Broadway Celebrates Presidents Day Holiday With 27% Box Office Boost; ‘The Notebook’ Scores $1M

Greg Evans
·2 min read

The Presidents Day Weekend was like a little Christmas gift for Broadway, with grosses for the 23 productions posting a hefty 27% increase over the previous week, topping out at $26,946,864.

More than 94% of available seats were filled during the week ending February 18, with total attendance at 201,227, a modest 7% bump over the previous week (pricier tickets accounted for the big jump in receipts: the average ticket price for the week was $133.91, a full $20 greater than the previous week).

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Twenty of the 23 productions filled at least 90% of their seats, with The Notebook particularly impressive among the recent arrivals. In previews at the Schoenfeld, the musical based on the Nicholas Sparks bestseller played to standing room only crowds, and grossed a mighty $1,013,563 for just seven shows. Opening night is March 14.

The three productions falling below the 90% capacity mark were A Beautiful Noise (65%), Days of Wine and Roses (54%) and Spamalot (87%). Could be a cold winter as spring arrivals begin lining up for attention.

Sweeney Todd saw its first week with permanent replacements Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster on board, increasing by $219,531 (to $1,479,716) over the previous week. Tveit and Foster are in the show through May 5, with The New York Times suggesting recently that the revival might not stick around after they leave; no official word though).

Appropriate, starring Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll, canceled three performances due to Covid within the company, grossing just $568,150 for the five-performance week but filling all seats for those shows.

Doubt: A Parable, with Amy Ryan playing her first week since taking over for an ailing Tyne Daly, filled 92% of seats at the Todd Haimes, grossing $489,078 for seven previews. Opening night is March 7.

Also of note, the long-running Chicago grossed $1,018,556, topping its previous Presidents Day Weekend best, 2023’s $896,828. Another long-runner, The Lion King, was the week’s high earner, grossing $2,004,314.

Season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,117,470,529, with total attendance at 8,883,846.

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

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