Broadway ticket sales bounce back after weeks of decline

Ticket sales bounced back this past week from $18,302,311 the previous reporting period to $20,439,297. For the season to date, the gross is $459,791,093, falling short of the same time last season, $461,742,647.

The million-dollar draws are a rubber stamp of last week: Wicked at the Gershwin followed by Billy Elliot at the Imperial, The Lion King at the Minskoff, A Steady Rain at the Schoenfeld and Jersey Boys at the August Wilson.

There are now 31 productions on the Great White Way with the closing of “Brighton Beach Memoirs”; nine plays, two specials and 20 musicals. The two specials did not fare particularly well with Burn the Floor at the Longacre achieving just 37 percent of its potential, while Wishful Drinking at Studio 54 did better at close to 52 percent. They had lots of subpar company, 13 productions fell below 50 percent of their gross potential.

Comparing dollar losses and gains from one week to the next, God of Carnage at the Jacobs saw the largest drop, $104,998 while Shrek saw the largest gain, $279,879.

The Top Ticket at $375 is still held by “A Steady Rain” while the best range of ticket prices can be found at South Pacific at the Vivian Beaumont, $20-$125.

In previews at this time are:

• Ragtime at the Neil Simon with Opening Night scheduled for November 15
• In the Next Room at the Lyceum with Opening Night scheduled for November 19
• Fela! at the Eugene O’Neill with Opening Night scheduled for November 23

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 8, 2009

All data provided by The Broadway League