\'Chaplin\' Off to Quiet Start at Broadway Box Office

September 17, 2012, 4:02 pm

By PATRICK HEALY

The new Broadway musical “Chaplin” grossed a modest $460,925 in ticket sales in its first full week of performances since opening to largely negative reviews on Sept. 10, according to box office data released on Monday by the Broadway League, a trade association of theater owners and producers.

The show, a bio-musical about Charlie Chaplin,took in 48 percent of its maximum possible amount; most musicals need to gross at least 55 percent of the maximum amount to break even for the week. A spokesman for the production said the sales figure was in part due to many free tickets given to theater critics last week, and added that there were no plans to close “Chaplin.” The musical stars Rob McClure, w ho received much critical praise for his work.

Among the handful of other new shows now running as the Broadway fall season begins, the new play “Grace” had strong ticket sales for its first three preview performances last week, in large part due to a starry cast led by Paul Rudd (“I Love You, Man”) and Michael Shannon (“Boardwalk Empire”). The play, by Craig Wright, grossed $219,944 for the three performances â€" or 63 percent of the maximum possible gross, a relatively high figure for non-musicals.

The hit musical “Book of Mormon” also stood out last week as the top-grossing production on Broadway with $1.62 million â€" or 130 percent of the maximum possible gross, a reflection of its premium price tickets that cost as much as $477 apiece. “The Book of Mormon” is only occasionally the No. 1 show of the week, given that it is in a much smaller theater than the usual top-grossing shows, “Wicked” and “The Lion King.” But this is the tim e of the year when those two family-friendly shows have lower grosses than usual, given that children and teenagers are back in school.

After “Mormon,” the top-grossing shows last week were “The Lion King,” “Wicked,” “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” and “Evita.”

Overall, Broadway musicals and plays grossed $17.4 million last week, compared to $16.9 million the week before and $16 million for the comparable week last season.