By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on June 15, 2016 1:21 AM
In The Lead Up To The Tony Awards, Hamilton Grosses Are At An All-Time High, Breaking The Two Million-Dollar Mark For The First Time.
“Hamilton” Breaks The Two Million Dollar Mark
In the week ending June 12, 2016, the week leading up to the 2016 Tony Awards, Hamilton earned its highest weekly gross to date. As if theatregoers were even more ready to spend top dollar for this incredible hit show in anticipation of its winning the most prestigious award given to a theatrical production – the Tony Award for Best Musical – the show’s weekly gross reached an all-time high.
For the first week yet of its run, the show broke the two million dollar mark, bringing in $2,028,208, which represents an astonishing 151.93% of its gross potential. With a top ticket price of $475.00, the average paid admission was $188.60, and the audience was filled up to 101.8% of its capacity.
Varied Pricing To Make The Show More Accessible
On June 8, 2016, it was announced that Hamilton has raised its top price ticket point to the mouth-gaping figure of $849 for premium tickets. These tickets will apply to a new block opening up for the first four months of 2017 to American Express cardholders first.
Therefore, this higher ticket price is unrelated to the record-breaking weekly gross from this past week, but it is a sign that it’s only up from here for Hamilton. At the same time, the producers announced that in an effort to make the show more affordable for some people, they will also begin to offer 46 seats per show at the price of $10 per ticket. They intend for the higher price and lower price tickets to balance each other out.
Entire Broadway Industry Saw A Jump Leading Up To The Tony Awards
It was not just Hamilton that saw an increase in ticket sales this past week. Of the 35 shows currently running, 31 saw an increase in ticket sales. Overall, the industry saw a collective increase of $2,078,650 among the 35 shows that were also running in the previous week. The biggest increase was seen by Wicked, which brought in $1,859,039, an increase of $174,221 from the week before.
Almost as big an increase was demonstrated by Hamilton, which went up by $173,219 to reach its record-breaking weekly gross of $2,028,208. To put that in context, Wicked plays in the Gershwin Theatre, which has 1,933 seats, whereas Hamilton plays in the Richard Rodgers Theatre, which has only 1,400 seats.
"Blackbird" Sees Box Office Increase In Final Week Of Performances
The next biggest increase was seen by Blackbird, which brought in $552,394, an increase of $139,110, in its final week of performances. An American in Paris, a top contender but runner-up for Best Musical in 2015, saw an increase of $119,097 to reach a weekly gross of $800,245.
Furthermore, The King and I increased by $101,035 to reach a weekly gross of $584,249. Meanwhile, the biggest decreases were negligible, with An Act of God going down by $36,563 to reach a weekly gross of $256,649, She Loves Me going down by $26,462 to reach a weekly gross of $618,089, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night going down by $24,270 to reach a weekly gross of $408,191.
The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending June 12, 2016:
| # | Show Name | GrossGross | TotalAttn | %Capacity | AvgPdAdm |
| 4 | ALADDIN | $1,581,642 | 13,642 | 98.74% | $115.94 |
| 35 | AN ACT OF GOD | $256,649 | 3,700 | 70.20% | $69.36 |
| 14 | AN AMERICAN IN PARIS | $800,245 | 9,257 | 68.92% | $86.45 |
| 12 | BEAUTIFUL | $889,393 | 7,485 | 91.19% | $118.82 |
| 24 | BLACKBIRD | $552,394 | 7,375 | 90.91% | $74.90 |
| 26 | BRIGHT STAR | $527,807 | 6,672 | 79.89% | $79.11 |
| 23 | CHICAGO | $565,835 | 6,938 | 80.30% | $81.56 |
| 30 | ECLIPSED | $387,767 | 5,233 | 81.56% | $74.10 |
| 16 | FIDDLER ON THE ROOF | $751,607 | 9,213 | 67.46% | $81.58 |
| 17 | FINDING NEVERLAND | $688,641 | 9,483 | 78.81% | $72.62 |
| 31 | FULLY COMMITTED | $370,369 | 5,009 | 68.50% | $73.94 |
| 33 | FUN HOME | $331,268 | 4,514 | 76.25% | $73.39 |
| 2 | HAMILTON | $2,028,208 | 10,754 | 101.76% | $188.60 |
| 25 | JERSEY BOYS | $540,996 | 6,133 | 62.43% | $88.21 |
| 20 | KINKY BOOTS | $660,084 | 7,193 | 63.14% | $91.77 |
| 15 | LES MISÉRABLES | $755,856 | 9,108 | 80.80% | $82.99 |
| 29 | LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT | $408,921 | 4,420 | 100.23% | $92.52 |
| 11 | MATILDA | $911,510 | 11,011 | 96.12% | $82.78 |
| 13 | ON YOUR FEET! | $859,596 | 8,909 | 68.49% | $96.49 |
| 6 | PARAMOUR | $1,093,610 | 11,279 | 74.36% | $96.96 |
| 7 | SCHOOL OF ROCK | $1,082,064 | 11,187 | 93.54% | $96.73 |
| 21 | SHE LOVES ME | $618,089 | 6,961 | 99.44% | $88.79 |
| 9 | SHUFFLE ALONG, OR, THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED | $972,860 | 7,650 | 99.30% | $127.17 |
| 18 | SOMETHING ROTTEN! | $674,213 | 8,250 | 66.76% | $81.72 |
| 5 | THE BOOK OF MORMON | $1,343,083 | 8,722 | 102.27% | $153.99 |
| 19 | THE COLOR PURPLE | $672,299 | 7,342 | 87.32% | $91.57 |
| 27 | THE CRUCIBLE | $493,874 | 6,082 | 80.03% | $81.20 |
| 32 | THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME | $360,867 | 4,846 | 59.50% | $74.47 |
| 34 | THE FATHER | $298,505 | 3,970 | 76.35% | $75.19 |
| 28 | THE HUMANS | $484,407 | 4,562 | 99.00% | $106.18 |
| 22 | THE KING AND I | $584,349 | 6,746 | 80.54% | $86.62 |
| 1 | THE LION KING | $2,071,899 | 13,572 | 100.03% | $152.66 |
| 10 | THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | $941,327 | 10,831 | 84.35% | $86.91 |
| 8 | WAITRESS | $1,058,461 | 8,432 | 100.86% | $125.53 |
| 3 | WICKED | $1,859,038 | 14,510 | 97.17% | $128.12 |
| TOTALS | $28,477,730 | 280,991 | 83.62% | $96.54 |
