In a stunning turnaround this past Thanksgiving week, the lineup on Broadway of 34 productions including ten plays, two specials and 22 musicals posted dramatically increased box office returns compared to the previous week’s numbers: $25,312,358 to $19,622,530.
To date, the season continues to look healthier than the same time last year as well: $525,689,264 compared to $522,761,164. That translates to a 0.6 percent improvement. The list of nine million-dollar productions is as follows: Wicked at the Gershwin, The Lion King at the Minskoff, Billy Elliott: The Musical at the Imperial, Jersey Boys at the August Wilson, West Side Story at the Palace, the play A Steady Rain at the Schoenfeld, Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam, “Shrek” at the Broadway and “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Majestic in that order.
“Wicked” posted the largest dollar gains over the previous posting period, up $656,129 to $2,086,135, the first time a production has broken the $2 million barrier. On the opposite spectrum, “Wishful Drinking” had the largest dollar drop, falling $91,857 from the previous period, but the musical still enjoyed 71 percent capacity.
In previews at the Barrymore is David Mamet’s Race which is scheduled to open December 6. The production played before a 67 percent capacity in its first week. The musical A Little Night Music in previews at the Walter Kerr posted audiences at 90 percent capacity. It is scheduled to open December 13.
For those theatergoers who have yet to see David Mamet’s Oleanna at the Golden starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, this is your last chance: it will close this Sunday, December 6 after a total of 80 performances. It was scheduled to close January 3.
Coming up: Martin McDonagh’s comedy “A Behanding in Spokane” will open to previews February 15 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. The black comedy will star Oscar-winning Christopher Walken as a man searching for his missing hand. Opening night is scheduled for March 4. In other news, Kelsey Grammer, known for his role in the “Frasier” television series, will star in a revival of the 1983 Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein musical “La Cage aux Folles” as the Riviera night club owner. It will also feature Douglas Hodge as the drag queen partner, currently playing the role in the London production. It is set to open April 18 at the Longacre Theatre.
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 29, 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) |
$754,236 | 5,859 | 7 | 0 | 931 | $128.73 | 89.9% |
| A Steady Rain (Schoenfeld) |
$1,199,574 | 8,666 | 0 | 8 | 1,071 | $138.42 | 101.1% |
| After Miss Julie (American Airlines) |
$211,997 | 4,490 | 0 | 8 | 740 | $47.22 | 75.8% |
| Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$1,574,502 | 11,368 | 0 | 8 | 1,421 | $138.50 | 100.0% |
| Burn the Floor (Longacre) |
$311,317 | 4,317 | 0 | 8 | 1,044 | $72.11 | 51.7% |
| Bye Bye Birdie (Henry Miller) |
$796,620 | 8,000 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $99.58 | 97.5% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$576,139 | 6,699 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $86.00 | 77.5% |
| Fela! (O’Neill) |
$510,371 | 7,114 | 0 | 8 | 1,030 | $71.74 | 86.3% |
| Finian’s Rainbow (St. James) |
$573,110 | 7,337 | 0 | 8 | 1,701 | $78.11 | 53.9% |
| God of Carnage (Jacobs) |
$506,133 | 5,243 | 0 | 8 | 1,078 | $96.53 | 60.8% |
| Hair (Hirschfeld) |
$888,940 | 8,965 | 0 | 8 | 1,412 | $99.16 | 79.4% |
| Hamlet (Broadhurst) |
$947,424 | 8,849 | 0 | 8 | 1,174 | $107.07 | 94.2% |
| In the Heights (Rodgers) |
$741,437 | 7,426 | 0 | 8 | 1,365 | $99.84 | 68.0% |
| In the Next Room (Lyceum) |
$150,727 | 3,430 | 0 | 8 | 899 | $43.94 | 47.7% |
| Irving…White Christmas (Marquis) |
$753,035 | 7,777 | 0 | 9 | 1,615 | $96.83 | 53.5% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,323,745 | 9,830 | 0 | 8 | 1,222 | $134.66 | 100.6% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$972,818 | 9,862 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $98.64 | 82.3% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$1,068,271 | 11,666 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $91.57 | 81.1% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$613,940 | 7,468 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $82.21 | 63.5% |
| Next to Normal (Booth) |
$375,858 | 4,676 | 0 | 8 | 772 | $80.38 | 75.7% |
| Oleanna (Golden) |
$129,778 | 2,060 | 0 | 8 | 804 | $63.00 | 32.0% |
| Race (Barrymore) |
$448,415 | 5,696 | 8 | 0 | 1,058 | $78.72 | 67.3% |
| Ragtime (Simon) |
$555,314 | 6,351 | 0 | 8 | 1,419 | $87.44 | 55.9% |
| Rock of Ages (Atkinson) |
$640,634 | 6,392 | 0 | 8 | 997 | $100.22 | 80.1% |
| Shrek (Broadway) |
$1,025,635 | 10,551 | 0 | 8 | 1,733 | $97.21 | 76.1% |
| South Pacific (Beaumont) |
$805,444 | 7,580 | 0 | 8 | 1,041 | $106.26 | 91.0% |
| Superior Donuts (Music Box) |
$215,339 | 3,352 | 0 | 8 | 991 | $64.24 | 42.3% |
| The 39 Steps (Hayes) |
$184,861 | 2,543 | 0 | 8 | 589 | $72.69 | 54.0% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,693,074 | 13,239 | 0 | 8 | 1,654 | $127.89 | 100.1% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$1,017,013 | 10,934 | 0 | 8 | 1,615 | $93.01 | 84.6% |
| The Royal Family (Biltmore) |
$161,070 | 3,456 | 0 | 8 | 650 | $46.61 | 66.5% |
| West Side Story (Palace) |
$1,206,235 | 11,334 | 0 | 8 | 1,697 | $106.43 | 83.5% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$2,086,135 | 14,472 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $144.15 | 100.0% |
| Wishful Drinking (Studio 54) |
$293,221 | 5,726 | 0 | 8 | 1,004 | $51.21 | 71.3% |
