to this highly buzzed show, even though Lin-Manuel Miranda has left the cast. If the Thanksgiving spike is any indication, the ticket prices for Hamilton will likely settle back down to their usual exorbitant levels, if not this week, then the week following the New Years holiday.
“The Present” Continues To Be Hot Ticket In Previews; “The Front Page” Dips Down
This past week, the play starring Cate Blanchett, The Present, played its first week of previews that had more than one performance. Still with only seven performances rather than a full week of eight, to which the show is presumably working its way up, The Present brought in a weekly gross of $943,984, which represents 98.78% of its gross potential.
Shaping up to be one of the hottest tickets of the upcoming spring season, The Present is benefitting from the star power of Cate Blanchett, one of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses who is making her Broadway debut with this production.
Successful Run At Sydney Theatre Company
Prior to coming to Broadway, this show played a successful run at Sydney Theatre Company, also starring Blanchett and her co-star, Richard Roxburgh. The show has not even opened yet – opening night is scheduled for January 8, 2017 – but it is still demonstrating very strong potential at the box office.
Meanwhile, the fall season’s hit play, The Front Page, is coming to the end of its run, and the box office figures are certainly slowing down. Scheduled to play its final performance on January 29, 2017, The Front Page brought in consistent grosses of over one million dollars for every full week of the run so far.
Busy Holiday Week For The Box Office
However, this past week, it brought in only $842,663, which represents 72.90% of its gross potential, by far the lowest percentage of its gross potential to date. Especially in the very busy week including the Christmas holiday, these grosses demonstrate the The Front Page may be exhausting its demand, and it may have a tough last month before it reaches the scheduled end of production.
