In a week that ended with a blizzard in New York City, Broadway incredibly reported big returns with ticket sales reaching $24,993,789, exceeding the last reporting period of $23,851,772.

Even comparing this week’s numbers with the same week last season of $23,851,772, sales have excelled. To date, this season has racked up $630,035,258 compared to $613,528,795 last season, a 2.7 percent increase. Attendance reached more than a quarter million patrons, 250,134, to score 75.8 percent overall.

Wicked at the Gershwin continued to be the top grossing production reporting ticket sales of $2,153,110, the only show on Broadway with sales north of $2 million. The eight other productions that reported sales of over a $1 million were The Lion King at the Minskoff, Elf at the Hirschfeld, Jersey Boys at the August Wilson, Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam, The Merchant of Venice at the Broadhurst, The Addams Family at the Lunt-Fontanne, The Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic and Billy Elliot at the Imperial.

Three productions, “Wicked,” “Lion King” and “Merchant” achieved 100 percent or greater of their Gross Gross Potential, with “Jersey Boys” coming close at nearly 99 percent.

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Nine productions offered Top Tickets at $300 or better, including “Elf” at $352 and “Jersey Boys” at $350. The Best Buy ticket as suggested by the Average Paid Admission category was the play, A Free Man of Color at the Vivian Beaumont.

Looking at percentage of audience share, Time Stands Still at the Cort saw almost a 22 percent increase while the special Donny & Marie at the Marquis saw a 17.8 percent decrease. “The Merchant of Venice” saw the largest increase in revenue, up $454,405 over the previous week, while “Donny & Marie” saw a $565,928 decrease.

The play “A Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown” at the Belasco is reportedly set to close sometime in the next several days, but there were conflicting reports on the exact date.

The musical Memphis playing at the Shubert will enjoy its 500th Broadway performance on December 29.

All data provided by The Broadway League

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending December 26, 2010

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
A Free…Color
(Beaumont)
$143,850 3,640 0 8 1,043 $39.52 43.6%
A Little Night Music
(Kerr)
$452,784 5,182 0 8 931 $87.38 69.6%
American Idiot
(St. James)
$539,810 6,706 0 7 1,709 $80.50 56.1%
Billy Elliot
(Imperial)
$1,011,143 9,047 0 7 1,421 $111.77 91.0%
Bloody…Jackson
(Jacobs)
$501,179 6,955 0 8 1,030 $72.06 84.4%
Brief Encounter
(Studio 54)
$244,500 4,302 0 7 1,002 $56.83 61.3%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$512,065 5,802 0 7 1,080 $88.26 76.7%
Colin Quinn…Short
(Hayes)
$155,816 2,176 0 8 587 $71.61 46.3%
Donny & Marie
(Marquis)
$481,812 4,930 0 5 1,636 $97.73 60.3%
Driving Miss Daisy
(Golden)
$452,435 4,051 0 7 804 $111.68 72.0%
Elf
(Hirschfeld)
$1,572,836 11,736 0 9 1,424 $134.02 91.6%
Fela!
(O’Neill)
$614,835 6,716 0 7 1,030 $91.55 93.1%
In the Heights
(Rodgers)
$685,832 8,363 0 8 1,344 $82.01 77.8%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$1,156,942 9,066 0 8 1,228 $127.61 92.3%
La Bete
(Music Box)
$184,011 2,879 0 7 1,007 $63.91 40.8%
La Cage aux Folles
(Longacre)
$373,855 3,772 0 7 1,057 $99.11 51.0%
Lombardi
(Circle in Square)
$228,582 3,738 0 8 790 $61.15 59.1%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$866,804 9,184 0 7 1,498 $94.38 87.6%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$1,149,159 12,901 0 8 1,797 $89.08 89.7%
Memphis
(Shubert)
$782,329 8,310 0 8 1,470 $94.14 70.7%
Million Dollar Quartet
(Nederlander)
$370,872 4,375 0 7 1,214 $84.77 51.5%
Next to Normal
(Booth)
$312,046 4,916 0 8 772 $63.48 79.6%
Promises, Promises
(Broadway)
$977,274 10,098 0 8 1,747 $96.78 72.3%
Rain
(Simon)
$706,360 7,817 0 8 1,448 $90.36 67.5%
Rock of Ages
(Atkinson)
$438,042 5,187 0 8 997 $84.45 65.0%
Spider-Man…Dark
(Foxwoods)
$944,138 7,720 4 0 1,930 $122.30 100.0%
The Addams Family
(Lunt-Fontanne)
$1,100,286 10,494 0 8 1,519 $104.85 86.4%
The Importance…Earnest
(American Airlines)
$162,716 3,282 7 0 740 $49.58 63.4%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$1,823,766 13,135 0 8 1,677 $138.85 97.9%
The Merchant of Venice
(Broadhurst)
$1,099,420 8,273 0 7 1,152 $132.89 102.6%
The Pee-Wee Herman Show
(Sondheim)
$535,387 5,288 0 7 1,055 $101.25 71.6%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$1,028,037 10,330 0 8 1,615 $99.52 80.0%
Time Stands Still
(Cort)
$117,962 1,585 0 2 1,079 $74.42 73.4%
West Side Story
(Palace)
$871,951 9,950 0 8 1,697 $87.63 73.3%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$2,153,110 14,472 0 8 1,809 $148.78 100.0%
Women…Breakdown
(Belasco)
$241,849 3,756 0 8 970 $64.39 48.4%