Lots has been posited over the years on how movie versions of Broadway shows may affect their sometimes still-running stage productions. When it comes to Wicked, the long-running musical's forthcoming two-part screen version seems to be really inspiring theatregoers to see the Broadway version ahead of the film's release. The musical was the top-grossing show on Broadway last week, as it has been for 12 of the last 14 weeks on the Main Stem—and those other two weeks, the show held the number-two slot.
The box-office performance is no doubt helped by a very strong and prolific marketing campaign for the film (due to release November 22 in movie theatres), which has included countless merchandising tie-ins and an accompanying onslaught of media attention. Together with organic fan anticipation, the Stephen Schwartz musical is just really top of mind for even casual fans at the moment. Lucky for Wicked, the Gershwin (which houses the musical) is well equipped for these newly excited crowds. With a capacity of nearly 2,000 (and the show's family-friendly content), Wicked has long been a mainstay of Broadway's most-attended shows. This new film-related enthusiasm drives up ticket prices, making that large capacity suddenly a quite powerful asset. Last week, Wicked had an average ticket price of $160. This time last year, that average was $132.03. Times that by 2,000 seats and eight performances, and you've got a box-office bonanza and very happy producers.
This particular stage-to-screen event will be especially interesting to watch because the musical has been dramatically expanded for the screen. The first film releasing this year covers just the musical's first act, with a second to follow in 2025. That may create a situation where fans of the movie eager to see how the story ends will be able to seek out the stage production as the exclusive source to see the second half of the story. With the film already estimated to be a big grosser based on pre-sale data, this could well make 2025 the year of Wicked on Broadway (and wherever its national tour is playing).
Wicked's success was part of a great week for Broadway on the whole. Cumulative grosses went up by more than 10%, with the 37 currently running shows bringing in $36.5 million. Attendance was up, too, with 90% of seats filled and 306,329 people catching a show. There was one additional show last week compared to the week prior, Elf, but it played just two previews, so that doesn't take anything away from that upward movement on the grosses overall. All signs point to a healthy holiday tourism season being upon us.
Other winners last week include Lincoln Center Theater's McNeal, which had the top average ticket price last week, $185.74; the new revival of Sunset Blvd., which is continuing its run as a regular top fiver; and Romeo and Juliet, which is continuing to be a standing-room-only crowd favorite. Death Becomes Her just barely missed making The $1 Million Club for the second week in a row—but that was with two performance cancellations, meaning this is another new, potentially big hit musical to keep an eye on.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Wicked ($2.45 million)
- The Lion King
- Sunset Blvd.
- Hamilton
- Hell's Kitchen
- McNeal
- The Outsiders
- MJ The Musical
- The Great Gatsby
- Aladdin
- Oh, Mary!
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Cabaret
- Romeo and Juliet
- & Juliet
- The Book of Mormon
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
(17 of 37 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Romeo and Juliet (102.39%)
- The Outsiders (101.92%)
- McNeal (100%)
- Oh, Mary! (100%)
- Wicked (100%)
- The Book of Mormon
- Hadestown
- Hell's Kitchen
- Suffs
- The Lion King
- Death Becomes Her
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Stereophonic
- Sunset Blvd.
- Aladdin
- & Juliet
- Elf
- Hamilton
- A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
- Back to the Future
- MJ The Musical
(21 of 37 currently running productions)
