The fall season is gearing up for success as box office ticket sales reached $17,278,360 this past week. That total is up from last week’s $16,471,171, thanks to a slew of new productions contributing. The season to date excels at $360,039,883 compared to $358,613,519 at the same point last year.

There are now 7 plays and 21 musicals currently running on the Great White Way. Of these, “Wicked” at the Gershwin, “The Lion King” at the Minskoff, “American Idiot” at the St. James and “Jersey Boys” at the August Wilson led the way in ticket sales with totals over a million dollars.

“American Idiot” posted a dramatic increase in ticket sales, undoubtedly due to the appearance of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. He made his Broadway debut at the evening performance on Sunday, September 26, taking over the role of the character St. Jimmy for a one-week limited engagement that ended October 3. The total increase was $611,768, a 41 percent increase over the previous week.

Also experiencing healthy increases in percent of audience share was “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” at the American Airlines Theatre at almost 20 percent, and “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” at the Jacobs at almost 16 percent. Experiencing the other end of the spectrum was “Fela!” at the O’Neill, posting a 13 percent drop at the box office, or a $112,810 decrease. “The Addams Family” at the Lunt-Fontanne posted the second largest drop, down $127,972, but that represents only a 5.9 percent drop overall for the musical.

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Attendance was reported by the Broadway League at 79.5 percent this past week, compared to 77 percent the previous reporting period. “Wicked” and “Jersey Boys” each posted over 95 percent of their capacity filled.

Three new productions celebrated their Opening Nights last week. They were the play “Brief Encounter” at Studio 54 on Sept. 28, “The Pitmen Painters” at the Friedman Sept. 30 and “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” on Oct. 3.

Opening to previews this past week were:

• “Time Stands Still,” a play, at the Cort: Opening Night is scheduled Oct. 7
• “A Life in the Theatre,” a play, at the Schoenfeld: Opening Night is scheduled Oct. 12
• “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”, a musical, at the Jacobs: Opening Night is scheduled Oct. 13
• “La Bête,” a play, at the Music Box: Opening Night is scheduled Oct. 14
• “Lombardi,” a play, at Circle in the Square: Opening Night is scheduled Oct. 21

“Jersey Boys” posted the Top Ticket at $350 followed by six other shows posting their Top Ticket at $300. The Best Buy ticket as suggested by the Average Paid Admission was “Mrs. Warren’s Profession.”

All data provided by The Broadway League

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Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending October 3, 2010

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
A Life in the Theatre
(Schoenfeld)
$310,430 6,053 8 0 1,071 $51.29 70.6%
A Little Night Music
(Kerr)
$639,895 6,803 0 8 931 $94.06 91.3%
American Idiot
(St. James)
$1,092,334 12,767 0 8 1,709 $85.56 93.4%
Billy Elliot
(Imperial)
$982,542 10,545 0 8 1,421 $93.18 92.8%
Bloody…Jackson
(Jacobs)
$284,719 6,843 8 0 1,030 $41.61 83.0%
Brief Encounter
(Studio 54)
$250,116 6,294 0 8 1,002 $39.74 78.5%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$459,692 6,245 0 8 1,080 $73.61 72.3%
Fela!
(O’Neill)
$409,443 5,557 0 8 1,030 $73.68 67.4%
In the Heights
(Rodgers)
$491,256 7,020 0 8 1,344 $69.98 65.3%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$1,086,925 9,674 0 8 1,228 $112.36 98.5%
La Bete
(Music Box)
$355,030 6,948 8 0 1,007 $51.10 86.2%
La Cage aux Folles
(Longacre)
$550,643 6,487 0 8 1,057 $84.88 76.7%
Lombardi
(Circle in Square)
$188,215 4,386 8 0 790 $42.91 69.4%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$840,632 10,885 0 8 1,498 $77.23 90.8%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$601,368 8,509 0 8 1,797 $70.67 59.2%
Memphis
(Shubert)
$864,646 9,593 0 8 1,470 $90.13 81.6%
Million Dollar Quartet
(Nederlander)
$548,380 6,495 0 8 1,214 $84.43 66.9%
Mrs. Warren’s Profession
(American Airlines)
$205,714 5,390 7 1 740 $38.17 91.0%
Next to Normal
(Booth)
$257,506 4,594 0 8 772 $56.05 74.4%
Promises, Promises
(Broadway)
$995,858 11,020 0 8 1,747 $90.37 78.8%
Rock of Ages
(Atkinson)
$440,303 6,222 0 8 997 $70.77 78.0%
The Addams Family
(Lunt-Fontanne)
$801,683 8,908 0 8 1,519 $90.00 73.3%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$1,266,452 11,567 0 8 1,677 $109.49 86.2%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$682,836 9,438 0 8 1,615 $72.35 73.0%
The Pitmen Painters
(Friedman)
$186,718 4,597 2 6 650 $40.62 88.4%
Time Stands Still
(Cort)
$395,233 7,013 8 0 1,079 $56.36 81.2%
West Side Story
(Palace)
$581,801 8,261 0 8 1,697 $70.43 60.9%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$1,507,992 14,415 0 8 1,809 $104.61 99.6%
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