By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on October 09, 2014 4:27 PM
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill played its final performance on October 5, 2014 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The show broke the house box office record twice and recouped early on in its extended run, originally intended to be a limited engagement.
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Breaking the House Box Office Record
In the week ending September 21, 2014, the show grossed $696,922 for the eight performances, which broke the Circle in the Square Theatre’s box office record for weekly gross. That means it brought in more ticket sales than any production in the theatre’s history in one week. The show recouped its capitalization of $2.6 million in early August, so these continually high sales helped the producers to reap in a significant profit. In the show’s final week ending October 5, 2014, that record got broken for a second time, as fans flocked to catch the show in its last performances. That week, the show grossed $762,599, which represented 105.49% of its gross potential. That was also the first week that the show broke 100% gross potential. Before the Tony Awards, the show was bringing in around 60 to 75 percent of its gross potential, but as the awards season began gearing up, those numbers rose to the 80 percent range. However it wasn’t until the last weeks of the run that the show began to hit record-breaking figures. Nevertheless, recoupment was certain for this show by the end of summer, as its modest budget or $2.6 million allowed for quickly entering profit-making territory.Creative Team and Storyline
The show was directed by Lonny Price, who was behind such shows as 110 in the Shade, Master Harold and the Boys, and Urban Cowboy.