Monday, September 05, 2011

Record-Breaker !!!


“Les Miz” did les biz in L.A., setting box-office records during its recent seven-week run at the Ahmanson Theatre.

The touring musical about the travails of penniless 19th century Parisians earned $176,121 per show, easily outdoing the $156,854 that “Jersey Boys” harvested in 2007.

The matinee on July 31 –- closing day in L.A. -– brought in $207,607, the most ever for a single performance at the Ahmanson. In fact, 13 of the 55 performances in “Les Miserables”’ run beat the previous single-house record of $190,425 set by “Jersey Boys.”

The 25th-anniversary tour of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg’s blockbuster adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel played to 97% of capacity in the 2,074-seat house, said Douglas Baker, producing director of the Ahmanson’s parent organization, Center Theatre Group.

“That is really, really tough to do with any run” longer than a few nights, Baker said. “It exceeded even our highest expectations,” which were for perhaps 90% of capacity before “Les Miz” pulled into town on June 14. "Les Miserables" will return next year to Southern California, with performances June 12-24 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts during its national tour.

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