Several Broadway plays are performing powerfully at the box office as summer begins, a time when plays usually fade fast as increasingly tourist-heavy audiences opt for musicals.
Weekly ticket sales for the Christopher Durang comedy “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike†have increased by 30 percent since winning the Tony Award for best play on June 9; the show grossed $711,012 last week, or 93 percent of the maximum potential gross, a huge amount for a play. The one-woman play starring Bette Midler, “I’ll Eat You Last,†set another box office record at the Booth Theater, grossing $890,276 - the equivalent of 114 percent of the maximum possible gross after factoring in premium ticket prices of $298. “Lucky Guy,†the tabloid newspaper drama starring Tom Hanks, grossed a very strong $634,205 for just four performances - a reduced schedule to accommodate conflicts of several cast members, according to the play’s spokesman.
Three additional plays - “The Nance†with Nathan Lane; €œThe Trip to Bountiful†with best actress Tony winner Cicely Tyson; and “The Assembled Parties†with best featured actress Tony winner Judith Light - all grossed 50 percent or more of their maximum possible amounts, a sign of box office strength.
The other two plays on Broadway, “Macbeth†with Alan Cumming and “Ann†with Holland Taylor, took in lesser amounts.
The latest musicals continued to post strong numbers as well: Box office records were set again last week by best musical Tony winner “Kinky Boots†($1,503,541), “Motown†($1,443,867), “Matilda†($1,222,026), and best musical revival Tony winner “Pippin†($1,038,619). Tourists also filled seats at the Broadway revival of “Annie,†lifting the show’s gross above $1 million for the first time since early April.
Overall Broadway musicals and plays grossed $24.1 million last week, compared to $25
