Broadway’s box office continued to rise last week, resembling the warming spring temperatures. Reported sales totals were $16,136,907, a considerable increase from last week’s $14,270,629, but still below the same week last year of $17,906,929. Reporting the biggest sales were Wicked at the Gershwin, West Side Story at the Palace, Billy Elliot at the Imperial, The Lion King at the Minskoff and Jersey Boys at the August Wilson in that order.

Of the 28 productions currently on Broadway, there are 11 plays, 16 musicals and one special. Enjoying the biggest boost in attendance this past week was Chicago at the Ambassador which had a 20 percent increase followed by The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic which had a 17 percent jump.

Boosting ticket sales is the crop of new productions, seven of which are in previews. They are “West Side Story” opening March 19, God of Carnage at the Jacobs opening March 22, Impressionism at the Schoenfeld opening on the March 24, Exit the King at the Barrymore opening on the 26th, Irena’s Vow at the Walter Kerr opening on the 29th and Hair at the Hirschfeld opening on March 31. Reasons To Be Pretty, a play by Neil LaBute with a four-person cast, opened to previews at the Lyceum on March 13.

Closing this past week was “You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush”, which played at the Cort and on HBO as well.

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Opening this past week was Blithe Spirit at the Shubert on March 15 starring Angela Lansbury and 33 Variations at the Eugene O’Neill on March 9 starring Jane Fonda.

It has been announced that David Mamet’s play, “Race,” will open to previews on Nov. 20 with Opening Night scheduled for Dec. 10 of this year with Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Steve Traxler producing.

The bright lights of Broadway got a little dimmer this past week. Tony Award winner Natasha Richardson, actress and wife of film star Liam Neeson, is reported to have been critically injured in a skiing accident at Mont Tremblant in Canada. She was transported to a hospital in Montreal and later transferred to a New York City hospital.

Ron Silver, 1988 Tony Award winner, died on Sunday at the age of 62. He won the Tony for his role as Hollywood producer Charlie Fox in “Speed-the Plow.” He also appeared on Broadway in “Hurlyburly” and “Social Security.”

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending March 15, 2009
All data provided by The Broadway League


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Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending March 15, 2009

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
33 Variations
(O’Neill)
$317,866 5,119 0 8 1,063 $62.10 60.2%
August: Osage County
(Music Box)
$252,801 4,390 0 8 979 $57.59 56.1%
Avenue Q
(Golden)
$296,972 4,872 0 8 796 $60.95 76.5%
Billy Elliot
(Imperial)
$1,039,706 10,004 0 8 1,421 $103.93 88.0%
Blithe Spirit
(Shubert)
$425,268 6,490 7 1 1,479 $65.53 54.9%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$516,693 7,885 0 8 1,080 $65.53 91.3%
Exit the King
(Barrymore)
$355,920 6,023 8 0 1,050 $59.09 71.7%
God of Carnage
(Jacobs)
$394,294 5,740 7 0 1,078 $68.69 76.1%
Guys and Dolls
(Nederlander)
$600,572 8,472 0 8 1,217 $70.89 87.0%
Hair
(Hirschfeld)
$618,980 9,705 8 0 1,412 $63.78 85.9%
Hedda Gabler
(American Airlines)
$230,652 4,880 0 8 740 $47.26 82.4%
Impressionism
(Schoenfeld)
$287,552 5,046 7 0 1,071 $56.99 67.3%
In the Heights
(Rodgers)
$776,269 10,325 0 8 1,365 $75.18 94.6%
Irena’s’ Vow
(Walter Kerr)
$185,991 4,093 8 0 947 $45.44 54.0%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$945,113 9,156 0 8 1,222 $103.22 93.7%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$814,152 11,407 0 8 1,498 $71.37 95.2%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$659,732 11,140 0 8 1,797 $59.22 77.5%
Reasons to be Pretty
(Lyceum)
$38,297 1,035 3 0 910 $37.00 37.9%
Shrek
(Broadway)
$645,010 9,531 0 8 1,735 $67.67 68.7%
South Pacific
(Beaumont)
$813,402 7,385 0 8 1,041 $110.14 88.7%
The 39 Steps
(Hayes)
$189,517 3,208 0 8 589 $59.08 68.1%
The American Plan
(Friedman)
$162,270 3,042 0 8 650 $53.34 58.5%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$962,183 11,247 0 8 1,654 $85.55 85.0%
The Little Mermaid
(Lunt-Fontanne)
$652,069 10,204 0 8 1,520 $63.90 83.9%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$720,955 11,970 0 8 1,615 $60.23 92.6%
West Side Story
(Palace)
$1,048,705 12,320 8 0 1,677 $85.12 91.8%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$1,305,496 14,213 0 8 1,809 $91.85 98.2%
You’re Welcome…
(Cort)
$880,470 8,238 0 8 1,067 $106.88 96.5%
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