Deaf West’s ‘Spring Awakening’ struggling at Broadway box office

The new Broadway revival of “Spring Awakening” from Los Angeles’ Deaf West Theatre has received nearly unanimous praise from critics, but the raves have so far failed to ignite ticket sales at the box office.

“Spring Awakening,” which is performed in Deaf West’s signature style of spoken and signed dialogue, began previews at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York on Sept. 8 and officially opened last week.

Though a glowing review in the New York Times can often boost the fortunes of a Broadway show, “Spring Awakening” actually saw attendance decline for the week ending Sunday, with the number of seats sold dropping 25% from the week before, to 5,425, according to data from the Broadway League.

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That’s a steep decline for a show just getting off the ground, and it represents the lowest weekly attendance level since the rock musical began performances last month. For the most recent week, “Spring Awakening” played to houses that were on average 66% full.

Box-office revenue for the week ending Sunday climbed slightly from the week before, to just over $400,000, thanks to higher ticket prices for the week.

A spokeswoman for “Spring Awakening” said its Broadway capitalization is $4.5 million.

Ken Davenport, a producer for the revival production, said via email that he expects weekly grosses to build on the back of media coverage and word of mouth.

“We knew going in that audiences would need to hear more about the production and we now see that that education is paying off,” he said.

Some critics have questioned if the revival production comes too soon after the original Broadway run of “Spring Awakening,” which closed in 2009. That production, which won eight Tony Awards, was a box-office smash and ran on Broadway for more than two years, spawning a national tour.

The early months of fall have traditionally been a difficult period at the Broadway box office, as tourist traffic drops off from the summer highs. Ticket sales usually pick up around the holiday season.

The limited Broadway run of “Spring Awakening” is scheduled to end Jan. 24. The Deaf West production, directed by Michael Arden, was first seen in Los Angeles in 2014 and again earlier this year at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT

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