Grosses

Broadway Grosses Analysis: Bad Continue the gravity-defying run as the best with a screen version on the horizon

The upcoming film release – plus the prolific marketing campaign – also seems to be boosting sales for the Broadway version.

Much has been made over the years about how film versions of Broadway shows can influence their sometimes ongoing stage productions. When it comes down to it BadThe upcoming two-part film adaptation of the long-running musical really seems to inspire theatergoers to see the Broadway version before the film’s release. The musical was the highest-grossing show on Broadway last week, as it was for twelve of the past fourteen weeks on the Main Stem – and the other two weeks the show was number two.

Its box-office performance is undoubtedly helped by a very strong and productive marketing campaign for the film (which hits theaters on November 22), which included numerous merchandising tie-ins and an attendant onslaught of media attention. Coupled with fans’ organic expectation, the Stephen Schwartz musical is really top of mind right now, even for casual fans. Thank goodness for that Badthe Gershwin (where the musical is housed) is well equipped for this newly excited audience. With a capacity of almost 2,000 (and the show’s family-friendly content), Bad has long been a mainstay of Broadway’s most attended shows. This new film-related enthusiasm drives ticket prices up, making that large capacity suddenly a pretty powerful asset. Last week, Bad had an average ticket price of $160. This time last year, that average was $132.03. Multiply that by 2,000 seats and eight performances, and you have a great box office and very satisfied producers.

This particular stage-to-screen event will be especially interesting to watch because the musical has been dramatically expanded for the screen. The first film out this year will cover only the first act of the musical, with a second to follow in 2025. That could create a situation where fans of the film eager to see how the story ends can seek out the stage production as an exclusive film. source to see the second half of the story. Since the film is already set to gross a bigger profit based on pre-sales data, this could make 2025 the year of the film. Bad on Broadway (and wherever the national tour takes place).

BadBroadway’s success was part of a great week for Broadway in general. Cumulative revenues increased by more than 10%, with the 37 currently running shows grossing $36.5 million. Visitor numbers also increased: 90% of the seats were occupied and 306,329 people attended the show. There was one extra show last week compared to the week before, Elevenbut only two previews have played, so that doesn’t take away from that upward movement in terms of grosses. All signs point to a healthy holiday tourism season.

Other winners from last week include Lincoln Center Theater McNealwhich had the highest average ticket price last week, $185.74; the new revival of Sunset Blvd.which continues its run as a regular top five; And Romeo and Julietwhich remains a standing room only crowd favorite. Death becomes her Just missed out on making The $1 Million Club for the second week in a row, but that was with two performance cancellations, meaning this is another potentially big hit musical to keep an eye on.

View the full report here.

The $1 million club (shows it made $1 million or more at the box office):

(17 of 37 current productions)

The 90s Club (shows that had 90% or more of their seats filled all week):

• Romeo and Juliet (102.39%)
• The outsiders (101.92%)
• McNeal (100%)
• Oh, Mary! (100%)
• Bad (100%)
• The Book of Mormon
• Hadestown
• The kitchen of hell
• Complies
• The Lion King
• Death becomes her
• Moulin Rouge! The musical
• Stereophone
• Sunset Blvd.
• Aladdin
• & Julia
• Eleven
• Hamilton
• A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
• Back to the future
• MJ The Musical

(21 of the 37 currently running productions)