The Broadway winter doldums are here. It’s a long way until March 15th, when new shows will kick in. So the old shows must keep going.
“Hello, Dolly!” is suffering. They dropped around 22% from last week, coming in well below $1 million at $889K. The average ticket price is now $93.50. That’s down two bucks from last week– but far below the $200 plus when Bette Midler was commanding a top ticket price of a whopping $996.
“Dolly” took the biggest hit of the week, although other shows like “Anastasia” are down, as well. But some are up. “Hamilton” was over $3 million last week. “Waitress” and “The Book of Mormon” were up, too.
There’s some fretting now about the Tony Awards for original musicals and plays. This is a big season for revivals, not so much for new stuff. There will be just enough musicals to make the original category– front runner “A Band’s Visit,” plus “Mean Girls,” “Frozen,” “Donna Summer,” and “Margaritaville.” “Spongebob” seems unlikely. Ditto for Best Play where “The Hangmen” — moving soon from off Broadway — and “Harry Potter” will have at it.
I’m not kidding– Bruce Springsteen could wind up with the Best Musical. No, seriously.
