Industry grosses are rising as Proof, Schmigadoon and more began previews last week, and Harry Potter extended Tom Felton into the fall.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has been at the top of the grosses chart for weeks, thanks to the casting of Tom Felton, who starred in the film series, and appears poised to continue, as the production announced Tuesday that Felton will continue in the role through Nov. 1.
The Lion King took the top grossing spot last week, hitting $2.82 million but across nine shows, followed by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with $2.8 million, which played the typical eight, Hamilton with $2.6 million, Wicked with $2.1 million and Aladdin with $1.8 million.
Several other shows saw the impact of star power last week, as Chess saw its grosses halved, falling to $585,803 from $1.1 million, as Lea Michele missed seven of the week’s shows due to a scheduled leave of absence. Just In Time fell more than $1.1 million from last week, when ticket prices surged due to Jonathan Groff’s last week in the show. The musical also played seven performances, with Matthew Morrison in the lead, rather than eight, leading to a gross of $745,152 and at 99 percent capacity.
Overall, Broadway grosses were up 12 percent year over year and attendance up 4 percent as the four new shows were added to the lineup, and nine shows are in the midst of previews.
Among those, Proof, starring Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle, had a strong start, bringing in $726,603 across its first five previews at the Booth Theatre and playing to 100 percent capacity with an average ticket price of $188. Schmigadoon, an adaptation of the Apple+ series, also played to 100 percent in its first preview at the Nederlander Theatre and brought in $169,191 across the one show. And Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, starring Taraji P. Henson and Cedric the Entertainer, brought in just under $1 million in its first eight shows at the Barrymore Theater, but capacity was lower, at 84 percent.
