Broadway ticket sales for the week ending March 23 continued to show solid signs of life. To paraphrase the old saying, O, Broadway—How do we love thee? Let us count the ways! First, there are no less than six shows, all musicals, in the million-dollar club for the week: in order, Wicked at $1,503,737; The Lion King at $1,323,304; The Little Mermaid at $1,186,297; Mary Poppins at $1,162,183; Jersey Boys at $1,116,266; and Mamma Mia! at $1,001,740
Secondly, no less than fourteen shows had virtually 100 percent attendance!
They are: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Chicago, Grease, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, Rent, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Spring Awakening, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, The Phantom of the Opera, and of course, Wicked.
Yet another way to play the counting game is to look at the largest increase in attendance this past week. The laurels go to: Passing Strange up 23 percent, A Chorus Line up 22 percent, and Xanadu up 17 percent.
The Easter Spring Break holiday weekend did a lot for the theater’s bottom lines. The total of box office ticket sales was a welcome $20,789,932 compared to the previous reporting period of $17,906,929. In addition, this week’s total topped the same week last year of $18,902,763, and that this year was better than last year even without figures from Young Frankenstein, which is not reporting its sales.
In other news, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific is in previews on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre for the first time since 1949. It opens April 3.
Gypsy, by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents, is another revival starring Patti Lupone, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines, is in previews at the St. James Theatre and opens on March 27.
The Adam Schlesinger, David Javerbaum, Mark O’Donnell, and Thomas Meehan musical adaptation of John Waters’ Cry Baby is in previews at the Marquis Theatre and opens April 24.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending March 23, 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) |
$526,573 | 7,896 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $66.69 | 92.3% |
| August: Osage County (Imperial) |
$479,145 | 7,115 | 0 | 8 | 1,419 | $67.34 | 62.7% |
| Avenue Q (Golden) |
$421,559 | 6,058 | 0 | 8 | 796 | $69.59 | 95.1% |
| Cat…Roof (Broadhurst) |
$741,607 | 9,405 | 0 | 8 | 1,168 | $78.85 | 100.7% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$669,592 | 8,614 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $77.73 | 99.7% |
| Cry-Baby (Marquis) |
$332,999 | 10,047 | 8 | 0 | 1,565 | $33.14 | 80.2% |
| Curtains (Hirschfeld) |
$672,887 | 10,032 | 0 | 8 | 1,422 | $67.07 | 88.2% |
| Grease (Atkinson) |
$780,477 | 8,578 | 0 | 8 | 1,072 | $90.99 | 100.0% |
| Gypsy (St. James) |
$652,477 | 11,175 | 8 | 0 | 1,707 | $58.39 | 81.8% |
| Hairspray (Neil Simon) |
$917,832 | 11,470 | 0 | 8 | 1,428 | $80.02 | 100.4% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$601,455 | 8,413 | 0 | 8 | 1,344 | $71.49 | 78.2% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,116,266 | 9,840 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $113.44 | 100.7% |
| Legally Blonde (Palace) |
$857,369 | 12,531 | 0 | 8 | 1,691 | $68.42 | 92.6% |
| Mamma Mia! (Cadillac Winter Garden) |
$1,001,740 | 12,111 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $82.71 | 101.1% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$1,162,183 | 14,368 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $80.89 | 99.9% |
| November (Barrymore) |
$504,388 | 7,141 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $70.63 | 84.4% |
| Passing Strange (Belasco) |
$313,560 | 6,287 | 0 | 8 | 998 | $49.87 | 78.7% |
| Rent (Nederlander) |
$582,350 | 9,518 | 0 | 8 | 1,181 | $61.18 | 100.7% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$551,704 | 7,903 | 8 | 0 | 1,041 | $69.81 | 94.9% |
| Spamalot (Shubert) |
$917,273 | 11,491 | 0 | 8 | 1,441 | $79.83 | 99.7% |
| Spring Awakening (O’Neill) |
$665,600 | 8,652 | 0 | 8 | 1,090 | $76.93 | 99.2% |
| Sunday…George (Studio 54) |
$445,601 | 7,665 | 0 | 8 | 1,000 | $58.13 | 95.8% |
| The 39 Steps (American Airlines) |
$290,469 | 5,385 | 0 | 8 | 716 | $53.94 | 94.0% |
| The Homecoming (Cort) |
$162,990 | 3,223 | 0 | 8 | 1,082 | $50.57 | 37.2% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,323,304 | 13,235 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $99.99 | 100.0% |
| The Little Mermaid (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$1,186,297 | 12,234 | 0 | 8 | 1,518 | $96.97 | 100.7% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$907,943 | 12,969 | 0 | 8 | 1,607 | $70.01 | 100.9% |
| The Seafarer (Booth) |
$250,880 | 4,374 | 0 | 8 | 788 | $57.36 | 69.4% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,503,737 | 14,472 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $103.91 | 100.0% |
| Xanadu (Hayes) |
$249,676 | 3,883 | 0 | 8 | 596 | $64.30 | 81.4% |