Jan. 08--The Disney musical "Newsies" had a front-page week in Chicago over the holidays. The nine performances at the Oriental Theatre in the week ending Jan. 4 grossed a whopping $2,012,723; Disney claimed on Wednesday that this was "the highest grossing week in Chicago theatrical history," and they were right.
With some caveats.
In 2013, "Wicked" grossed $1,935,432, but that was for a standard eight-performance week (thus the per-performance gross was higher). In 2009, "Wicked" grossed $1,764,428 at the 2,200-seat Oriental, in an era when ticket prices were generally lower. Aside from the lack of adjustments for inflation, it is also worth noting that "Book of Mormon" may well have out-grossed both shows in Chicago, were it not for the smaller capacity of the Bank of America Theatre.
Although concerts routine gross higher amounts on a per-show basis, and the long-running "Wicked" grossed huge figures week in and week out ("Newsies" played only four weeks in Chicago), no higher single-week gross ever has been reported in Chicago. "Newsies" was touring under a so-called tiered contract, meaning that the performers salaries are tied to the show's takings at the box-office -- meaning this was a very nice festive season in Chicago for the "Newsies" crew.
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