Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Ragtime and more broke box office records amid the lucrative holiday week last week.
Stranger Things brought in $2.5 million with 100 percent capacity at the Marquis Theatre and an average ticket price moving up to $173, amid the release of the last season of the Netflix series. Harry Potter grossed $3.7 million, with Tom Felton from the movie series in the cast, and the musical revival of Ragtime continued to build on its momentum with a new record box office tally of $1.6 million.
Wicked regained its position as the box office leader bringing in a massive $4.4 million, followed by The Lion King with $3.9 million, Hamilton with $3.76 million and Harry Potter with $3.71 million. Hamilton had the highest average ticket price of the bunch at $350.
Notably, Stranger Things, Harry Potter, The Lion King and Wicked all had a nine-performance week, rather than the typical eight, which helped boost the tallies. And while the Wicked number looks large, it pales in comparison to the $5 million the musical brought in last year during the similar week ended Dec. 29 (which also included Christmas Day and Christmas Eve).
The Jonathan Groff-led musical Just In Time also broke a box office record at the Circle in the Square Theatre last week with $1.64 million across eight performances and 100 percent capacity. Even shows that dropped down to seven performances rather than the typical eight saw an increase in gross over last week, including The Outsiders (up $222,732) and Two Strangers Carry a Cake (up $58,000).
While most shows saw that holiday bump, the new highly reviewed play, Liberation, still struggled at the box office with capacity dropping to 51 percent and gross dropping to $346,426.
Overall the industry saw its box office jump 14 percent from last week, and there may be more runway ahead as shows tally the final week of December into the New Year.
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