There was a brief Indian summer in ticket sales this past week, $20,963,283, up from $20,439,297 the previous reporting period. Comparing the season to date, the gross is running almost neck-and-neck, up one percent over the previous season: $480,754,376 currently to $480,046,434. The difference may be attributed to increased ticket prices because attendance figures are lower at this point than the same time last season: 5,568,764 currently to 5,898,724.
All in the winner’s circle this week, over a million in ticket sales, were: Wicked at the Gershwin followed by Billy Elliot at the Imperial, A Steady Rain at the Schoenfeld, Jersey Boys at the August Wilson, The Lion King at the Minskoff and God of Carnage at the Jacobs. Notably, there are now two plays in that lineup, “A Steady Rain” and “God of Carnage.”
Opening this past week were Irving Berlin’s White Christmas at the Marquis on November 13 and Ragtime at the Neil Simon on November 15. Now in previews, In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) at the Lyceum will open on November 19 and Fela! at the Eugene O’Neill will open November 23. “Fela!” ticket sales have not been spectacular but will likely improve with the addition of name stars Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. The production with the Lowest Average Paid Admission goes to “In the Next Room” at just $30.87 a ticket in its first week of previews, while “A Steady Rain” posted the Highest Average Paid Admission at $138.74. “A Steady Rain” also posted the Top Ticket price of $375.
Seven productions enjoyed 95 percent or better attendance including three plays: “God of Carnage,” “A Steady Rain” and “Hamlet” in that order. Two productions, the play Superior Donuts at the Music Box and “In the Next Room” failed to achieve 50 percent or better attendance, reaching less than 30 percent of their Gross Gross Potential. It remains to be seen if attendance for “In the Next Room” will improve after Opening Night this Thursday.
David Mamet’s Race began previews at the Barrymore on Tuesday and is set for Opening Night on December 6. The other Mamet play starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, Oleanna at the Golden Theatre, will run through January 3 after somewhat anemic attendance records of 65 percent of capacity since beginning previews on October 11.
Please note: Beginning with the week ending May 31, 2009, “Gross” represents Gross Gross and “Attendance” represents Total Attendance. For every week prior to May 31, these numbers represent Net Gross and Paid Attendance respectively. The Broadway League took this into account when comparing this season’s figures to the previous season’s and made adjustments accordingly.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales Week ending November 15, 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. % |
| A Steady Rain (Schoenfeld) |
$1,202,161 | 8,665 | 0 | 8 | 1,071 | $138.74 | 101.1% |
| After Miss Julie (American Airlines) |
$229,464 | 4,348 | 0 | 8 | 740 | $52.77 | 73.4% |
| Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$1,387,830 | 11,280 | 0 | 8 | 1,421 | $123.03 | 99.2% |
| Burn the Floor (Longacre) |
$325,800 | 5,454 | 0 | 8 | 1,044 | $59.74 | 65.3% |
| Bye Bye Birdie (Henry Miller) |
$635,450 | 8,074 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $78.70 | 98.4% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$444,816 | 5,882 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $75.62 | 68.1% |
| Fela! (O’Neill) |
$264,145 | 6,219 | 7 | 0 | 1,030 | $42.47 | 86.3% |
| Finian’s Rainbow (St. James) |
$556,069 | 9,342 | 0 | 8 | 1,701 | $59.52 | 68.7% |
| God of Carnage (Jacobs) |
$1,107,302 | 8,817 | 0 | 8 | 1,078 | $125.59 | 102.2% |
| Hair (Hirschfeld) |
$758,827 | 8,659 | 0 | 8 | 1,412 | $87.63 | 76.7% |
| Hamlet (Broadhurst) |
$947,180 | 9,286 | 0 | 8 | 1,174 | $102.00 | 98.9% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$651,197 | 7,747 | 0 | 8 | 1,365 | $84.06 | 70.9% |
| In the Next Room (Lyceum) |
$162,622 | 5,268 | 8 | 0 | 922 | $30.87 | 71.4% |
| Irving…White Christmas (Marquis) |
$334,409 | 4,779 | 5 | 0 | 1,615 | $69.97 | 59.2% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,191,398 | 9,881 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $120.57 | 101.1% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$811,600 | 9,707 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $83.61 | 81.0% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$694,997 | 9,665 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $71.91 | 67.2% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$672,285 | 10,015 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $67.13 | 85.2% |
| Next to Normal (Booth) |
$394,504 | 5,060 | 0 | 8 | 772 | $77.97 | 81.9% |
| Oleanna (Golden) |
$241,999 | 4,159 | 0 | 8 | 804 | $58.19 | 64.7% |
| Ragtime (Simon) |
$466,489 | 9,872 | 7 | 1 | 1,419 | $47.25 | 87.0% |
| Rock of Ages (Atkinson) |
$608,748 | 7,108 | 0 | 8 | 997 | $85.64 | 89.1% |
| Shrek (Broadway) |
$581,794 | 7,783 | 0 | 8 | 1,733 | $74.75 | 56.1% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$713,666 | 7,036 | 0 | 8 | 1,041 | $101.43 | 84.5% |
| Superior Donuts (Music Box) |
$257,890 | 3,887 | 0 | 8 | 991 | $66.35 | 49.0% |
| The 39 Steps (Hayes) |
$197,281 | 3,162 | 0 | 8 | 589 | $62.39 | 67.1% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,166,487 | 11,503 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $101.41 | 86.9% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$764,769 | 9,938 | 0 | 8 | 1,615 | $76.95 | 76.9% |
| The Royal Family (Biltmore) |
$259,843 | 4,594 | 0 | 8 | 650 | $56.56 | 88.3% |
| West Side Story (Palace) |
$971,851 | 10,731 | 0 | 8 | 1,697 | $90.56 | 79.0% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,549,328 | 14,330 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $108.12 | 99.0% |
| Wishful Drinking (Studio 54) |
$411,088 | 6,919 | 0 | 8 | 1,004 | $59.41 | 86.1% |
