The Broadway musical “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” achieved a relatively rare feat last week, grossing more than $1 million even though the show is still in preview performances and has no star actors, according to box office data released on Tuesday.
Previews are traditionally a monthlong period when ticket prices are sharply discounted as the cast and creative team continue honing the production; usually musicals only join the million-dollar club after opening to good reviews that producers splash in advertising campaigns. Hit musicals like “The Book of Mormon,” “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” “Once,” “Newsies,” and “Mary Poppins” never hit $1 million during previews; “Evita” did last year, thanks to its star Ricky Martin, and so did “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” in 2010 (after an unprecedented wave of bad publicity) and the highly anticipated “Billy Elliot” in 2008.
“Cinderella,” which stars the Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes (“Bonnie and Clyde”) in the title role and Santino Fontana as the prince, grossed $1,056,544 last week, about 75 percent of the maximum possible amount, with nearly all seats sold. It was the fifth highest-grossing show on Broadway last week, following “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” “The Book of Mormon,” and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” Over all, Broadway musicals and plays grossed $19.1 million last week, compared to $20.1 million during the same week in 2012.
According to several Broadway ticket agents who sell large blocks of seats to schools, churches and synagogues, and civic organizations, “Cinderella” – an updated retelling of the classic story – has emerged as the hot musical of the winter for group sales, with the Wednesday matinee in particularly huge demand for students. “Cinderella” also appears to be benefiting from the March 3 closing of “Mary Poppins,” because several groups that had been considering “Poppins” for the spring have moved on to “Cinderella.”
It is also doing well with adult groups, perhaps because of affection for the fairy tale or interest in Rodgers and Hammerstein, given that their version of “Cinderella” has never been on Broadway. (It was originally made for television.)
To be sure, the show partly prospered last week because many students were on winter vacation.“Cinderella” also has plenty of high-priced orchestra seats on offer, given that it is in a large house, the 1,500-seat Broadway Theater.
But “Cinderella” will soon face stiffer competition as Broadway’s battle of the girls intensifies with the March 4 start of previews for “Matilda the Musical,” a huge hit in London. Another Broadway musical, “Annie,” is also performing well at the box office, though the group sales agents said that “Cinderella” has had the edge lately. (“Annie” has grossed more than $1 million a week on several occasions, though only after previews ended.)
Few producers expect “Cinderella” to beat “Matilda” at the box office, given the considerable buzz for “Matilda” in New York. Reviews from theater critics will probably be a factor in ticket sales; “Annie” received mixed notices in November, and the critics will weigh in on “Cinderella” in early March and on “Matilda” during the second week in April.