Blockbuster London plays transferred to Broadway have helped push box office figures in New York’s theatre district to an all-time high.
Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, The Ferryman, and Network all enjoyed record takings on Broadway last week, which became the most lucrative in the district’s history, with 378,910 tickets sold grossing $57.8 million (£46 million). Figures from The Broadway League show that Harry Potter took $2.5 million ($2 million) — breaking its own record as Broadway’s highest-ever non-musical production last year.
Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman took $1 million (£800,000), marking its busiest week since opening in October. The National’s production of Network, starring Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, also had its most successful week to date, with sales of $1.3 million (£1 million).
Meanwhile, To Kill A Mockingbird scored the highest grossing week of any American play in Broadway history.
Following its premiere last month, Aaron Sorkin’s long-awaited stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic 1960 novel, directed by Bartlett Sher and starring Jeff Daniels as lawyer Atticus Finch, took $1.7 million (£1.35 million).
The record-breaking week also saw Hamilton become the first Broadway show to take more than $4 million (£3.18 million).
Charlotte St Martin, president of The Broadway League, told the New York Times: “I often say Broadway is a wonderful escape from what’s going on in the world, and lots of people were escaping last week. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Last year was Broadway’s highest grossing ever, amassing an annual total of $1.8 billion (£1.43 million) and pulling in a record 14.37 million people.
Theatre to look forward to in 2019
