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‘Phantom’ continues to soar as Broadway box office falls to $30 million

With its final performance approaching, "The Phantom of the Opera" continues to strike a chord at the box office.

Emilie Kouatchou as Christine in "The Phantom of the Opera" (Photo: Matthew Murphy)

With its final performance approaching, “The Phantom of the Opera” continues to strike a chord at the box office.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber-scored musical was the only of the 34 running productions to play to standing-room-capacity crowds last week, and was the fourth-highest-grossing show, earning $1,784,649.

For the week ending Nov. 20, Broadway overall grossed $30,912,719, down 4%. The 34 shows played to 83% capacity, down 6%.

“The Music Man,” “Hamilton” and “The Lion King” (which on Nov. 13 celebrated its 25th anniversary) were the three top-grossing productions. Nine shows played to 95% capacity or greater while 11 played to 70% or less. Fourteen shows earned $1 million or more.

A handful of shows from the current season experienced significant box office and attendance decreases, including “Almost Famous” (grosses down 19% and attendance down 20%), “Death of a Salesman” (grosses down 13% and attendance down 10%), “Into the Woods” (grosses down 21% and attendance down 18%), “Take Me Out” (grosses down 25% and attendance down 13%) and “Topdog/Underdog” (grosses down 14% and attendance down 15%).

The same could also be said of longer-running productions, including “Beetlejuice” (grosses down 12% and attendance down 15%), “Chicago” (grosses down 17% and attendance down 14%) and “The Music Man” (grosses down 14% and attendance down 10%).

“KPOP” canceled two performances last week and also moved its official opening night from Nov. 20 to Nov. 27 due to COVID within the company. Through six previews, the new musical grossed $127,261, down 5%, and played to 94% capacity, up 8%.

“Walking with Ghosts” ended its Broadway run on a positive note. The play had its highest-grossing week, earning $262,122, an increase of 34%. It played to 61% capacity, an increase of 28%.

“& Juliet” opened on Nov. 17. “A Christmas Carol,” “Ain’t No Mo’ ” “Ohio State Murders,” “Some Like It Hot,” “A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical” and “KPOP” remained in previews.