The holiday season just keeps getting better on Broadway as ticket sales soared to over $25 million last week.

The 37 productions currently running on the Great White Way combined to post a total of $25,632,217 in sales, far surpassing the same week last season at $20,817,705 and exceeding the last reporting period at $23,445,869. The total sales for the season to date is now at $581,189,597, outpacing last season’s total of $569,487,725, highlighting the success of the season so far.

Eight productions finished the week with over a $1 million in sales, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total sales. Those productions were Wicked at the Gershwin, The Lion King at the Minskoff, Elf at the Hirschfeld, Jersey Boys at the August Wilson, Promises, Promises at the Broadway, The Merchant of Venice at the Broadhurst, Billy Elliot at the Imperial and The Addams Family at the Lunt-Fontanne. “The Merchant” is the only play in that lineup.

Of the 25 musicals, 10 plays and two specials, “Jersey Boys” posted the highest percentage of Gross Gross Potential, 106.5 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, the play La Bête at the Music Box reported a mere 27.5 percent.

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The latest special to open its doors is Donny and Marie: A Broadway Christmas at the Marquis, opening December 9 and doing very well in its first few days at $881,925 in ticket sales, 85.5 percent of its Gross Gross Potential.

Attendance hit another high this week, 78 percent, with six theaters achieving capacity at or above 95 percent including “The Scottsboro Boys” at the Lyceum in its closing week. Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark at the Foxwoods in its first week of previews filled the house to 99.4 percent in spite of publicized technical glitches. Opening Night is scheduled for January 11.

The largest dollar increase from one week to the next in ticket sales was “The Scottsboro Boys”, which reported an increase of $171,786. The play Brief Encounter at Studio 54 reported a drop of $78,381 in sales, the largest drop of any production.

Nine theaters offered Top Tickets at $300 or above, including “Elf” at $352 and “Jersey Boys” at $350. The Best Buy Ticket as gauged by the Average Paid Admission category was the play The Pitmen Painters at the Friedman, which closed its doors December 12.

All data provided by The Broadway League

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending December 12, 2010

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
A Free…Color
(Beaumont)
$278,172 4,859 0 8 1,043 $57.25 58.2%
A Little Night Music
(Kerr)
$519,928 5,721 0 8 931 $90.88 76.8%
American Idiot
(St. James)
$482,459 7,087 0 8 1,709 $68.08 51.8%
Billy Elliot
(Imperial)
$1,066,328 10,787 0 8 1,421 $98.85 94.9%
Bloody…Jackson
(Jacobs)
$367,783 5,543 0 8 1,030 $66.35 67.3%
Brief Encounter
(Studio 54)
$300,383 4,835 0 8 1,002 $62.13 60.3%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$446,401 5,533 0 8 1,080 $80.68 64.0%
Colin Quinn…Short
(Hayes)
$153,081 2,294 0 8 587 $66.73 48.9%
Donny & Marie
(Marquis)
$881,925 7,207 0 5 1,636 $122.37 88.1%
Driving Miss Daisy
(Golden)
$732,896 6,003 0 8 804 $122.09 93.3%
Elf
(Hirschfeld)
$1,302,310 10,816 0 8 1,424 $120.41 94.9%
Fela!
(O’Neill)
$567,267 7,270 0 8 1,030 $78.03 88.2%
In the Heights
(Rodgers)
$515,094 7,743 0 8 1,344 $66.52 72.0%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$1,249,427 9,638 0 8 1,228 $129.64 98.1%
La Bete
(Music Box)
$253,079 3,770 0 8 1,007 $67.13 46.8%
La Cage aux Folles
(Longacre)
$562,152 6,215 0 8 1,057 $90.45 73.5%
Lombardi
(Circle in Square)
$290,552 4,438 0 8 790 $65.47 70.2%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$817,276 9,490 0 8 1,498 $86.12 79.2%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$982,645 11,684 0 8 1,797 $84.10 81.3%
Memphis
(Shubert)
$972,959 9,904 0 8 1,470 $98.24 84.2%
Million Dollar Quartet
(Nederlander)
$611,869 6,729 0 8 1,214 $90.93 69.3%
Next to Normal
(Booth)
$283,836 4,682 0 8 772 $60.62 75.8%
Promises, Promises
(Broadway)
$1,239,949 12,383 0 8 1,747 $100.13 88.6%
Rain
(Simon)
$648,528 7,939 0 8 1,448 $81.69 68.5%
Rock of Ages
(Atkinson)
$502,042 5,433 0 8 997 $92.41 68.1%
Spider-Man…Dark
(Foxwoods)
$911,682 9,595 5 0 1,930 $95.02 99.4%
The Addams Family
(Lunt-Fontanne)
$1,014,185 9,453 0 8 1,519 $107.29 77.8%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$1,575,589 13,122 0 8 1,677 $120.07 97.8%
The Merchant of Venice
(Broadhurst)
$1,074,410 8,273 0 7 1,152 $129.87 102.6%
The Pee-Wee Herman Show
(Sondheim)
$583,281 5,961 0 8 1,055 $97.85 70.6%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$755,601 9,128 0 8 1,615 $82.78 70.7%
The Pitmen Painters
(Friedman)
$172,345 3,839 0 8 650 $44.89 73.8%
The Scottsboro Boys
(Lyceum)
$454,251 6,996 0 8 900 $64.93 97.2%
Time Stands Still
(Cort)
$339,551 4,248 0 8 1,079 $79.93 49.2%
West Side Story
(Palace)
$757,353 9,582 0 8 1,697 $79.04 70.6%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$1,645,313 14,211 0 8 1,809 $115.78 98.2%
Women…Breakdown
(Belasco)
$320,315 4,604 0 8 970 $69.57 59.3%