Los Angeles Times
Bette Midler‘s ‘I’ll Eat You Last’ cashing in at Broadway box office
By Jamie Wetherbe
May 21, 2013, 6:50 a.m.
Bette Midler might have been snubbed when it comes to Tony nominations this year, but she seems to be having the last laugh at the box office.
The Divine Miss M‘s one-woman show “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers” is becoming one of Broadway’s hottest tickets this spring. At $149.27, the production hit the second-highest average paid admission, behind “The Book of Mormon” ($194.47), according to information released by the Broadway League.
The show surpassed the Tom Hanks starrer “Lucky Guy” ($143.23), which has held the No. 2 spot for weeks.
Both shows played to packed houses last week, but “I’ll Eat You Last’s” limited run (ending June 30) boosted the average admission by more than $11 a ticket. The show grossed $829,768 at the box office for the week ending May 19.
Average ticket prices for other new productions in the top 10 include “Kinky Boots” ($110.45), “Pippin” ($108.86) and “Motown: The Musical” ($102.86).
Though she didn’t earn a Tony nod, Midler’s turn as Hollywood super-agent Sue Mengers has received mostly positive reviews.
Times theater critic Charles McNulty wrote that though the script didn’t quite dig into Mengers’ complex character, Midler charms audiences into enjoying this “Broadway bonbon.”
