Broadway Grosses: Sting Brings a Predictable Box Office Boost to The Last Ship

Ahoy! Grammy-winning rock icon Sting boarded his Broadway musical The Last Ship on December 9, stepping into the role of Jackie White. In his first full week of performances, the tuner’s grosses saw high tides, bringing in its largest gross of its run at $817,897. The show’s capacity rose 18% as well to 76.7%. Meanwhile, Love Letters, which had announced performances through February 15, 2015, shuttered on December 14 after 6 previews and 95 regular performances. Additionally, Side Show, which has brought in relatively low numbers since the revival began performances in October, will leave us after all on January 4, 2015.

Here’s a look at who was on top—and who was not—for the week ending December 14:

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. The Lion King ($1,925,063)
2. Wicked ($1,746,037)
3. The Book of Mormon ($1,739,667)
4. Aladdin ($1,529,288)
5. It's Only a Play ($1,413,682)

UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. Chicago ($414,484)
4. Honeymoon in Vegas ($396,473)**
3. Rock of Ages ($376,586)
2. Love Letters  ($274,612)*
1. This Is Our Youth ($270,455)

FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. The Book of Mormon (102.61%)
2. The River (100.72%)
3. The Elephant Man (100.66%)
4. Beautiful:The Carole King Musical (100.27%)
5. Aladdin (98.89%)

UNDERDOGS (By Capacity)
5. You Can't Take It With You (61.94%)
4. Chicago (59.17%)
3. If/Then (57.69%)
2. Mamma Mia! (56.80%)
1. Love Letters (56.59%)*

*Number based on seven regular performances
**Number based on eight preview performances

Source: The Broadway League