It’s hard to top the shining financial picture of Broadway two weeks ago; this past week didn’t quite measure up at $18,880,520 compared to $20,412,789. Like in previous years, the decline in sales this past week can be attributed to the Fourth of July weekend. According to Variety, this years drop of nearly $1.6 million from the previous week is the largest difference since 2004.
Even with slow box office sales this past week, the difference in gross receipts for the current season compared to the last has been shrinking. It was hovering around a decrease of 4.5 percent, primarily due to the strike last fall, but now it has crept up to only a 2.3 percent difference from the previous year.
The usual list of perpetrators shows up for the largest box office sales this past week: Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre, The Lion King at the Minskoff, Jersey Boys at the August Wilson, The Little Mermaid at the Lunt-Fontanne. Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam beat out In the Heights playing at Richard Rodgers for fifth place. Of the seven plays currently on Broadway, August: Osage County resumes its Number One spot since the closing of the limited run of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” followed by Boeing-Boeing at the Longacre and The Country Girl at the Jacobs.
Attendance this week again shows ten productions in the pink with houses at more than 95 percent. Only one play, Les Liaisons Dangereuses playing at American Airlines Theatre, was in that exclusive club. Passing Strange at the Belasco struggled with just 38 percent.
A new musical, [title of show], opened July 5 to three previews at the Lyceum and will open officially on July 17. It’s the story of “how to make a Broadway musical” that should grab Broadway aficionados by the heart—and hopefully the wallet.
Coming in September is a new production of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” which will be launched at the Walter Kerr Theatre. The show will replace “A Catered Affair” at the Walter Kerr Theatre which closes on July 27. The last extension of “Rent” at the Nederlander will take place with a final performance on Sept. 7.
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Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
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| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| A Catered Affair (Kerr) |
$244,651 | 4,448 | 0 | 8 | 933 | $55.00 | 59.6% |
| A Chorus Line (Schoenfeld) |
$475,186 | 7,841 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $60.60 | 91.7% |
| August: Osage County (Music Box) |
$509,700 | 6,962 | 0 | 8 | 979 | $73.21 | 88.9% |
| Avenue Q (Golden) |
$324,376 | 5,287 | 0 | 8 | 796 | $61.35 | 83.0% |
| Boeing-Boeing (Longacre) |
$411,999 | 6,870 | 0 | 8 | 1,077 | $59.97 | 79.7% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$521,942 | 7,950 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $65.65 | 92.0% |
| Cirque…Fantasy (Broadway) |
$532,980 | 10,646 | 0 | 8 | 1,742 | $50.06 | 76.4% |
| Grease (Atkinson) |
$650,513 | 8,426 | 0 | 8 | 1,072 | $77.20 | 98.3% |
| Gypsy (St. James) |
$810,137 | 12,379 | 0 | 8 | 1,707 | $65.44 | 90.6% |
| Hairspray (Neil Simon) |
$665,379 | 10,702 | 0 | 8 | 1,428 | $62.17 | 93.7% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$941,955 | 10,553 | 0 | 8 | 1,344 | $89.26 | 98.1% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,114,856 | 9,853 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $113.15 | 100.8% |
| Legally Blonde (Palace) |
$701,302 | 12,139 | 0 | 8 | 1,691 | $57.77 | 89.7% |
| Les Liaisons Dangereuses (American Airlines) |
$280,818 | 5,664 | 0 | 8 | 740 | $49.58 | 95.7% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$909,558 | 12,165 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $74.77 | 101.5% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$954,086 | 13,653 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $69.88 | 95.0% |
| November (Barrymore) |
$300,479 | 5,163 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $58.20 | 61.0% |
| Passing Strange (Belasco) |
$176,068 | 3,022 | 0 | 8 | 998 | $58.26 | 37.9% |
| Rent (Nederlander) |
$455,054 | 7,955 | 0 | 8 | 1,181 | $57.20 | 84.2% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$874,602 | 8,304 | 0 | 8 | 1,041 | $105.32 | 99.7% |
| Spamalot (Shubert) |
$657,860 | 10,384 | 0 | 8 | 1,441 | $63.35 | 90.1% |
| Spring Awakening (O’Neill) |
$434,067 | 7,580 | 0 | 8 | 1,090 | $57.26 | 86.9% |
| The 39 Steps (Cort) |
$281,376 | 5,683 | 0 | 8 | 787 | $49.51 | 90.3% |
| The Country Girl (Jacobs) |
$340,442 | 6,969 | 0 | 8 | 1,078 | $48.85 | 80.8% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,298,653 | 13,239 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $98.09 | 100.1% |
| The Little Mermaid (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$1,098,407 | 12,073 | 0 | 8 | 1,518 | $90.98 | 99.4% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$850,219 | 12,957 | 0 | 8 | 1,617 | $65.62 | 100.2% |
| Thurgood (Booth) |
$237,347 | 4,424 | 0 | 8 | 780 | $53.65 | 70.9% |
| [title of show] (Lyceum) |
$69,299 | 1,490 | 3 | 0 | 922 | $46.51 | 53.9% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,518,261 | 14,472 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $104.91 | 100.0% |
| Xanadu (Hayes) |
$238,949 | 4,081 | 0 | 8 | 596 | $58.55 | 85.6% |
All data provided by The Broadway League
