Just-opened productions and new previews drove a boffo Broadway sales surge through the week ending October 16. With 26 shows now playing, ticket sales for the frame totaled $21,328,673 — up nearly $2 million over the previous week.
Attendance also jumped by 2 percent to 229,906, thanks in large part to four new titles starting previews. Entering the boards last week were “Chinglish” (started Oct. 11, opens Oct. 27), “Other Desert Cities” (started Oct. 12, opens Nov. 3), “Godspell” (started Oct. 13, opens Nov. 7), and “Venus in Fur” (started Oct. 13, opens Nov. 8).
“Chinglish” packed in a full eight previews at the 1,077-seat Longacre Theatre and drew $305,443 in ticket sales. Completing six previews apiece were “Godspell” ($268,641) and “Other Desert Cities” ($334,839) — both performing strongly despite being in smaller venues around 700 seats each. Rounding out the group was “Venus in Fur,” with five initial previews at the lowest capacity playhouse of the bunch (650 seats), and a first-week total of $157,454 in ticket sales.
While the new arrivals shook up the week’s totals, a few of this season’s already-opened productions also gained momentum. Making the biggest improvements through the week ending October 16 were “Follies,” “Man and Boy,” and the most recently opened “The Mountaintop.”
Now open for five full weeks, “Follies” surged back into million-dollar territory with a 17 percent surge to $1,037,906. The Bernadette Peters musical previously had two consecutive weeks with ticket sales over $1 million, but then suddenly dropped to $886,027 two weeks ago.
“Man and Boy” had the largest single uptick with a 48 percent surge in ticket sales, driving its weekly totals up to $287,334 for the week ending October 16. Leading man Frank Langella earned strong praise in critics’ opening night reviews and may have been a key factor in helping the play rebound from its previous comp-heavy week.
Meanwhile, “The Mountaintop” saw big increases in two key areas, with attendance up 12.4 percent and a sales increase of 24.4 percent. Positive reviews for stars Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett are likely behind the increases, which brought the play’s opening week totals to $659,680.
It remains to be seen whether “Relatively Speaking” will have a similarly strong reception after its October 20 opening at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre this week. For the week ending October 16, however, the John Turturro-helmed production saw an 11 percent increase in attendance and grossed $677,148 in ticket sales.
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) |
$850,308 | 7,933 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $107.19 | 96.6% |
Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$814,662 | 9,714 | 0 | 8 | 1,421 | $83.86 | 85.5% |
Chicago (Ambassador) |
$587,780 | 7,166 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $82.02 | 82.9% |
Chinglish (Longacre) |
$305,443 | 6,365 | 8 | 0 | 1,077 | $47.99 | 73.9% |
Follies (Marquis) |
$1,037,906 | 10,254 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $101.22 | 79.5% |
Godspell (Circle in Square) |
$268,641 | 3,769 | 6 | 0 | 791 | $71.28 | 79.4% |
How to Succeed… (Hirschfeld) |
$988,154 | 10,374 | 0 | 8 | 1,424 | $95.25 | 91.1% |
Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,068,613 | 9,684 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $110.35 | 98.6% |
Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$847,844 | 9,908 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $85.57 | 82.7% |
Man and Boy (American Airlines) |
$287,334 | 5,207 | 0 | 8 | 728 | $55.18 | 89.4% |
Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$765,926 | 9,806 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $78.11 | 68.2% |
Memphis (Shubert) |
$786,028 | 9,818 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $80.06 | 83.5% |
Other Desert Cities (Booth) |
$334,839 | 4,464 | 6 | 0 | 761 | $75.01 | 97.8% |
Priscilla…Desert (Palace) |
$860,673 | 11,035 | 0 | 8 | 1,690 | $77.99 | 81.6% |
Relatively Speaking (Atkinson) |
$677,148 | 8,232 | 8 | 0 | 1,058 | $82.26 | 97.3% |
Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$399,076 | 4,398 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $90.74 | 94.3% |
Sister Act (Broadway) |
$746,753 | 9,852 | 0 | 8 | 1,493 | $75.80 | 82.5% |
Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,574,705 | 14,664 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $107.39 | 95.0% |
The Addams Family (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$741,762 | 9,504 | 0 | 8 | 1,519 | $78.05 | 78.2% |
The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,333,950 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $152.42 | 102.6% |
The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,669,563 | 13,419 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $124.42 | 100.0% |
The Mountaintop (Jacobs) |
$659,680 | 8,343 | 3 | 5 | 1,065 | $79.07 | 97.9% |
The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$898,830 | 11,517 | 0 | 8 | 1,615 | $78.04 | 89.1% |
Venus in Fur (Friedman) |
$157,454 | 2,754 | 5 | 0 | 650 | $57.17 | 84.7% |
War Horse (Beaumont) |
$990,180 | 8,546 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $115.86 | 99.9% |
Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,675,421 | 14,428 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $116.12 | 99.7% |