Broadway ticket sales started the New Year on solid ground with revenues for the week ending January 3 reaching $28,089,912, up more than $300,000 from $27,755,973, which was what box offices generated last year at this time. The total fell a bit short from the 2007-08 total of more than $28.3 million, but was well ahead of the previous week’s box office total of $24,334,027.

Attendance hit a high note at 272,864, close to 90 percent capacity with ten productions reaching 95 percent or better. Eight shows made 100 percent or better of their Gross Gross Potential: Wicked at the Gershwin, The Lion King at the Minskoff, A Little Night Music at the Walter Kerr, Billy Elliott: The Musical at the Imperial, West Side Story at the Palace, Jersey Boys at the August Wilson, Rock of Ages at the Atkinson and The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic in that order.

Ten productions ranked at a million dollars or more at the box office, led by “Wicked” at $2,125,740. In addition to the others listed preceding paragraph, among the others with grosses above $1 million were Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam, Hair at the Hirschfeld and Mamma Mia! at the Winter Garden.

Of the plays currently on Broadway, A View From the Bridge at the Cort leads with $601,729 in ticket sales followed by Race at the Barrymore with $588,110 and God of Carnage at the Jacobs at $571,122. Another play, “Present Laughter” at the American Airlines Theatre, opened to previews this past week.

“Phantom of the Opera” broke its own record after 22 years on the Great White Way, now holding the record for the longest run of any musical.

Closing their doors this past week were the musicals “Shrek” and “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” and the play, “Superior Donuts.” “Finian’s Rainbow” at the St. James will close later this month along with “Bye Bye Birdie” at the Henry Miller, “The 39 Steps” at the Helen Hayes, “Burn the Floor” at the Longacre and “Wishful Drinking” at Studio 54.

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 January 3, 2010

All data provided by The Broadway League

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending January 3, 2010

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
A Little Night Music
(Kerr)
$1,031,543 7,527 0 8 931 $137.05 101.1%
A View…Bridge
(Cort)
$601,729 7,116 7 0 1,079 $84.56 94.2%
Billy Elliot
(Imperial)
$1,663,895 11,339 0 8 1,421 $146.74 99.7%
Burn the Floor
(Longacre)
$594,252 7,877 0 8 1,044 $75.44 94.3%
Bye Bye Birdie
(Henry Miller)
$667,496 8,003 0 8 1,026 $83.41 97.5%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$888,536 8,426 0 8 1,080 $105.45 97.5%
Fela!
(O’Neill)
$838,749 9,083 0 9 1,030 $92.34 98.0%
Finian’s Rainbow
(St. James)
$720,849 10,117 0 8 1,701 $71.25 74.3%
God of Carnage
(Jacobs)
$571,122 6,601 0 8 1,078 $86.52 76.5%
Hair
(Hirschfeld)
$1,121,847 10,804 0 8 1,412 $103.84 95.6%
In the Heights
(Rodgers)
$941,862 8,571 0 8 1,365 $109.89 78.5%
In the Next Room
(Lyceum)
$253,434 4,804 0 8 899 $52.75 66.8%
Irving…White Christmas
(Marquis)
$759,048 9,224 0 7 1,615 $82.29 81.6%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$1,440,456 9,861 0 8 1,222 $146.08 100.9%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$1,315,354 11,294 0 8 1,498 $116.46 94.2%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$1,323,699 13,947 0 8 1,797 $94.91 97.0%
Memphis
(Shubert)
$746,372 9,802 0 8 1,470 $76.14 83.4%
Next to Normal
(Booth)
$550,409 6,406 0 9 772 $85.92 92.2%
Present Laughter
(American Airlines)
$88,615 2,258 4 0 740 $39.24 76.3%
Race
(Barrymore)
$588,110 6,339 0 8 1,058 $92.78 74.9%
Ragtime
(Simon)
$743,751 9,351 0 7 1,419 $79.54 94.1%
Rock of Ages
(Atkinson)
$747,573 7,107 0 8 997 $105.19 89.1%
Shrek
(Broadway)
$1,387,182 12,869 0 8 1,733 $107.79 92.8%
South Pacific
(Beaumont)
$865,225 7,769 0 8 1,041 $111.37 93.3%
Superior Donuts
(Music Box)
$303,165 4,778 0 8 991 $63.45 60.3%
The 39 Steps
(Hayes)
$295,317 3,975 0 8 589 $74.29 84.4%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$1,740,130 13,233 0 8 1,654 $131.50 100.0%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$1,374,875 11,875 0 8 1,615 $115.78 91.9%
West Side Story
(Palace)
$1,485,158 12,789 0 8 1,697 $116.13 94.2%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$2,125,740 14,472 0 8 1,809 $146.89 100.0%
Wishful Drinking
(Studio 54)
$314,422 5,247 0 7 1,004 $59.92 74.7%