Overall, this was a solid week on Broadway: there was $19,707,043 in ticket sales, down from $20,817,705 for the week ending December 13. However, there are now 29 shows on the Great White Way, down from 30. Comparing this point in the season with the same time last season, ticket sales posted $589,194,767 this year, up from $588,294,234 last year.
There were five million-dollar productions: Wicked at the Gershwin, The Lion King at the Minskoff, Billy Elliot at the Imperial, Jersey Boys at the August Wilson and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas at the Marquis. Ticket sales for “White Christmas” dropped $160,281, to a total of $1,107,916, the largest decrease of any production. A Little Night Music at the Kerr posted the largest dollar gain at $251,779 over the previous reporting period of $686,680 for a total of $938,459.
Looking at attendance, God of Carnage at the Jacobs saw more than a 17 percent drop from the previous week, while Ragtime at the Simon saw an 11 percent increase. Overall, just four productions posted 95 percent or better attendance for the week, down from five the previous week. Two productions vie for the Top Ticket category: “A Little Night Music” and “Jersey Boys” at $350 per ticket. The Best Buy ticket was In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play at the Lyceum at $50.59.
The Broadway League’s 2008-2009 report for the past year on Broadway, showed some interesting changes in the trends of theatergoers. Of the 12.15 million tickets sold in this 2008-2009 season, about 2.5 million tickets or about 21 percent of sales were sold to foreign visitors to New York City. While about 5.1 million tickets were sold to domestic theatergoers, down 42 percent. Of particular interest to ticket brokers, ads seen on the Internet created more awareness according to the 7.5 percent of people surveyed, particularly among younger audiences.
The Tony Award category “Best Special Theatrical Event” award has been eliminated this year, which will certainly impact productions such as Burn The Floor at the Longacre and Wishful Drinking at Studio 54 this year. Those shows will now have to compete against all musicals and plays for Best Musical or Best Play categories.
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 December 20, 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 Little Night Music (Kerr) |
$938,459 | 7,494 | 0 | 8 | 931 | $125.23 | 100.6% |
| Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$1,314,722 | 10,729 | 0 | 8 | 1,421 | $122.54 | 94.4% |
| Burn the Floor (Longacre) |
$299,534 | 5,096 | 0 | 8 | 1,044 | $58.78 | 61.0% |
| Bye Bye Birdie (Henry Miller) |
$527,782 | 7,087 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $74.47 | 86.3% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$528,598 | 6,597 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $80.13 | 76.4% |
| Fela! (O’Neill) |
$571,489 | 7,372 | 0 | 8 | 1,030 | $77.52 | 89.5% |
| Finian’s Rainbow (St. James) |
$518,196 | 7,935 | 0 | 8 | 1,701 | $65.31 | 58.3% |
| God of Carnage (Jacobs) |
$423,571 | 5,341 | 0 | 8 | 1,078 | $79.31 | 61.9% |
| Hair (Hirschfeld) |
$624,892 | 7,046 | 0 | 8 | 1,412 | $88.69 | 62.4% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$586,536 | 7,553 | 0 | 8 | 1,365 | $77.66 | 69.2% |
| In the Next Room (Lyceum) |
$175,078 | 3,461 | 0 | 8 | 899 | $50.59 | 48.1% |
| Irving…White Christmas (Marquis) |
$1,107,916 | 10,339 | 0 | 9 | 1,615 | $107.16 | 71.1% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,159,833 | 9,776 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $118.64 | 100.0% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$765,079 | 9,058 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $84.46 | 75.6% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$779,883 | 10,093 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $77.27 | 70.2% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$517,091 | 6,899 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $74.95 | 58.7% |
| Next to Normal (Booth) |
$315,524 | 4,554 | 0 | 8 | 772 | $69.29 | 73.7% |
| Race (Barrymore) |
$558,628 | 6,378 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $87.59 | 75.4% |
| Ragtime (Simon) |
$540,830 | 8,572 | 0 | 8 | 1,419 | $63.09 | 75.5% |
| Rock of Ages (Atkinson) |
$572,253 | 6,136 | 0 | 8 | 997 | $93.26 | 76.9% |
| Shrek (Broadway) |
$841,292 | 10,823 | 0 | 8 | 1,733 | $77.73 | 78.1% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$598,560 | 5,842 | 0 | 8 | 1,041 | $102.46 | 70.1% |
| Superior Donuts (Music Box) |
$210,268 | 4,026 | 0 | 8 | 991 | $52.23 | 50.8% |
| The 39 Steps (Hayes) |
$175,546 | 2,698 | 0 | 8 | 589 | $65.07 | 57.3% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,489,984 | 12,719 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $117.15 | 96.1% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$751,459 | 8,486 | 0 | 8 | 1,615 | $88.55 | 65.7% |
| West Side Story (Palace) |
$922,723 | 9,887 | 0 | 8 | 1,697 | $93.33 | 72.8% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,604,791 | 14,291 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $112.29 | 98.7% |
| Wishful Drinking (Studio 54) |
$286,530 | 4,877 | 0 | 8 | 1,004 | $58.75 | 60.7% |
