Broadway ticket sales cool down as Christmas nears

After last week's feverish activity in ticket sales and attendance, things have cooled slightly on the Great White Way. The week's gross was $20,376,854, down nearly two million from last week's box office of $22,329,017. But this week's gross was still better than the same week last season of only $19,709,594.

There's a slight upset in the pecking order of the top million-dollar grosser this week. Wicked at the Gershwin continues its lead followed by Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Marquis, displacing Billy Elliott: The Musical at the Imperial and putting Jersey Boys at the August Wilson in fourth place for the first time in more than a year. The Lion King at the Minskoff ranks fifth followed by Mamma Mia! at the Winter Garden.

Of the nine plays currently on Broadway, All My Sons at the Schoenfeld is the indisputable leader at more than $653,000, followed by Speed The Plow at the Barrymore at more than $519,000 and The Seagull at the Walter Kerr Theatre posting more than $454,000.

The award for Top Ticket price this week goes to "Jersey Boys" at $350; Best Bargain (lowest Average Paid Admission) to Pal Joey playing at Studio 54 at $55.

New ventures such as Liza's At The Palace, playing at the Plaza Theatre, are doing well, bolstering the local economy. Another holiday season special that opened to previews on December 2 and enjoyed its Opening Night this past week was Slava's Snowshow at the Helen Hayes Theatre.

However, offsetting the sterling success of the six shows that brought in over one million dollars and others are those productions whose attendance has dropped significantly. The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic the largest drop, a loss of 20 percent compared to the previous week's attendance.

Other productions are finding it difficult to hang in there as January will see a rash of closings. The year-old Young Frankenstein at the Hilton, Hairspray at the Neil Simon, 13 at the Jacobs and Spring Awakening at the Eugene O'Neil, will al be ending their run. Monty Python's Spamalot at the Shubert was to close on Jan. 18 but has moved up the date to Jan. 11.