Tony Win Gives Box Office Boost to ‘Kinky Boots’

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Stark Sands and Annaleigh Ashford in “Kinky Boots.”

Fresh off winning the best musical Tony Award on Sunday night, the Broadway show “Kinky Boots” had its single-best day of ticket sales on Monday, taking in $1.25 million, a spokesman for the producers said. The show’s advanced ticket sales are “growing wildly,” the spokesman added, declining to provide specific figures, as “Kinky Boots” now attempts to catch up to the box office popularity of its chief competition at the Tonys, “Matilda the Musical.”

“Matilda,” which won four Tonys on Sunday to the six for “Kinky Boots,” has now passed $21 million in advance ticket sales for future performances, according to a spokesman for the show, an exceptionally high amount for a Broadway show. It was up $200,000 over its daily ticket sales on Monday as well, the spokesman added. “Matilda” has only 41 tickets left to sell for June performances, and a total of 950 available through early August. Advance ticket sales for “Kinky Boots” total roughly $10 million, meanwhile, according to that show’s spokesman.

The Tony Awards itself had a good night on Sunday: The show had its largest audience since 2009, drawing 7.24 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen figures.

While “Matilda” emerged from the bruising Tonys race in solid financial shape on Broadway, its producers have yet to make a final decision about whether to begin a national tour of the show. While most acclaimed musicals spin off touring productions a year after opening on Broadway, and while a “Matilda” tour is likely, its lead producer, Michael David, said in an interview on Tuesday that there was still “an art problem and a math problem that we have to solve.”

“We’ve done tours with child actors before, like ‘The Secret Garden’ and “The King and I,’ but never ones with as many kids as in ‘Matilda’ - 16 - or with kids so young,” said Mr. David, president of Dodgers Properties, the veteran Broadway producing group that is mounting “Matilda” with its original producer, the Royal Shakespeare Company of Britain. “How does one preserve the critical element of the production without doing harm to the children? We don’t foresee a serious reduction in their numbers.”

Referring to the show’s Tony-winning sets and lighting, he added: “The physical production of the musical is special, so how do we capture the essence of the production and make it mobile enough to get in and out of cities quickly and in a financially sound way, for just a week or two of performances?”

Mr. David said losing the best musical Tony - which he declined to analyze, calling it “an unproductive journey” - would not deter “Matilda” from touring. The director Matthew Warchus and the designers are now mulling the physical scale of a touring version, and considering changes to make the show easier to move, while the producers are talking to tour presenters in key cities about booking scenarios.

Some tour presenters say the “Matilda” team has been a tough negotiator, reluctant to play only a single week in small and medium-sized cities where presenters see demand for “Matilda” as low. But Mr. David said the producers would be flexible and would not want to stay too long and risk playing to empty seats.

“Kinky Boots” producers are planning a national tour to begin in September 2014 in Las Vegas, while a national tour of “Pippin,” which won four Tonys, is set to begin that month as well in Denver.

As for Broadway, “Matilda,” “Kinky Boots,” “Pippin” and several other shows are entering the summer tourist season in positions of strength. “Pippin” sold four times as many tickets as usual on Monday, while the best play winner “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” tripled its usual box office take for a Monday, according to the spokesmen for those shows.

Meanwhile, “The Assembled Parties,” which has been a modest draw, on Tuesday announced an extension until July 28, allowing more theatergoers to see Judith Light, who won a Tony for best featured actress in a play.

One show that was blanked at the Tonys, “Motown: The Musical,” may have benefited for its medley number on the CBS telecast: A spokesman said ticket sales were up by approximately $200,000 on Monday.

Separately, ticket sales for last week’s performances on Broadway were the best yet for “Motown,” which grossed $1,395,663; only “The Lion King,” “Wicked,” “The Book of Mormon” and “Kinky Boots” (at $1.41 million) took in more money.

Over all, Broadway musical and plays grossed $23.4 million last week, compared to $25 million for the same week in 2012. Attendance at Broadway shows totaled 219,708, compared to 265,640 for the same week last season.