Spring is in sight as sure as the time change over the weekend, and it seems only fitting that the fiscal temperature on Broadway begins to thaw with the warming weather. The total Broadway box office receipts for this past week ending March 9, excluding Young Frankenstein which is not reporting ticket sales, reached $16,184,132. That’s a big improvement over last week’s low of $14,835,794.
So which productions are heating up Broadway? The usual suspects, Wicked, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins, all musicals. Of the nine plays currently brightening the way, three had 81 percent full houses or better: The 39 Steps at 89 percent, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at close to 88 percent, and November at more than 81 percent.
“Cat” opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on March 6 and In The Heights opened at the Richard Rodgers on March 9. The revival of Gypsy is in previews at the St. James Theatre and opens March 27. Another revival, South Pacific, is in previews at the Vivian Beaumont and opens April 3. Is He Dead? and Rock ‘n’ Roll both closed March 9.
Coming up: Another revival of Rodgers and Hart’s Pal Joey at Studio 54 by the Roundabout Theatre Company; the show is directed by Joe Mantello, with a book by Richard Greenberg, based on the original by John O’Hara. Previews are scheduled to begin Nov. 21 with opening on Dec. 11. Casting is still up in the air, although Tony Award-winner Christian Hoff of Jersey Boys may get the nod for the lead.
Moving: Look for August: Osage County to move to the Music Box Theatre on April 29 from its current home at the Imperial Theatre.
Kudos to the London production of Hairspray: it won the Best New Musical at the 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards on March 9 as well as three acting awards for its cast.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending March 9, 2008
All data provided by The Broadway League
| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| A Chorus Line (Schoenfeld) |
$326,495 | 5,321 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $61.36 | 62.2% |
| August: Osage County (Imperial) |
$537,178 | 7,580 | 0 | 8 | 1,419 | $70.87 | 66.8% |
| Avenue Q (Golden) |
$284,276 | 4,579 | 0 | 8 | 796 | $62.08 | 71.9% |
| Cat…Roof (Broadhurst) |
$613,617 | 8,207 | 3 | 5 | 1,168 | $74.77 | 87.8% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$375,558 | 5,690 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $66.00 | 65.9% |
| Come…Sheba (Biltmore) |
$205,183 | 3,662 | 0 | 8 | 650 | $56.03 | 70.4% |
| Curtains (Hirschfeld) |
$482,652 | 7,012 | 0 | 8 | 1,422 | $68.83 | 61.6% |
| Grease (Atkinson) |
$573,962 | 7,799 | 0 | 8 | 1,072 | $73.59 | 90.9% |
| Gypsy (St. James) |
$383,554 | 6,242 | 7 | 0 | 1,707 | $61.45 | 52.2% |
| Hairspray (Neil Simon) |
$530,970 | 8,657 | 0 | 8 | 1,428 | $61.33 | 75.8% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$362,706 | 9,601 | 7 | 1 | 1,344 | $37.78 | 89.3% |
| Is He Dead? (Lyceum) |
$217,690 | 4,313 | 0 | 8 | 922 | $50.47 | 58.5% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,082,652 | 9,591 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $112.88 | 98.1% |
| Legally Blonde (Palace) |
$542,019 | 8,465 | 0 | 8 | 1,691 | $64.03 | 62.6% |
| Mamma Mia! (Cadillac Winter Garden) |
$693,401 | 9,546 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $72.64 | 79.7% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$788,480 | 11,765 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $67.02 | 81.8% |
| November (Barrymore) |
$459,840 | 6,892 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $66.72 | 81.4% |
| Passing Strange (Belasco) |
$198,876 | 3,985 | 0 | 8 | 1,010 | $49.91 | 49.3% |
| Rent (Nederlander) |
$419,435 | 7,381 | 0 | 8 | 1,181 | $56.83 | 78.1% |
| Rock ‘n’ Roll (Jacobs) |
$321,412 | 5,113 | 0 | 8 | 1,074 | $62.86 | 59.5% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$535,671 | 7,575 | 8 | 0 | 1,041 | $70.72 | 91.0% |
| Spamalot (Shubert) |
$636,569 | 8,623 | 0 | 8 | 1,441 | $73.82 | 74.8% |
| Spring Awakening (O’Neill) |
$533,384 | 7,606 | 0 | 8 | 1,090 | $70.13 | 87.2% |
| Sunday…George (Studio 54) |
$420,457 | 7,421 | 0 | 8 | 1,004 | $56.66 | 92.4% |
| The 39 Steps (American Airlines) |
$270,816 | 5,173 | 0 | 8 | 725 | $52.35 | 89.2% |
| The Homecoming (Cort) |
$184,822 | 3,643 | 0 | 8 | 1,082 | $50.73 | 42.1% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$979,546 | 11,802 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $83.00 | 89.2% |
| The Little Mermaid (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$843,802 | 9,456 | 0 | 8 | 1,518 | $89.23 | 77.9% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$607,914 | 9,837 | 0 | 8 | 1,607 | $61.80 | 76.5% |
| The Seafarer (Booth) |
$216,724 | 3,919 | 0 | 8 | 788 | $55.30 | 62.2% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,378,638 | 14,152 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $97.42 | 97.8% |
| Xanadu (Hayes) |
$175,833 | 2,682 | 0 | 8 | 596 | $65.56 | 56.3% |
