Broadway ticket sales continued their increase through the week ending March 18 with sales of $22 million, some of which may have been attributed to the opening of three productions.
Sales increased by nearly 20 percent over the previous weeks $18.6 million. Ten of the 29 productions had a loss in sales compared to the previous week in which only five productions saw a decrease.
“Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” previews began March 6 with gross ticket sales of $614,511 among eight preview performances. Sales for last week increased by 8 percent ($663,411). Regular performances are slated to begin April 1.
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award-winning musical “Evita” made its return to Broadway on March 12 with the start of preview performances until the show opens on April 5. The production that stars Grammy Award winner Ricky Martin opened with sales just over $1 million among six preview performances and attendance at 99 percent of capacity.
The highly anticipated Broadway adaptation of “Ghost” began preview performances on March 15 and earned gross ticket sales of $381,746 among four preview performances. Producers of the show still have several preview performances to look forward to, as regular performances do not begin until April 23.
Producers of the Disney musical “Newsies” announced that they would extend the show’s limited engagement through August 19 after just one week of preview performances — the production was originally scheduled to play a limited engagement through June 10. The show raked in $735,991 in gross ticket sales with attendance at 100 percent of the Nederlander Theatre’s capacity. “Newsies” will officially open on March 29.
“Once” ended preview performances with sales down by 8.35 percent ($499,054) among seven preview performances. Last week’s gross sales for the show also included one regular performance, with the official opening of the show on March 18.
Several productions experienced a significant increase in ticket sales last week. “Sister Act” earned $594.327 and had the highest increase (37.4 percent). “The Phantom of the Opera” earned just over $1 million with sales up by 31.8 percent. “Mary Poppins” grossed $881,144 in ticket sales, which is up by 25.5 percent over the previous week and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” earned $1.6 million, which is a 21.4 percent increase.
While the Great White Way had more gains than losses, a few shows took a large loss in gross ticket sales. “Wit” experienced the greatest loss, with sales down 31.8 percent ($158,537). Sales for “Venus in Fur” fell 23.4 percent ($263,685) and “Porgy and Bess” experienced a decrease in ticket sales of 19.6 percent ($552,104).
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) |
$653,421 | 7,595 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $86.03 | 92.5% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$610,188 | 7,333 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $83.21 | 84.9% |
| Death of a Salesman (Barrymore) |
$632,832 | 7,246 | 3 | 4 | 1,036 | $87.34 | 99.9% |
| Evita (Marquis) |
$1,167,685 | 9,282 | 6 | 0 | 1,564 | $125.80 | 98.9% |
| Ghost (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$381,746 | 4,951 | 4 | 0 | 1,448 | $77.10 | 85.5% |
| Godspell (Circle in Square) |
$311,170 | 4,484 | 0 | 8 | 735 | $69.40 | 76.3% |
| Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (Schoenfeld) |
$663,411 | 7,448 | 8 | 0 | 1,064 | $89.07 | 87.5% |
| How to Succeed… (Hirschfeld) |
$812,618 | 10,006 | 0 | 8 | 1,424 | $81.21 | 87.8% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$913,217 | 9,334 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $97.84 | 95.0% |
| Jesus Christ Superstar (Simon) |
$649,147 | 10,519 | 8 | 0 | 1,371 | $61.71 | 95.9% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$685,129 | 8,716 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $78.61 | 72.7% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$881,144 | 11,384 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $77.40 | 79.2% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$654,781 | 9,435 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $69.40 | 80.2% |
| Newsies (Nederlander) |
$735,991 | 7,194 | 6 | 0 | 1,199 | $102.31 | 100.0% |
| Once (Jacobs) |
$499,054 | 8,180 | 7 | 1 | 1,058 | $61.01 | 96.6% |
| Other Desert Cities (Booth) |
$375,534 | 4,173 | 0 | 8 | 761 | $89.99 | 68.5% |
| Porgy and Bess (Rodgers) |
$552,104 | 6,107 | 0 | 8 | 1,335 | $90.41 | 57.2% |
| Priscilla…Desert (Palace) |
$515,177 | 7,200 | 0 | 8 | 1,689 | $71.55 | 53.3% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$417,401 | 4,474 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $93.29 | 95.9% |
| Seminar (Golden) |
$433,956 | 5,328 | 0 | 8 | 804 | $81.45 | 82.8% |
| Sister Act (Broadway) |
$594,327 | 9,209 | 0 | 8 | 1,755 | $64.54 | 65.6% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,578,215 | 14,888 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $106.01 | 96.4% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,494,024 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $170.71 | 102.6% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,760,703 | 13,242 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $132.96 | 98.7% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$1,012,149 | 12,432 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $81.41 | 96.8% |
| Venus in Fur (Lyceum) |
$263,685 | 3,161 | 0 | 7 | 708 | $83.42 | 63.8% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$886,640 | 8,233 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $107.69 | 96.3% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,942,288 | 14,472 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $134.21 | 100.0% |
| Wit (Friedman) |
$158,537 | 3,832 | 0 | 7 | 650 | $41.37 | 84.2% |
All data provided by The Broadway League.
