“Hamilton” is on fire.
It’s all because of Leslie Odom, Jr.
The Tony winning star of “Hamilton” is back playing Aaron Burr for a limited run.
Odom began on September 9th. Since then, the box office has risen 76% weekly for the last four weeks. The totals went from $2.1 million to $3.7 million and don’t look like they’re slowing down at all.
Regular ticket prices are up over $1,000 for good seats, and $1,500 for premium.
“Hamilton” was no slouch prior to Odom’s return, but this more than anyone could have hoped for.
This does mean that the summer long promotion of the musical’s 10th anniversary has worked like magic. The very clever move to put the already filmed version of the show into theaters has yielded almost $17 million in the US and another $3.7 million internationally. In places like Mexico and the Phillippines they want to be in the room where it happens!
Odom remains in the cast through mid November.
Other shows: “Hell’s Kitchen” had a huge spike week before last when Alicia Keys performed with the cast after two shows. Box office zoomed up from $970K to $1.1 million. I know they were hoping the show would catch fire again. Alas, this past week saw receipts fall to $740K. Also, Christopher Jackson wrapped up his short stint playing Keys’s father. A solid show with great songs and performers, “Hell’s Kitchen” may be ready to lower the curtain soon.
If you want to see Tony and Emmy winner Laurie Metcalf in “Little Bear Ridge Road,” the play starts performance this Saturday. This marks the official return of Scott Rudin to producing after a four year time out for bad behavior. There are plenty of tickets every night at all performances.
All other shows are hanging in there despite high prices. “Art” and “Waiting for Godot,” the newest entries, are holding their own.
BTW, is Leslie Odom, Jr worth it? Um, yeah. Just seeing him in the big screen version made me want to go back to the live theater. I haven’t been able to stop humming those damn songs!
