‘Matilda’ Opens Big at Broadway Box Office

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Milly Shapiro, center, in “Matilda the Musical.”

The new Broadway musical “Matilda,” which arrived from London this spring with exceedingly high expectations - and opened April 11 to some of the best reviews of the season - joined the million-dollar club of top-selling shows last week with a gross of $1,129,419, according to box office data provided by the Broadway League, a trade association of theater owners and producers. The show, based on the Roald Dahl children’s novel about a young girl persevering against cruel parents and a sadistic headmistress, sold nearly $2 million in tickets the day after opening and now has advance sales totaling nearly $20 million.

“Matilda” also edged out two other Broadway musicals that appeal to families and children, especially girls: “Cinderella,” which opened in March and grossed $976,098 last week, and “Annie,” which opened in November and took in $813,203. Ticket sales for “Annie” have been softening a bit, but the show has also been running longer than its two competitors - and is bound to see a surge at the box office next month when Emmy Award winner Jane Lynch (“Glee”) starts an eight-week run as Miss Hannigan.

Another new musical, “Kinky Boots,” was nipping at the heels of “Matilda” last week, grossing $1,056,926; the two shows are likely to be the front-runners for the Tony Award for best musical this spring. A third new musical, the jukebox show “Motown,” had an even stronger week at the box office, meanwhile, grossing $1,151,759.

The news was grimmer for two other Broadway musicals. The critically derided revival of “Jekyll & Hyde,” starring Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox, grossed $399,086 or only 29 percent of the maximum possible amount, while the Gershwin show “Nice Work If You Can Get It” took in $597,888 or about 43 percent of the maximum possible - one of its most sluggish weeks since opening nearly a year ago.

Among plays, the new one-woman show starring Bette Midler, “I’ll Eat You Last,” set a record for the Booth Theater box office last week, grossing $686,031 for seven sold-out performances (one less than the standard eight). The previous Booth record of $586,512 was set in December 2011 by “Other Desert Cities.” The Midler play officially opens on Wednesday.

Overall Broadway plays and musicals grossed $24.7 million last week, compared to $23.1 million the previous week and $25.9 million for the corresponding week in 2012.