Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week Ending December 9, 2007
By Carol-Ann Rudy
Now that the stagehands strike is completely settled, Broadway is finally back to normal. Could it get any better? Yes, as five new plays opened in eight days: Shakespeare’s Cymbeline opened Dec. 2, followed by August: Osage County, The Farnsworth Invention, The Seafarer, and Is He Dead? The opening of Homecoming was scheduled for the 9th but has been postponed until Dec. 16. Financially, Pygmalion has fared best of the 11 plays currently on Broadway with close to 93 percent attendance, followed by Cyrano de Bergerac with over 91 percent, and Rock ‘N’ Roll with more than 85 percent.
The verdict is in for Is He Dead? at the Lyceum Theatre, the adaptation by David Ives of Mark Twain’s play. Unable to make his mark as a playwright in his lifetime, he’d be turning in his grave with delight today at the reception for his 1898 comedy. Also receiving high praise from theatergoers and critics is August: Osage County. Even at three and a half hours, it still manages to capture the delight of its audiences.
Catching the holiday crowds in the musicals with million-dollar box offices this week were Wicked, Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, and Mary Poppins, in that order.
Compared to the previous reporting period’s gross of $14,626,123, this week’s $19,709,594 brings a rosy glow to the cheeks of Broadway backers even when compared to the gross of the same week, last season, of $21,218,736. However, comparing total grosses to date for the season at $451,860,437 to the same time last season at $479,824,354, it is apparent that the fallout from the strike may never be made up.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
All data provided by The League of American Theatres and Producers
| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| A Bronx Tale (Walter Kerr) |
$288,261 | 4,192 | 0 | 8 | 949 | $68.76 | 55.2% |
| A Chorus Line (Schoenfeld) |
$399,058 | 5,437 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $73.40 | 63.6% |
| August: Osage County (Imperial) |
$327,133 | 5,969 | 0 | 8 | 1,439 | $54.81 | 51.9% |
| Avenue Q (Golden) |
$262,691 | 4,026 | 0 | 8 | 796 | $65.25 | 63.2% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$455,920 | 6,219 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $73.31 | 72.0% |
| Curtains (Hirschfeld) |
$767,394 | 8,982 | 0 | 8 | 1,422 | $85.44 | 79.0% |
| Cymbeline (Beaumont) |
$263,182 | 4,604 | 0 | 8 | 1,047 | $57.16 | 55.0% |
| Cyrano de Bergerac (Rodgers) |
$906,119 | 9,855 | 0 | 8 | 1,347 | $91.95 | 91.5% |
| Dr. Seuss’…Christmas (St. James) |
$1,376,658 | 19,911 | 0 | 14 | 1,706 | $69.14 | 83.4% |
| Grease (Atkinson) |
$714,695 | 7,520 | 0 | 8 | 1,072 | $95.04 | 87.7% |
| Hairspray (Neil Simon) |
$686,188 | 9,269 | 0 | 8 | 1,428 | $74.03 | 81.1% |
| Is He Dead? (Lyceum) |
$134,217 | 2,686 | 7 | 1 | 922 | $49.97 | 36.4% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,367,780 | 9,841 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $138.99 | 100.7% |
| Legally Blonde (Palace) |
$738,889 | 9,393 | 0 | 8 | 1,691 | $78.66 | 69.4% |
| Les Miserables (Broadhurst) |
$485,610 | 7,015 | 0 | 8 | 1,122 | $69.22 | 78.2% |
| Mamma Mia! (Cadillac Winter Garden) |
$906,485 | 10,793 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $83.99 | 90.1% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$1,077,802 | 13,021 | 0 | 8 | 1,791 | $82.77 | 90.9% |
| Pygmalion (American Airlines) |
$286,364 | 5,478 | 0 | 8 | 740 | $52.28 | 92.5% |
| Rent (Nederlander) |
$230,877 | 5,232 | 0 | 8 | 1,181 | $44.13 | 55.4% |
| Rock ‘n’ Roll (Jacobs) |
$501,016 | 7,345 | 0 | 8 | 1,074 | $68.21 | 85.5% |
| Spamalot (Shubert) |
$626,947 | 8,359 | 0 | 8 | 1,441 | $75.00 | 72.5% |
| Spring Awakening (O’Neill) |
$571,382 | 6,701 | 0 | 8 | 1,090 | $85.27 | 76.8% |
| The 25th…Bee (Circle in Square) |
$207,548 | 3,803 | 0 | 8 | 684 | $54.57 | 69.5% |
| The Color Purple (Broadway) |
$639,317 | 9,557 | 0 | 8 | 1,718 | $66.90 | 69.5% |
| The Drowsy Chaperone (Marquis) |
$426,555 | 6,287 | 0 | 8 | 1,611 | $67.85 | 48.8% |
| The Farnsworth Invention (Music Box) |
$267,480 | 4,081 | 0 | 8 | 1,005 | $65.54 | 50.8% |
| The Homecoming (Cort) |
$172,954 | 3,389 | 8 | 0 | 1,082 | $51.03 | 39.2% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,192,075 | 12,413 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $96.03 | 93.8% |
| The Little Mermaid (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$673,995 | 8,990 | 6 | 0 | 1,503 | $74.97 | 99.7% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$698,375 | 9,171 | 0 | 8 | 1,607 | $76.15 | 71.3% |
| The Ritz (Studio 54) |
$230,095 | 4,698 | 0 | 8 | 1,006 | $48.98 | 58.4% |
| The Seafarer (Booth) |
$136,727 | 2,405 | 3 | 5 | 780 | $56.85 | 38.5% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,446,244 | 14,468 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $99.96 | 100.0% |
| Xanadu (Hayes) |
$243,562 | 2,971 | 0 | 8 | 596 | $81.98 | 62.3% |
