Thanks to Hurricane Irene, all 23 Broadway productions cancelled their shows scheduled for last Saturday and Sunday, August 27-28, costing box offices millions of dollars in ticket sales for the week ending August 28. Sixty-six shows in total were cancelled which caused sales to plummet about 42 percent to $11.6 million from the previous week’s total of $20.1 million.
All theaters reported losses and only two productions, the musicals “The Lion King” at the Minskoff and “Wicked” at the Gershwin, reported box office returns in excess of $1 million in spite of the storm. “War Horse” at the Beaumont posted the highest returns of any play with a total of $625,160.
As would be expected, attendance also experienced a dramatic decrease from 204,265 to 130,853, although four productions still posted 95 percent or better. As in previous weeks, “The Book of Mormon” reported 102.43 percent followed by “War Horse,” 100 percent, “The Lion King,” 98.75 and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” at 98.8 percent. “Hair” continued to report the lowest capacity at 48.7 percent, a drop from 57.3 percent the previous reporting period.
“The Book of Mormon,” while falling below the million-dollar mark in ticket sales, still exceeded expectations by achieving 106 percent of its Gross Gross Potential. “Wicked” and “The Lion King” were able to achieve better than 100 percent in Gross Gross Potential as well. Continuing to report the lowest numbers was “Hair,” which closes on September 10.
In scheduled openings, the musical “Follies” is slated to open on September 12 at the Marquis Theatre.
All data provided by The Broadway League
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
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| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| Anything Goes (Sondheim) |
$313,522 | 3,607 | 0 | 5 | 1,026 | $86.92 | 70.3% |
| Baby It’s You! (Broadhurst) |
$199,278 | 3,992 | 0 | 5 | 1,141 | $49.92 | 70.0% |
| Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$358,485 | 4,421 | 0 | 4 | 1,421 | $81.09 | 77.8% |
| Catch Me… (Simon) |
$334,136 | 5,088 | 0 | 5 | 1,422 | $65.67 | 71.6% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$306,025 | 4,027 | 0 | 5 | 1,080 | $75.99 | 74.6% |
| Follies (Marquis) |
$481,263 | 6,300 | 5 | 0 | 1,557 | $76.39 | 80.9% |
| Hair (St. James) |
$241,008 | 5,079 | 0 | 6 | 1,737 | $47.45 | 48.7% |
| How to Succeed… (Hirschfeld) |
$700,978 | 7,033 | 0 | 5 | 1,424 | $99.67 | 98.8% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$535,578 | 5,571 | 0 | 5 | 1,228 | $96.14 | 90.7% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$588,493 | 7,103 | 0 | 6 | 1,498 | $82.85 | 79.0% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$533,339 | 6,958 | 0 | 5 | 1,797 | $76.65 | 77.4% |
| Master Class (Friedman) |
$174,822 | 2,928 | 0 | 5 | 641 | $59.71 | 91.4% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$358,660 | 5,010 | 0 | 5 | 1,470 | $71.59 | 68.2% |
| Priscilla…Desert (Palace) |
$392,027 | 5,014 | 0 | 5 | 1,689 | $78.19 | 59.4% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$192,912 | 2,383 | 0 | 5 | 583 | $80.95 | 81.7% |
| Sister Act (Broadway) |
$364,432 | 5,155 | 0 | 5 | 1,755 | $70.69 | 58.7% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$933,424 | 8,963 | 0 | 5 | 1,930 | $104.14 | 92.9% |
| The Addams Family (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$483,075 | 6,890 | 0 | 6 | 1,519 | $70.11 | 75.6% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$786,459 | 5,470 | 0 | 5 | 1,068 | $143.78 | 102.4% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,081,144 | 8,280 | 0 | 5 | 1,677 | $130.57 | 98.7% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$607,372 | 7,751 | 0 | 6 | 1,615 | $78.36 | 80.0% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$625,160 | 5,345 | 0 | 5 | 1,069 | $116.96 | 100.0% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,031,290 | 8,485 | 0 | 5 | 1,809 | $121.54 | 93.8% |