It doesn’t get any better than this: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama enjoying a night out at the revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Belasco and the Tonys, all in the same week. Who were the big Tony Award winners? All three “Billys” from Billy Elliot playing at the Imperial, David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish, won for “Best Performance in a Musical”. The production also won in the “Best Musical” category, “Best Book of a Musical” and more in a total of ten categories. God of Carnage at the Jacobs won “Best Play” and Hair at the Al Hirschfeld won “Best Revival of a Musical”. Look for the honors to translate to higher ticket sales at the box office. For a complete listing of the winners in each category check out the Official Website of the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards.
Box office totals were up this past week, $19,722,192 compared to $19,627,188 the previous week. Figures for the season to date total $39,349,380, which comes close to matching the numbers for last season, $39,149,962, a 0.5 percent difference. Bringing in the big bucks were the same five productions that have dominated over the past few months: 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. Comparing the current crop of plays, “God of Carnage” continued its lead.
A total of eight productions saw 95 percent or better attendance with Reasons To Be Pretty at the Lyceum at the polar opposite with only 47 percent of its seats filled. Comparing attendance to the previous reporting period, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” showed a 21 percent jump to 7,740. The Little Mermaid at the Lunt-Fontanne saw the biggest drop, 13 percent.
Look for plans to come together by the end of the summer for a Broadway revival of the Rodgers and Hart musical “Babes in Arms” starring Rosie O’Donnell. Joe DiPietro has written the new book while Randy Skinner will choreograph the production. This will be the first revival since its premiere in 1937.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending June 7, 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. % |
| 9 to 5 (Marquis) |
$746,632 | 9,853 | 0 | 8 | 1,611 | $75.78 | 76.5% |
| Accent on Youth (Friedman) |
$184,516 | 3,497 | 0 | 8 | 650 | $52.76 | 67.3% |
| August: Osage County (Music Box) |
$204,496 | 4,169 | 0 | 8 | 979 | $49.05 | 53.2% |
| Avenue Q (Golden) |
$225,561 | 3,521 | 0 | 8 | 796 | $64.06 | 55.3% |
| Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$1,262,792 | 11,161 | 0 | 8 | 1,421 | $113.14 | 98.2% |
| Blithe Spirit (Shubert) |
$494,842 | 6,741 | 0 | 8 | 1,479 | $73.41 | 57.0% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$487,493 | 6,399 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $76.18 | 74.1% |
| Exit the King (Barrymore) |
$525,960 | 7,202 | 0 | 8 | 1,050 | $73.03 | 85.7% |
| God of Carnage (Jacobs) |
$928,926 | 8,818 | 0 | 8 | 1,078 | $105.34 | 102.2% |
| Guys and Dolls (Nederlander) |
$417,941 | 5,956 | 0 | 8 | 1,217 | $70.17 | 61.2% |
| Hair (Hirschfeld) |
$924,215 | 10,430 | 0 | 8 | 1,412 | $88.61 | 92.3% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$696,804 | 8,344 | 0 | 8 | 1,365 | $83.51 | 76.4% |
| Irena’s’ Vow (Walter Kerr) |
$174,388 | 4,184 | 0 | 8 | 947 | $41.68 | 55.2% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,105,594 | 9,741 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $113.50 | 99.6% |
| Joe Turner’s…Gone (Belasco) |
$375,803 | 7,440 | 0 | 8 | 1,001 | $50.51 | 92.9% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$845,592 | 10,514 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $80.43 | 87.7% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$696,259 | 10,434 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $66.73 | 72.6% |
| Mary Stuart (Broadhurst) |
$334,038 | 5,135 | 0 | 8 | 1,150 | $65.05 | 55.8% |
| Next to Normal (Booth) |
$363,464 | 5,357 | 0 | 7 | 772 | $67.85 | 99.1% |
| Reasons to be Pretty (Lyceum) |
$160,865 | 3,449 | 0 | 8 | 910 | $46.64 | 47.4% |
| Rock of Ages (Atkinson) |
$463,032 | 7,073 | 0 | 8 | 997 | $65.46 | 88.7% |
| Shrek (Broadway) |
$696,670 | 10,851 | 0 | 8 | 1,735 | $64.20 | 78.2% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$812,945 | 7,376 | 0 | 8 | 1,041 | $110.21 | 88.6% |
| The 39 Steps (Hayes) |
$142,020 | 2,636 | 0 | 8 | 589 | $53.88 | 55.9% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,214,634 | 12,669 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $95.87 | 95.7% |
| The Little Mermaid (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$626,776 | 8,535 | 0 | 8 | 1,520 | $73.44 | 70.2% |
| The Norman Conquests (Circle in Square) |
$260,455 | 5,678 | 0 | 8 | 780 | $45.87 | 91.0% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$735,999 | 10,358 | 0 | 8 | 1,615 | $71.06 | 80.2% |
| The Philanthropist (American Airlines) |
$221,500 | 4,178 | 0 | 8 | 740 | $53.02 | 70.6% |
| Waiting for Godot (Studio 54) |
$520,082 | 7,996 | 0 | 8 | 1,004 | $65.04 | 99.6% |
| West Side Story (Palace) |
$1,326,013 | 13,055 | 0 | 8 | 1,697 | $101.57 | 96.2% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,545,886 | 14,472 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $106.82 | 100.0% |
