Broadway is hanging steady with continuing great returns at the box office, although slightly less than the previous week coming in at $19,217,412 compared to $19,562,423. This past week’s ticket sales still exceeds the same week last year of $19,324,545.

When comparing this point in the season with the same point last year, ticket sales have reached $247,348,587, exceeding last season’s $240,277,058, representing a 2.9 percent increase. Attendance was reported to be 83.11 percent for the 24 productions currently running.

Seven productions, all musicals, enjoyed box office ticket sales of over a million dollars. They were “Wicked” at the Gershwin, “The Lion King” at the Minskoff, “The Addams Family” at the Lunt-Fontanne, “Mary Poppins” at the New Amsterdam, “Billy Elliot” at the Imperial, “Promises, Promises” at the Broadway and “Jersey Boys” at the August Wilson. Of the two plays on Broadway, “Lend Me a Tenor” which closed at the Music Box on August 15 posted $435,764 in ticket sales while “Race” at the Barrymore posted $230,318.

Looking at the Gross Gross Potential, “Wicked” and “The Lion King” achieved 110 and 108 percent respectively, which outstrips all other productions by a wide margin.

South Pacific” at the Beaumont saw the largest gain from one week to the next, more than 10 percent for a total increase of $81,061. Looking at percentage of returns, the largest drop was seen by “Mamma Mia!” at the Winter Garden, five percent. Comparing dollar returns, “Promises, Promises” ticket sales saw a drop of $55,427 from the previous reporting period.

Five productions reported 95 percent or better attendance this past week with the Top Ticket of $350 offered by “Jersey Boys”. The Best Buy ticket as suggested by the Average Paid Admission was $60, offered by “Next to Normal” at the Booth.

A live broadcast of the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” will be aired on PBS’ “Live from Lincoln Center” series at 8:00 p.m. on August 18. The Tony Award-winning production ends August 22.

All data provided by The Broadway League

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending August 15, 2010

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
A Little Night Music
(Kerr)
$523,674 6,452 0 8 931 $81.16 86.6%
American Idiot
(St. James)
$787,509 9,867 0 8 1,709 $79.81 72.2%
Billy Elliot
(Imperial)
$1,108,430 11,193 0 8 1,421 $99.03 98.5%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$587,660 7,340 0 8 1,080 $80.06 85.0%
Come Fly Away
(Marquis)
$581,541 7,798 0 8 1,611 $74.58 60.5%
Fela!
(O’Neill)
$490,372 6,487 0 8 1,030 $75.59 78.7%
In the Heights
(Rodgers)
$616,356 8,515 0 8 1,344 $72.38 79.2%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$1,012,390 9,440 0 8 1,228 $107.24 96.1%
La Cage aux Folles
(Longacre)
$632,042 6,969 0 8 1,057 $90.69 82.4%
Lend Me a Tenor
(Music Box)
$435,764 6,152 0 8 999 $70.83 77.0%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$923,650 10,368 0 8 1,498 $89.09 86.5%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$1,146,186 13,474 0 8 1,797 $85.07 93.7%
Memphis
(Shubert)
$908,819 10,296 0 8 1,470 $88.27 87.6%
Million Dollar Quartet
(Nederlander)
$426,908 5,225 0 8 1,214 $81.70 53.8%
Next to Normal
(Booth)
$278,266 4,717 0 8 772 $58.99 76.4%
Promises, Promises
(Broadway)
$1,093,510 12,340 0 8 1,747 $88.62 88.3%
Race
(Barrymore)
$230,318 3,580 0 8 1,058 $64.33 42.3%
Rock of Ages
(Atkinson)
$536,316 6,807 0 8 997 $78.79 85.3%
South Pacific
(Beaumont)
$681,968 8,061 0 8 1,041 $84.60 96.8%
The Addams Family
(Lunt-Fontanne)
$1,155,492 10,108 0 8 1,519 $114.31 83.2%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$1,643,356 13,422 0 8 1,677 $122.44 100.0%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$937,062 11,587 0 8 1,615 $80.87 89.7%
West Side Story
(Palace)
$745,993 10,219 0 8 1,697 $73.00 75.3%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$1,733,834 14,472 0 8 1,809 $119.81 100.0%