34 MUSICALS AND PLAYS ON BROADWAY

NEW YORK-
It’s starting to look like a season of haves and have-nots on Broadway. During Thanksgiving week, theatergoers favored the big-brand musicals over newer, celebrity-free fare, according to box-office data released on Monday.
A line of theatergoers at the TKTS booth in Times Square. Of the 34 shows on Broadway, 11 played to houses that were less than two-thirds full during Thanksgiving week.


The clearest sign: while “The Lion King,” “Wicked” and other megamusicals sold out, ticket buyers chose not to turn their dollars to lesser-known shows, or to many plays and musicals without stars in their casts.
The hit musicals, which often charge more during holidays, exploited demand even further last week by requiring more people to buy tickets at premium prices of $300 or higher.
The six weeks from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day are often a period of robust ticket sales and revenue for producers and theater owners. The holiday grosses can also influence decision making about future shows, casting and ticket pricing.
Sometimes the effect is more immediate. After anemic Thanksgiving-week sales, the producers of “Oleanna,” starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, announced on Tuesday that they were closing that play this Sunday, four weeks earlier than planned. (Fewer than one-third of the “Oleanna” seats were paid for last week.)
Many other shows played to rows of empty seats over Thanksgiving, according to the data, which was released by the Broadway League, a producers’ group.
Of the 34 plays and musicals on Broadway, 11 productions played to houses that were less than two-thirds full during Thanksgiving week. By comparison, for the same week last year, 5 out of 30 shows that reported box office data played to fewer than two-thirds of theaters.
In interviews several producers cited the abundance of shows as a major factor, but added that so many empty seats during a holiday week was a concern, especially because of the continuing unemployment woes and financial straits affecting households.
“What we’re finding is there’s no business-as-usual pattern or formula for Broadway shows anymore,” said Sue Frost, a lead producer of “Memphis,” the musical about the early years of rock ’n’ roll, which sold 64 percent of its seats last week.
“The well-branded family entertainments were clearly the big winners,” she continued. “But we have national exposure coming up, with appearances on the ‘Today’ show and ‘The View.’ And we’re operating in the black. But it’s difficult to predict audience and tourist preferences week to week.”
On the upside for Broadway last week, “Wicked” and “Billy Elliot: The Musical” — both charging $300 for the best seats — set new box-office records, as did “The Lion King,” which had a top ticket price of $250. “Wicked” became the first Broadway production to gross more than $2 million in a single week. Given that “Wicked” was sold out last Thanksgiving as well, sales of more premium and higher-priced holiday-week tickets were clearly factors in setting records.
But major new musicals without stars, like “Finian’s Rainbow,” “Fela!,” “Memphis” and “Ragtime” each showed soft spots, and the return engagement of a holiday show, “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas,” performed weakly.
“Memphis” actually lost money compared with the previous week, and it had to resort to discounting tickets to sell as many as it did. “Fela!,” which earned a rave review from The New York Times as well as from other critics, is also discounting tickets. Both were among the shows selling tickets heavily at the TKTS discount booth through the holiday.
“Finian’s Rainbow” grossed a relatively slight 8 percent more for Thanksgiving week than it had the week before and filled only about half its seats despite the holiday crowds and the strong critical reviews in October. David Richenthal, one of the lead producers of “Finian’s Rainbow,” said the advance ticket sales were better for the weeks around Christmas and New Year’s Day.
“We expect accelerated growth next week with our new television campaign,” he said. “We do need more exposure given the many shows out there.”
Grosses for the well-reviewed “Ragtime” were up a healthy 30 percent from the previous week, and the average ticket price was $87.44. Still, the show filled only 56 percent of its seats.
“For the Memphises and Felas and Ragtimes of Broadway, there isn’t the urgency to see these shows yet,” said Kevin McCollum, one of the lead producers of “Ragtime” and “White Christmas.”
Another new musical, a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music,” did relatively well at the box office for its first week of previews, grossing $754,236 and selling 90 percent of its seats. That show stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, two major actresses. The success of “Night Music” was due in large part to advance ticket sales for a much-anticipated revival, but it also suggested that star casting — a fixture of commercially successful straight plays — is a hedge for musicals as well.
As for December on Broadway, two of the biggest money-makers of the fall, “A Steady Rain” and “Hamlet,” are both scheduled to end their limited engagements on Sunday, which is likely to cut into Broadway’s overall revenues appreciably. “A Steady Rain,” starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, grossed $1.2 million last week, while “Hamlet,” starring Jude Law, made $947,424.
The new cast of the play “God of Carnage” — which had been a huge profit maker when its ensemble was led by James Gandolfini — has yet to come close to the $1 million-a-week grosses of the old cast, though its $506,133 last week was strong for a play. The show has yet to receive reviews from most critics.
“While we have an advance of $1.5 million, we — along with other shows — will be quite dependent over the holidays on TKTS,” said Robert Fox, one of the lead producers of “Carnage.” The play is routinely discounting at 50 percent; with its former cast the play was only occasionally at TKTS at 30 percent off, Mr. Fox said.