An improvement at the box office was seen this week with sales totaling $18,534,866 compared to the previous week of $18,101,244. The season overall continues to outshine the previous season as well with an overall total of $879,845,140 compared to the same time last year of $856,171,386.

Leading productions at a million or more were the musicals 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. Of the 35 productions currently on Broadway, 16 are plays and 19 are musicals with none in previews. The highest-grossing play was God of Carnage at the Jacobs, reporting even higher ticket sales this past week than the previous week.

The Best Bargain ticket was Reasons to be Pretty at the Lyceum with an Average Paid Admission of $48.64. Both “Jersey Boys” and 33 Variations at the Eugene O’Neill tied for Top Ticket price at $350. Impressionism at the Schoenfeld closed its doors, playing to only 40 percent of capacity. By comparison, six productions played to 95 percent or better capacity.


TFL and ATBS for ticketing professionals

The Pulitzer Prize-winning, Tony Award-nominated playwright Horton Foote was honored May 11 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. He died March 4, ten days before his 93rd birthday. A recent production on Broadway of his work was “Dividing the Estate.” In addition to his stage work, he won two Oscars for his screenplays, adapting Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” in 1962 and “Tender Mercies” in 1983, his own work.

Great news for lovers of cartoonist Charles Addams’ work; Tony Award winners Nathan Lane (“The Producers”) and Bebe Neuwirth (“Cheers” and “Frasier”), will star as Gomez and Morticia in the upcoming musical, “The Addams Family.” Previews begin March 4, 2010 and Opening Night is set for April 8, with a theater yet to be announced. Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch are director and designer.

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending May 10, 2009
All data provided by The Broadway League

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending May 10, 2009

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
33 Variations
(O’Neill)
$287,867 4,356 0 8 1,063 $66.09 51.2%
9 to 5
(Marquis)
$762,358 11,632 0 8 1,611 $65.54 90.3%
Accent on Youth
(Friedman)
$182,863 3,356 0 8 650 $54.49 64.5%
August: Osage County
(Music Box)
$167,803 2,607 0 8 979 $64.37 33.3%
Avenue Q
(Golden)
$177,736 3,082 0 8 796 $57.67 48.4%
Billy Elliot
(Imperial)
$1,120,203 10,666 0 8 1,421 $105.03 93.8%
Blithe Spirit
(Shubert)
$532,528 7,144 0 8 1,479 $74.54 60.4%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$450,791 6,797 0 8 1,080 $66.32 78.7%
Desire…Elms
(St. James)
$192,262 3,415 0 8 1,403 $56.30 30.4%
Exit the King
(Barrymore)
$427,139 6,037 0 8 1,050 $70.75 71.9%
God of Carnage
(Jacobs)
$797,813 8,478 0 8 1,078 $94.10 98.3%
Guys and Dolls
(Nederlander)
$455,669 6,746 0 8 1,217 $67.55 69.3%
Hair
(Hirschfeld)
$814,726 10,952 0 8 1,412 $74.39 97.0%
Impressionism
(Schoenfeld)
$225,592 3,442 0 8 1,071 $65.54 40.2%
In the Heights
(Rodgers)
$653,290 8,816 0 8 1,365 $74.10 80.7%
Irena’s’ Vow
(Walter Kerr)
$185,289 3,562 0 8 947 $52.02 47.0%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$1,013,628 9,751 0 8 1,222 $103.95 99.7%
Joe Turner’s…Gone
(Belasco)
$235,040 4,698 0 8 1,018 $50.03 57.7%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$830,636 11,135 0 8 1,498 $74.60 92.9%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$626,962 10,445 0 8 1,797 $60.03 72.7%
Mary Stuart
(Broadhurst)
$309,292 5,289 0 8 1,150 $58.48 57.5%
Next to Normal
(Booth)
$278,881 5,322 0 8 772 $52.40 86.2%
Reasons to be Pretty
(Lyceum)
$128,164 2,635 0 8 910 $48.64 36.2%
Rock of Ages
(Atkinson)
$378,178 7,398 0 8 979 $51.12 94.5%
Shrek
(Broadway)
$589,869 8,712 0 8 1,735 $67.71 62.8%
South Pacific
(Beaumont)
$856,924 7,703 0 8 1,041 $111.25 92.5%
The 39 Steps
(Hayes)
$112,873 1,804 0 8 589 $62.57 38.3%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$1,049,127 12,530 0 8 1,654 $83.73 94.7%
The Little Mermaid
(Lunt-Fontanne)
$632,321 9,650 0 8 1,520 $65.53 79.4%
The Norman Conquests
(Circle in Square)
$246,114 4,353 0 8 780 $56.54 69.8%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$642,926 10,322 0 8 1,615 $62.29 79.9%
The Philanthropist
(American Airlines)
$164,020 3,340 0 8 740 $49.11 56.4%
Waiting for Godot
(Studio 54)
$429,160 7,670 0 8 1,004 $55.95 95.5%
West Side Story
(Palace)
$1,196,652 13,579 0 8 1,697 $88.13 100.0%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$1,380,171 14,405 0 8 1,809 $95.81 99.5%