Despite the weak economy taking a bite out of Broadway with cancellations or postponements of some upcoming shows, overall the ticket-selling picture continues to chug along. For the week ending August 24, Broadway ticket sales may seem a bit gray compared to last week, down for the week to $17,344,648 compared to $18,623,072 for the previous reporting period, but the figures beat out the same week last year of only $16,195,008.
The gross receipts for all productions so far this season combined amounts to $244,878,553, a very favorable sum compared to last season at this same time of $245,523,483, especially considering the strike that took place last fall.
Five musical productions scored in the million-dollar range this 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 and Mamma Mia! at the Winter Garden. Young Frankenstein at the Hilton is not reporting revenues and its top ticket remains at $200.
Looking at the three remaining plays, August: Osage County at the Music Box remains in the lead in box office sales. The one limited-run special on Broadway, “Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy” closed its doors August 24, one of only two productions to post an increase in ticket sales by $43,910 over the previous week. The other was “Boeing-Boeing” at the Longacre Theatre with a modest increase of $6,449. All other productions saw a slight drop in sales, with the exception of “Legally Blonde” at the Palace, which saw its sales plummet to the tune of $116,086 in revenue compared to the previous week.
“A Tale of Two Cities” based on Charles Dickens’ classic work, opened for previews at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on August 19. Opening Night is scheduled for Sept. 18.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending August 24, 2008
All data provided by The Broadway League
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
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| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| A Tale…Cities (Hirschfeld) |
$364,207 | 6,076 | 6 | 0 | 1,420 | $59.94 | 71.3% |
| August: Osage County (Music Box) |
$506,237 | 5,932 | 0 | 8 | 979 | $85.34 | 75.7% |
| Avenue Q (Golden) |
$319,127 | 4,894 | 0 | 8 | 796 | $65.21 | 76.9% |
| Boeing-Boeing (Longacre) |
$425,249 | 6,505 | 0 | 8 | 1,077 | $65.37 | 75.5% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$552,283 | 7,745 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $71.31 | 89.6% |
| Cirque…Fantasy (Broadway) |
$576,326 | 10,074 | 0 | 8 | 1,738 | $57.21 | 72.5% |
| Grease (Atkinson) |
$625,927 | 7,730 | 0 | 8 | 1,072 | $80.97 | 90.1% |
| Gypsy (St. James) |
$658,330 | 9,069 | 0 | 8 | 1,707 | $72.59 | 66.4% |
| Hairspray (Neil Simon) |
$607,929 | 9,257 | 0 | 8 | 1,428 | $65.67 | 81.0% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$948,811 | 10,108 | 0 | 8 | 1,344 | $93.87 | 94.0% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,099,592 | 9,804 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $112.16 | 100.3% |
| Legally Blonde (Palace) |
$703,931 | 9,890 | 0 | 8 | 1,691 | $71.18 | 73.1% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$1,030,679 | 12,145 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $84.86 | 101.3% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$877,443 | 12,675 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $69.23 | 88.2% |
| Rent (Nederlander) |
$633,355 | 8,334 | 0 | 8 | 1,181 | $76.00 | 88.2% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$909,164 | 8,320 | 0 | 8 | 1,041 | $109.27 | 99.9% |
| Spamalot (Shubert) |
$515,896 | 7,796 | 0 | 8 | 1,441 | $66.17 | 67.6% |
| Spring Awakening (O’Neill) |
$431,484 | 6,288 | 0 | 8 | 1,090 | $68.62 | 72.1% |
| The 39 Steps (Cort) |
$263,556 | 4,808 | 0 | 8 | 787 | $54.82 | 76.4% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,320,247 | 13,232 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $99.78 | 100.0% |
| The Little Mermaid (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$1,084,100 | 11,971 | 0 | 8 | 1,518 | $90.56 | 98.6% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$890,101 | 12,434 | 0 | 8 | 1,617 | $71.59 | 96.1% |
| [title of show] (Lyceum) |
$149,212 | 3,324 | 0 | 8 | 922 | $44.89 | 45.1% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,511,914 | 14,472 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $104.47 | 100.0% |
| Xanadu (Hayes) |
$339,549 | 3,981 | 0 | 8 | 596 | $85.29 | 83.5% |
