A number of show have begun previews in the past month, though none have shown boffo box office while in previews. The new play King Charles III has come closest. Its single preview at the Music Box was at 98% capacity and drew 68% of the gross. On Your Feet! filled 88% of its seats at the Marquis, while collecting a respectable $970,013 (64% of the gross).
Allegiance, which also stars Lea Salonga, performed decently as well. The houses at the Longacre were at 89% capacity and box office was 64% of the potential.
Aside from Hamilton, none of the new shows to bow this season have yet joined the sold-out circle. The new production of Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, which opened last week to good reviews, played to 95%-full auditoriums. Old Times, the new Harold Pinter go-round, also opened last week, to decent notices. Last week, shows enjoyed 86% crowds, and box office was 57% of the possible take.
So far, Keira Knightley is not showing herself to be a box-office draw at Studio 54, where she is the star of a new staging of Therese Raquin. Houses were 67% full. There was a $93,458 bump at the box office over the previous week, but that still represented only 51% of the gross. James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson packed more seats at the Golden (89%), but drawing a similar gross (50%). Sylvia, starring Matthew Broderick, meanwhile, is off to a sleepy start, with the Cort Theatre 72% full on average, and box office 43% of its potential. Among the long-running shows, a good many enjoyed nice box-office bumps last week, including A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder ($100,643), Aladdin ($275,938), Finding Neverland ($182,233), Jersey Boys ($138,112), Kinky Boots ($166,845), Matilda the Musical ($207,343), Something Rotten! ($139,646), The King and I ($103,887), The Lion King ($140,837), The Phantom of the Opera ($140,835) and Wicked ($310,699).
The latter was the biggest boost of the week. The Lion King leap put that show above the $2 million dollar mark in terms of the week’s collections.
