City Hadestown, county Hamilton Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Broadway’s busy spring was reaching peak bloom last week as the season’s final batch of new shows – save for the upcoming Sufjan Stevens musical Illinoise – was in previews, boosting total box office receipts to an impressive $39,445,823.

Broadway box office and ticket prices fell back to earth last week following the previous week’s Thanksgiving holiday-inflated numbers, with the total gross for the 26 productions dropping 14% to a combined $29,568,897.

Broadway Across America, a leading presenter of first-class touring productions in North America, has announced a new executive team, with current co-CEO Rich Jaffe named sole CEO.

Rather than list the Broadway shows that have canceled performances due to the July 4th holiday – and the competition from the 47th annual Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks celebration, it’ll be easier to mention the plays that will be open: the spooky and the ever popular Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Broadway continued on its post-Tony glow last week, with the 32 productions grossing $34,004,232, about 3% more than the previous week and 10% over the same week last season. In all, attendance for the week ending June 25 was 270,206, 4% higher than the previous week and 18% over last year.

EXCLUSIVE: Actor Laurence Fishburne will present a workshop of his new solo stage show Like They Do In The Movies this July as part of the New York Stage and Film Summer Season at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Broadway’s old and new teamed up last week to boost total box office nearly 20%, with The Phantom of the Opera (the old) posting a best-ever $3 million weekly gross and The Jonas Brothers (the new, to Broadway anyway) taking in $1.6 million for their five-concert residency.

Broadway held fairly steady at the box office last week, with recent arrivals Leopoldstadt and The Piano Lesson leading the pack of fall newcomers with grosses of $758,988 and $704,051, respectively.

Most of the 21 Broadway productions on the boards last week showed some signs of summer doldrums, with 17 shows reporting drops in box office over the previous week. Still, with The Music Man back on the roster after a week’s hiatus, the overall total box office take of $23,513,592 was up about 6%.

Broadway box office drooped in the final, sun-baked weeks before the Fall arrivals of new shows, with the roster of productions down to 20 last week and total box office slipping 19% from the previous week to $22,232,527.

Broadway’s heavy hitters withstood New York’s heatwave last week, with MJ, Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton selling out and Hadestown, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Into The Woods, Moulin Rouge!, Six, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King and The Music Man coming very close.

Broadway box office held steady last week, with most productions keeping pace, for better or worse, with their recent trends. In all, the 25 shows took in a total $29,531,601 for the week ending July 24, up about 2% from the previous week.

Box office for most Broadway shows – Funny Girl and Mr. Saturday Night included – was up a bit last week, as the hits – Into The Woods and MJ included – stayed strong and even some struggling shows saw a slight uptick in attendance.

Following its sold-out Off Broadway Encores! run this past spring, the revival of Into The Woods continued drawing audiences in the first performances of its Broadway transfer, filling 94% of seats at the St. James Theatre and grossing a big $1,380,760.

Broadway box office held steady last week, with total grosses of $30,789,627 showing a 4% increase over the previous week even with two fewer shows on the boards. Of particular note, A Strange Loop and MJ have held on to their post-Tony Award strength: Both productions were among the roster’s full houses.

Robert Halmi’s Great Point Studios has acquired Hudson Scenic, a Tony-nominated builder of set designs, custom fabrication and automation services for theater, film, TV and theme parks with credits ranging from Hamilton, Hadestown, Aladdin and The Lion King to the Times Square Ball.

Broadway took a pre-Tony Awards early-summer dip at the box office last week, slipping 11% from the previous week to gross a total $29,555,352 for 31 productions. Attendance was off about 10% to 230,894.

Broadway box office was down 15% last week, with even some of the biggest hit shows reporting slips for the week ending May 1. In all, the 36 shows grossed $29,072,410.

All but six of the current 22 Broadway productions filled more than 90% of their available seats last week, and most of the ones that didn’t hit that mark came close, according to the first detailed box office figures released this season by the Broadway League.

EXCLUSIVE: A newly launched financial grant program called The 1/52 Project will offer $15,000 grants to theater designers, with a mission to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups and to diversify the Broadway design community.

By Greg Evans