Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Johnny Rabe, left, and Dan Lauria in the Broadway musical “A Christmas Story.â€The new Broadway musical “A Christmas Story,†based on the 1983 movie, jumped at the box office to become the fourth-most-popular Broadway show last week, behind the traditional blockbusters “Wicked,†“The Lion King†and “The Book of Mormon,†according to ticket sale data released on Monday. Its $1,377,131 gross put “A Christmas Story†ahead of two shows that beat it the pr ior week - the Al Pacino-led “Glengarry Glen Ross†and the super-hero spectacle “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.†The high gross for “Christmas Story†was partly the result of its producers adding a ninth performance last week; most other shows had only the usual eight.
With music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book (which hews closely to the film) by Joseph Robinette, “A Christmas Story†has been edging out the other holiday musical on Broadway, “Elf,†itself based on a 2003 film starring Will Ferrell. “Elf†grossed a healthy $1,137,915 last week. The production's ticket sales are undoubtedly slower because “Elf†was on Broadway just two winters ago for its first holiday season run, when it was an even bigger seller than “A Christmas Story†has been now. The other major holiday shows in New York thi s winter are “Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical†at Madison Square Garden and “The Radio City Christmas Spectacular†at Radio City Music Hall; spokeswomen for the two shows each declined to discuss their box office data on Monday.
While ticket sales are strong for “A Christmas Story,†it will have nowhere near enough time to recoup its $9 million capitalization costs, given that it is running for only about eight weeks. Most popular Broadway musicals with a $9 million capitalization need roughly a year to recoup. But a spokesman for “A Christmas Story,†said that its producers believed that their investors “will be getting a return that will significantly go towards recoupment.â€
“The projections are holding true: not a long enough run to fully recoup during the short holiday season, but future productions and licensing will create long term profit for the investors,†said the spokesman, Keith Sherman. He said that the producers would not discuss the financial details of the show, such as its weekly running costs that influence the timetable of shows turning a profit. Only about one-quarter of Broadway musicals ever make money, but some others go on to do so later on with touring productions and licensing deals.
Holiday shows have become a staple of Broadway entertainment in recent years, with “Irving Berlin's White Christmas†and “Donnie & Marie: A Broadway Christmas†also in the mix.
Over all last week, Broadway musicals and plays grossed $23.5 million, compared to $23.8 million the week before and $24.3 million for the comparable week last year. David Mamet's new Broadway play “The Anarchist†closed on Sunday, a considerable flop after just five weeks of performances, in spite of its starry cast of Patti LuPone and Debra Winger; the play took in $268,824 for the week, or just 35 percent of its maximum possible gross.
