The last couple of week’s highs would be difficult to maintain at such levels in any economy, and this week’s drop of more than $2 million reflected just that. Box office totals dipped to $19,223,496 compared to the previous reporting period of $21,303,554.

Brightest lights financially were the plays Mary Stuart at the Broadhurst with an increase of $93,843 and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Belasco with an increase of $71,267 over the previous reporting period. Productions reporting million-dollar figuresthis week are 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. The largest slide in dollar figures was seen by “The Lion King,” with a $258,232 decrease.

Looking at attendance, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” saw the largest increase in audience share at 16 percent followed by “Mary Stuart” at more than 13 percent. The 39 Steps at the Hayes saw the largest drop over the previous week, more than 22 percent followed by Reasons to be Pretty at the Lyceum at more than 18 percent.

Opening nights are taking place this week for the plays Desire Under the Elms at the St. James (the 27th), Accent on Youth at the Friedman (the 29th) and Waiting for Godot at Studio 54 (the 30th). One musical, 9 to 5 at the Marquis, opens on April 30.

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Coming up is a revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Tony Award winning A Little Night Music is coming to Broadway some time this December, with venue yet to be announced. Tony Award winner Trevor Nunn will direct.

It was announced this week that the iconic Rodgers & Hammerstein catalog of music has been sold to Imagem Music Group of The Netherlands and CP Masters BV, a European independent music publisher. According to Playbill, it includes the rights to some of the most popular stage musicals including “Oklahoma,” “Carousel,” “South Pacific” and “The King and I.” It is also a licensing agency representing more than 12,000 songs, 900 concert works, 200 writers and 100 musicals.

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending April 26, 2009
All data provided by The Broadway League


Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending April 26, 2009

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
33 Variations
(O’Neill)
$291,195 4,526 0 8 1,063 $64.34 53.2%
9 to 5
(Marquis)
$625,252 10,698 7 0 1,611 $58.45 94.9%
Accent on Youth
(Friedman)
$176,923 3,591 8 0 650 $49.27 69.1%
August: Osage County
(Music Box)
$203,577 3,085 0 8 979 $65.99 39.4%
Avenue Q
(Golden)
$236,576 4,156 0 8 796 $56.92 65.3%
Billy Elliot
(Imperial)
$1,158,561 11,168 0 8 1,421 $103.74 98.2%
Blithe Spirit
(Shubert)
$524,435 7,039 0 8 1,479 $74.50 59.5%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$516,557 7,460 0 8 1,080 $69.24 86.3%
Desire…Elms
(St. James)
$190,498 4,101 8 0 1,403 $46.45 36.5%
Exit the King
(Barrymore)
$520,068 7,459 0 8 1,050 $69.72 88.8%
God of Carnage
(Jacobs)
$747,164 8,459 0 8 1,078 $88.33 98.1%
Guys and Dolls
(Nederlander)
$553,946 7,867 0 8 1,217 $70.41 80.8%
Hair
(Hirschfeld)
$829,747 11,118 0 8 1,412 $74.63 98.4%
Impressionism
(Schoenfeld)
$212,523 3,116 0 8 1,071 $68.20 36.4%
In the Heights
(Rodgers)
$691,181 9,029 0 8 1,365 $76.55 82.7%
Irena’s’ Vow
(Walter Kerr)
$195,899 3,907 0 8 947 $50.14 51.6%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$1,037,565 9,804 0 8 1,222 $105.83 100.3%
Joe Turner’s…Gone
(Belasco)
$263,799 6,293 0 8 1,018 $41.92 77.3%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$875,597 11,817 0 8 1,498 $74.10 98.6%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$762,384 12,259 0 8 1,797 $62.19 85.3%
Mary Stuart
(Broadhurst)
$283,488 5,103 0 8 1,150 $55.55 55.5%
Next to Normal
(Booth)
$207,775 4,079 0 8 772 $50.94 66.0%
Reasons to be Pretty
(Lyceum)
$104,247 2,152 0 8 910 $48.44 29.6%
Rock of Ages
(Atkinson)
$376,529 7,293 0 8 979 $51.63 93.1%
Shrek
(Broadway)
$693,744 9,422 0 8 1,735 $73.63 67.9%
South Pacific
(Beaumont)
$842,947 7,573 0 8 1,041 $111.31 90.9%
The 39 Steps
(Hayes)
$172,636 2,818 0 8 589 $61.26 59.8%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$1,128,044 12,788 0 8 1,654 $88.21 96.6%
The Little Mermaid
(Lunt-Fontanne)
$689,228 10,266 0 8 1,520 $67.14 84.4%
The Norman Conquests
(Circle in Square)
$131,403 2,595 3 5 780 $50.64 41.6%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$764,301 12,108 0 8 1,615 $63.12 93.7%
The Philanthropist
(American Airlines)
$179,498 3,897 7 1 740 $46.06 65.8%
Waiting for Godot
(Studio 54)
$385,712 7,297 8 0 1,004 $52.86 90.8%
West Side Story
(Palace)
$1,191,832 13,563 0 8 1,697 $87.87 99.9%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$1,458,664 14,336 0 8 1,809 $101.75 99.1%