In its first week of performances after winning the Tony Award for best musical, “Kinky Boots†had its best run yet at the box office, grossing $1,474,349 through last weekend. Two other Tony winners, “Matilda the Musical†and “Pippin,†also had their strongest weeks so far, as did the audience favorite “Motown: The Musical,†which came up empty-handed at the Tonys ceremony on June 9.
“Motown†was just behind “Kinky Boots†in ticket sales last week, with a gross of $1.44 million, while “Matilda†grossed $1.18 million and “Pippin†â€" the Tony winner for best musical revival â€" took in $1.01 million. “Pippin†also became the first show in the 92-year history of the Music Box Theater to gross more than $1 million during a week of performances. That theater is usually home to plays, which typically earn less money than musicals like
“Pippin,†which tend to draw more tourists willing to pay full price for tickets. (Many plays, by contrast, offer discounts on tickets.)
The Tony winner for best play also had its best week yet: Christopher Durang’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike†grossed $654,304, about 20 percent more than it took in during the week leading up to its Tony victory. It was virtually sold out and grossed 85 percent of its maximum potential amount, very high for a play.
The number of new musical productions showing strength at the box office is unusually high: In addition to “Kinky Boots,†“Motown,†“Matilda,†and “Pippin,†“Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella†also grossed more than $1 million last week, and the revival of “Annie†grossed $962,027 - one of its best weeks in recent months.
The Broadway play “Ann†continued to struggle, meanwhile, grossing $185,623 - a nearly 20 percent decline from the prior week - as the one-woman show about Texas Gov. Ann Richards heads to an early closing date of June 30.
Over all, Broadway musicals and plays grossed $24.8 million last week, compared to $25.5 million during the same week in 2012 â€" a reflection of the greater number of vacant Broadway theaters compared to last June. Year-to-year attendance was also down, with 227,831 people seeing shows last week and 269,169 in the comparable week last season.
