Broadway Ticket Sales Begin to Warm Up
BroadwayTheater January 24, 2008 Alfred Branch Jr.
By Carol-Ann Rudy
Certainly, after last week’s cold chill, it is nice to report an increase in attendance and ticket sales on the Great White Way, though still meager, for the week ended Jan. 20. The box office tally was $16,271,060 compared to the previous week’s returns of $15,474,354. That’s not including returns, still unreported officially, for Young Frankenstein, which Variety estimates to have dipped to $1.26 million. This week’s returns are still better than the same week last season of $14,777,463. Top rung productions offer no surprises: Wicked, Jersey Boys, and The Lion King. These three and The Little Mermaid were the only productions to garner an attendance rate of 90 percent or better.
Other productions seeing a welcome increase in sales were: Xanadu, The Homecoming, The Color Purple, The 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee, Rent, and Legally Blonde.
For those theatergoers who missed August: Osage County scheduled to close March 9, breathe easy: its schedule is extended until April 13 at the Imperial Theatre. It had been extended once already due to the stagehands’ strike. Not so with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: which closed Sunday, Jan. 20. Enjoying Opening Nights were The 39 Steps on Jan. 15 at the American Airlines Theatre, and David Mamet’s latest play, November, on Jan. 17 at the Barrymore Theatre starring Nathan Lane. Come Back, Little Sheba is in previews and opens Jan. 24.
And now for something completely different. Clay Aiken, known to millions as an “American Idol” contestant in its second season and now a recording star, debuted in his first Broadway role as Sir Robin in the Tony Award winning musical Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre on Jan. 18. He will continue in the role through May 4. It appears to have been a boost to recent ticket sales.
According to Playbill, the Entertainment Industry Expo takes place this Sunday, Jan. 27, at The Westin Hotel in Times Square. Billed as “the ultimate networking opportunity for anyone in or around the entertainment industry,” the convention offers actors, lighting designers, make-up artist, costume designers and others a chance to learn about careers in entertainment.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending January 20, 2008
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) | $268,671 | 3,784 | 0 | 7 | 949 | $71.00 | 57.0% |
| A Chorus Line (Schoenfeld) | $378,417 | 5,703 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $66.35 | 66.7% |
| August: Osage County (Imperial) | $609,017 | 8,491 | 0 | 8 | 1,439 | $71.73 | 73.8% |
| Avenue Q (Golden) | $360,921 | 5,341 | 0 | 8 | 796 | $67.58 | 83.9% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) | $373,213 | 5,423 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $68.82 | 62.8% |
| Come…Sheba (Biltmore) | $150,571 | 3,007 | 8 | 0 | 650 | $50.07 | 57.8% |
| Curtains (Hirschfeld) | $540,244 | 7,166 | 0 | 8 | 1,422 | $75.39 | 63.0% |
| Grease (Atkinson) | $619,075 | 6,898 | 0 | 8 | 1,072 | $89.75 | 80.4% |
| Hairspray (Neil Simon) | $640,692 | 8,906 | 0 | 8 | 1,428 | $71.94 | 78.0% |
| Is He Dead? (Lyceum) | $232,254 | 4,840 | 0 | 8 | 922 | $47.99 | 65.6% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) | $1,157,164 | 9,808 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $117.98 | 100.3% |
| Legally Blonde (Palace) | $668,409 | 9,551 | 0 | 8 | 1,691 | $69.98 | 70.6% |
| Mamma Mia! (Cadillac Winter Garden) | $765,173 | 10,001 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $76.51 | 83.5% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) | $896,735 | 11,725 | 0 | 8 | 1,791 | $76.48 | 81.8% |
| November (Barrymore) | $415,167 | 5,746 | 3 | 5 | 1,058 | $72.25 | 67.9% |
| Rent (Nederlander) | $333,226 | 6,243 | 0 | 8 | 1,181 | $53.38 | 66.1% |
| Rock ‘n’ Roll (Jacobs) | $437,825 | 6,536 | 0 | 8 | 1,074 | $66.99 | 76.1% |
| Spamalot (Shubert) | $797,390 | 10,141 | 0 | 8 | 1,441 | $78.63 | 88.0% |
| Spring Awakening (O’Neill) | $526,696 | 7,176 | 0 | 8 | 1,090 | $73.40 | 82.3% |
| The 25th…Bee (Circle in Square) | $282,053 | 4,661 | 0 | 8 | 684 | $60.51 | 85.2% |
| The 39 Steps (American Airlines) | $206,358 | 4,303 | 0 | 8 | 740 | $47.96 | 72.7% |
| The Color Purple (Broadway) | $477,154 | 8,576 | 0 | 8 | 1,718 | $55.64 | 62.4% |
| The Farnsworth Invention (Music Box) | $290,705 | 4,836 | 0 | 8 | 1,005 | $60.11 | 60.1% |
| The Homecoming (Cort) | $299,147 | 4,594 | 0 | 8 | 1,082 | $65.12 | 53.1% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) | $1,050,324 | 11,904 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $88.23 | 90.0% |
| The Little Mermaid (Lunt-Fontanne) | $950,655 | 11,137 | 0 | 8 | 1,518 | $85.36 | 91.7% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) | $636,835 | 9,963 | 0 | 8 | 1,607 | $63.92 | 77.5% |
| The Seafarer (Booth) | $316,212 | 4,995 | 0 | 8 | 788 | $63.31 | 79.2% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) | $1,371,768 | 13,888 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $98.77 | 96.0% |
| Xanadu (Hayes) | $218,989 | 3,323 | 0 | 8 | 596 | $65.90 | 69.7% |
Last Updated on March 17, 2009 by Alfred Branch Jr.
