Broadway’s ‘The Notebook’ Sells Out First Three Previews As Overall Box Office Gets Chilly

Winter had a chilling effect on Broadway last week, with most shows reporting at least some downturn at the box office and overall receipts dropping nearly 10% from the previous week.

In all, box office for the 24 productions totaled $21,192,251 for the week ending February 11, with attendance of 187,573 down about 12% from the previous week.

Only a half-dozen shows bucked the downward trend, most notably Sweeney Todd, which on February 9 welcomed Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster as the permanent replacements for Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford (understudies had been filling in since the originals departed January 14). Grosses for the Sondheim revival were up $402,763 for a $1,260,185 total.

Joining the roster was The Notebook, just a few seats shy of selling out all of its first three previews at the Schoenfeld Theatre. The production, with music by Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunstetter, grossed $364,678 for the three performances, with a healthy average ticket price of $122.17.

Exiting the boards was How To Dance In Ohio, a sell-out in its final week of performances, with last-chancers boosting ticket sales to $797,305, a jump of $168,596 over the previous week.

Another show going against the downward tide was Hadestown, gaining a renewed momentum as it approaches its fifth anniversary in April with replacement cast members Jordan Fisher, Ani DiFranco and Lola Tung. Last week’s receipts were up $55,514 over the previous week, topping out at $791,577 with 97% of seats at the Walter Kerr filled.

Also of note:

Season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,090,523,665, with total attendance at 8,682,619.

All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.