‘Merrily We Roll Along’ Ends Run on New High The Revival Breaks Records with Highest Grossing Week for a Sondheim Musical

The revival of ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ has concluded its Broadway run on a high note, achieving a record-breaking $2.77 million in its final week. This figure marks the highest grossing week ever for any Stephen Sondheim musical on Broadway.

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez, the production ended its run on July 7, after opening at the Hudson Theatre in October 2023. The show has consistently broken box office records at the theater, with a notable increase in grosses following its success at the June 16 Tony Awards, where it won Best Revival of a Musical. Both Radcliffe and Groff also received awards, contributing to the show’s rising popularity and ticket sales as it approached its closing date.

Throughout its run, the production maintained a 100 percent capacity every week. The average ticket price reached a new high of $357.94 in its final week. Sondheim musicals, which traditionally did not perform well at the box office during their original runs, have experienced a resurgence in popularity and revenue since the composer’s death in November 2021.

Recent examples of this trend include the 2023 revival of ‘Sweeney Todd,’ starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, which grossed $2.26 million during a seven-show week around Christmas, and the 2022 revival of ‘Into the Woods,’ which hit a weekly high of $2.1 million in August 2022.

The original production of ‘Merrily We Roll Along,’ directed by Hal Prince with a book by George Furth, was one of Sondheim’s notable flops. It began previews on October 8, 1981, and closed on November 28 of the same year.

The revival, directed by Maria Friedman, successfully recouped its $12 million capitalization by March 2024. In its final weeks, producers raised up to $4 million to professionally film the production “for posterity,” according to a spokesperson, hinting at future possibilities for the filmed version.

Originally produced at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2012, the revival had a subsequent West End run in 2013 and was produced Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2022.

‘Merrily We Roll Along’ was the highest grossing show on Broadway for its final week, outperforming popular productions such as ‘Wicked’ ($2.2 million), ‘Hamilton’ ($1.9 million), and ‘The Lion King’ ($2.5 million).

Overall, Broadway grosses took a hit in the week ending July 7, typical for the period surrounding the July 4 holiday. Total gross across all shows fell by 8 percent from the previous week, with attendance dropping by 5 percent.

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