Broadway ‘Cat’ Revival Cools at Box Office

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Benjamin Walker and Scarlett Johansson in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

This is the season of star vehicles on Broadway - Jessica Chastain, Katie Holmes, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Bette Midler - but not all of them are burning rubber at the box office.

Ticket sales for the latest revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” starring Ms. Johansson as Maggie the Cat, have been relatively lackluster since the production opened on Jan. 17 to mixed-to-negative reviews. (StageGrade.com, which aggregates reviews, gave a median grade of C- to the show.) Before the reviews, the revival was grossing roughly $850,000 a week on average; since then the average has fallen by about $90,000.

Last week the show grossed $693,100, or about 53 percent of the maximum possible amount - a modest figure for a play starring a major Hollywood name.

Some shows slide at the box office due to star absences and vacations, but that isn’t the case here: Ms. Johansson has missed only two performances since they began on Dec. 18, a spokeswoman for the production said.

The “Cat” producers had no comment on ticket sales, nor on whether the show was still on track to recoup its $3.6 million capitalization before the scheduled closing date of March 30. Based on the show’s current box office, there is a good chance that the play will recoup by month’s end, which would be a noteworthy success; only about 25 percent of Broadway productions ever make their money back.

And a spokeswoman for the show did note that “Cat” was the top-grossing play on Broadway until “Lucky Guy,” starring Mr. Hanks, began performances this month.

Still, it has been an uneven year for celebrity-driven shows. “Dead Accounts,” a new play starring Ms. Holmes, flopped on Broadway this winter, as did the Debra Winger-Patti LuPone two-hander “The Anarchist.” But “Lucky Guy” has been a hit, taking in $1,294,233 last week - the fourth highest-grossing show of the week, a major achievement for a play.

The top three were the usual suspects - the hit musicals “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” and “The Book of Mormon” - while “Lucky Guy” beat such other popular musicals as “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” “Cinderella,” and “Once.”

Among the other Broadway star vehicles coming in the weeks ahead are “Orphans” with Mr. Baldwin and “I’ll Eat You Last” with Ms. Midler.

Meanwhile the new Broadway production “Motown: The Musical” had a strong first set of preview performances last week, instantly joining the million-dollar club with a gross of $1,029,883 for seven performances (one fewer than the standard eight).

Overall Broadway musicals and plays grossed $20.8 million last week, compared to $18.1 million for the previous week and $22.2 million for the same week last season.