(HorizonPost.com) – The Broadway musical produced by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has not been doing well at the box office, despite the flood of positive press coverage and publicity that preceded its opening last month.
Writer and composer Shaina Taub’s musical “Suffs,” which debuted off-Broadway in 2022 at the Public Theater, opened on April 18 at the Music Box Theater with Hillary Clinton as one of its producers.
“Suffs” recounts the journey of the Women’s Suffrage Movement to secure votes for women.
With Hillary Clinton as a producer, “Suffs” enjoyed more than its share of favorable press coverage before its April 18 opening, with the former 2016 presidential candidate making multiple publicity interviews, including on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”
Mrs. Clinton had high hopes for the musical’s success. She told “CBS Sunday Morning” that the timing of the opening during an election year was especially important.
Clinton said “Suffs” would remind women voters of the struggle to win the vote and serve as a lesson not to throw their vote away or “ignore the power of your vote.”
Clinton described the musical as “meaningful” and “truly historic,” and suggested that “Suffs” filled a gap “because women’s history doesn’t get told in a way that’s accessible.”
Two weeks before “Suffs” opened, Hillary and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda hosted a fundraiser for President Biden’s reelection campaign that featured a performance by the cast of “Suffs.”
Despite all the favorable press and publicity, having Hillary’s name attached to the project hasn’t translated into ticket sales.
According to box office data from The Broadway League, for the week ending on May 5, the theater was only at 81 percent capacity. The previous week, the box office was only 78 percent.
By comparison, the long-running musical production “The Lion King” enjoyed 93 capacity during the same week, despite running on Broadway since the late 1990s. The latest version of “The Wiz” was also a bigger draw, with 95 percent capacity.
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