A healthy increase in revenue highlighted the financial picture on Broadway this past week. Box office total came in at $17,391,273 compared to the last reporting period of $16,136,907. It still does not measure up to the same week last season of $20,789,932.
Box office profits were given some help though, with increase in the number of productions to 29 in total. Of that number, an even dozen are plays. Variety suggests that it is because “non-musical offerings, with capitalization costs far less than those of a splashy tuner, are proving easier for producers to fund in the current fiscal climate.” Consequently, with so many offerings, it is harder for any one play to outshine its competitors.
The five leading moneymakers over a million dollars this week are still musicals however, generally in theaters with larger capacity than plays occupy. They are Wicked at the Gershwin approaching a half million in revenue; Billy Elliot at the Imperial; The Lion King at the Minskoff; Jersey Boys at the August Wilson and West Side Story at the Palace in that order. Significantly, nine productions filled 95 percent or better of their venues.
Seven shows were in previews this past week:
– Impressionism, a play, at the Schoenfeld, opening March 24
– Exit The King, a play, at the Barrymore, opening March 26
– Irena’s Vow, a play, at the Walter Kerr, opening March 29
– Hair, a musical, at the Hirschfeld, opening March 31
– Reasons To Be Pretty, a play, at the Lyceum, opening April 2
– Rock of Ages, a musical, at the Atkinson, opening April 7
– “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”, a play, at the Belasco, opening April 16
Top tickets of $350 were offered by 33 Variations at the Eugene O’Neil and “Jersey Boys.” The Best Bargain as judged by the Average Paid Admission was $36 for “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.”
The past week saw Opening Nights for two productions: “West Side Story” opened March 19 and God of Carnage at the Jacobs on March 22.
Broadway and Hollywood greats alike and fans said goodbye this week in Millbrook, New York to Tony-Award winner Natasha Richardson, wife of Liam Neeson, following her death due to a head injury sustained in a skiing accident in Quebec.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending March 22, 2009
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. % |
| 33 Variations (O’Neill) |
$367,554 | 5,322 | 0 | 8 | 1,063 | $69.06 | 62.6% |
| August: Osage County (Music Box) |
$271,147 | 4,504 | 0 | 8 | 979 | $60.20 | 57.5% |
| Avenue Q (Golden) |
$332,180 | 5,410 | 0 | 8 | 796 | $61.40 | 85.0% |
| Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$1,188,954 | 11,200 | 0 | 8 | 1,421 | $106.16 | 98.5% |
| Blithe Spirit (Shubert) |
$640,703 | 9,295 | 0 | 8 | 1,479 | $68.93 | 78.6% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$592,621 | 7,870 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $75.30 | 91.1% |
| Exit the King (Barrymore) |
$368,543 | 6,205 | 8 | 0 | 1,050 | $59.39 | 73.9% |
| God of Carnage (Jacobs) |
$426,496 | 6,491 | 7 | 1 | 1,078 | $65.71 | 75.3% |
| Guys and Dolls (Nederlander) |
$684,190 | 9,707 | 0 | 8 | 1,217 | $70.48 | 99.7% |
| Hair (Hirschfeld) |
$660,599 | 10,214 | 8 | 0 | 1,412 | $64.68 | 90.4% |
| Hedda Gabler (American Airlines) |
$242,875 | 5,081 | 0 | 8 | 740 | $47.80 | 85.8% |
| Impressionism (Schoenfeld) |
$353,263 | 5,918 | 8 | 0 | 1,071 | $59.69 | 69.1% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$831,073 | 10,227 | 0 | 8 | 1,365 | $81.26 | 93.7% |
| Irena’s’ Vow (Walter Kerr) |
$206,040 | 4,684 | 8 | 0 | 947 | $43.99 | 61.8% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,032,100 | 9,833 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $104.96 | 100.6% |
| Joe Turner’s…Gone (Belasco) |
$78,336 | 2,175 | 4 | 0 | 1,018 | $36.02 | 53.4% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$882,929 | 11,753 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $75.12 | 98.1% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$797,511 | 13,348 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $59.75 | 92.8% |
| Reasons to be Pretty (Lyceum) |
$106,449 | 2,743 | 7 | 0 | 910 | $38.81 | 43.1% |
| Rock of Ages (Atkinson) |
$229,602 | 5,805 | 6 | 0 | 979 | $39.55 | 98.8% |
| Shrek (Broadway) |
$729,963 | 10,503 | 0 | 8 | 1,735 | $69.50 | 75.7% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$889,051 | 8,168 | 0 | 8 | 1,041 | $108.85 | 98.1% |
| The 39 Steps (Hayes) |
$231,707 | 3,837 | 0 | 8 | 589 | $60.39 | 81.4% |
| The American Plan (Friedman) |
$115,488 | 2,374 | 0 | 8 | 650 | $48.65 | 45.7% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,128,139 | 12,537 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $89.98 | 94.7% |
| The Little Mermaid (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$720,697 | 10,889 | 0 | 8 | 1,520 | $66.19 | 89.5% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$834,070 | 12,908 | 0 | 8 | 1,615 | $64.62 | 99.9% |
| West Side Story (Palace) |
$1,004,497 | 13,552 | 4 | 4 | 1,677 | $74.12 | 101.0% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,444,495 | 14,472 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $99.81 | 100.0% |