Broadway gross ticket sales for the week ending April 1 increased only slightly despite the addition of four new productions.
According to figures posted by The Broadway League, gross ticket sales on the Great White Way totaled $23.8 million for its 34 productions, with an increase in sales among 16 shows. While 14 productions had a decrease in sales over the previous week, several show openings and significant increases among a few productions helped overall sales stay afloat.
Broadway continued to expand its lineup this week as four productions (“Clybourne Park,” “Don’t Dress For Dinner,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It” and “Peter and the Starcatcher”) opened their doors to audiences. “Nice Work” managed to pull in the greatest sales ($504,314) in the course of just five preview performances in comparison to “Clybourne Park,” which earned $233,486 for eight preview showings. “Don’t Dress for Dinner” earned $110,317 in ticket sales and “Peter and the Starcatcher” earned ($143,579).
Other Broadway newcomers found success this week in terms of ticket sales. “Evita,” scheduled to open on April 4, earned ticket sales of $1.4 million, which is an increase of less than one percent, and “Once” ($664,936) increased by four percent. “Newsies” ($763,682) officially opened on March 29, but experienced a 7.9 percent decrease in sales among three preview and five regular performances — despite the decrease, audiences were at full capacity.
Even with significant gross ticket sales, the newbies were unable to knock the Broadway fixtures from their top spots. “The Lion King” was up by 5.8 percent from the previous week, and “Wicked” was up by 1.8 percent; both had ticket sales of $1.8 million.
According to figures posted on Playbill.com, “The Lion King,” “Sister Act,” ($760,041) and “Jesus Christ Superstar” ($750,241) were all big winners this week, increasing sales by over $100,000 from the previous week’s earnings.
“Death of a Salesman” experienced unusually low sales ($457,568) for the week ending April 1 with a decrease of 41 percent ($320,386) from the previous week. According to an article on Broadway.com, the show played only four performances due to the absence of Andrew Garfield, who had prior promotional commitments for his upcoming film “The Amazing Spider-Man.”
Broadway newcomer “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” officially opened on April 1 with ticket sales of $621,920, down 14 percent over the previous week with a difference of over $100,000. “End of the Rainbow” also did not have much success with gross sales ($257,090) down by 18 percent — the show officially opened on April 2, therefore opening night sales were not included in this week’s figures.
Broadway’s overall ticket sales figures for the week ending April 1 were not reflective of the gains made by several of the productions. The lack of performances by “Death of a Salesman” and the show’s consequently large decrease in sales likely led to overall Broadway sales increasing only slightly — overall sales may have been higher had “Death of a Salesman” had a normal run.
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) |
$590,573 | 6,576 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $89.81 | 80.1% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$580,175 | 7,119 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $81.50 | 82.4% |
| Clybourne Park (Kerr) |
$233,486 | 5,902 | 8 | 0 | 951 | $39.56 | 77.6% |
| Death of a Salesman (Barrymore) |
$457,568 | 4,138 | 0 | 4 | 1,036 | $110.58 | 99.9% |
| Don’t Dress For Dinner (American Airlines) |
$110,317 | 2,741 | 5 | 0 | 728 | $40.25 | 75.3% |
| End…Rainbow (Belasco) |
$257,090 | 5,881 | 8 | 0 | 989 | $43.72 | 74.3% |
| Evita (Marquis) |
$1,424,700 | 11,936 | 8 | 0 | 1,564 | $119.36 | 95.4% |
| Ghost (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$574,817 | 8,577 | 7 | 0 | 1,448 | $67.02 | 84.6% |
| Godspell (Circle in Square) |
$313,431 | 4,476 | 0 | 8 | 735 | $70.02 | 76.1% |
| Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (Schoenfeld) |
$621,920 | 7,738 | 7 | 1 | 1,063 | $80.37 | 91.0% |
| How to Succeed… (Hirschfeld) |
$672,564 | 8,115 | 0 | 8 | 1,424 | $82.88 | 71.2% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$935,727 | 9,200 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $101.71 | 93.6% |
| Jesus Christ Superstar (Simon) |
$750,241 | 8,995 | 0 | 8 | 1,424 | $83.41 | 79.0% |
| Magic/Bird (Longacre) |
$102,073 | 3,482 | 7 | 0 | 1,077 | $29.31 | 46.2% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$744,229 | 9,299 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $80.03 | 77.6% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$912,570 | 11,285 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $80.87 | 78.5% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$677,692 | 9,421 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $71.93 | 80.1% |
| Newsies (Nederlander) |
$763,682 | 9,620 | 3 | 5 | 1,197 | $79.38 | 100.5% |
| Nice Work If You Can Get It (Imperial) |
$504,314 | 5,160 | 4 | 0 | 1,439 | $97.74 | 89.6% |
| Once (Jacobs) |
$664,936 | 7,620 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $87.26 | 90.0% |
| Other Desert Cities (Booth) |
$240,862 | 3,399 | 0 | 8 | 761 | $70.86 | 55.8% |
| Peter and the Starcatcher (Atkinson) |
$143,579 | 3,624 | 4 | 0 | 1,064 | $39.62 | 85.2% |
| Porgy and Bess (Rodgers) |
$622,297 | 6,772 | 0 | 8 | 1,335 | $91.89 | 63.4% |
| Priscilla…Desert (Palace) |
$551,229 | 7,216 | 0 | 8 | 1,689 | $76.39 | 53.4% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$395,943 | 4,324 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $91.57 | 92.7% |
| Seminar (Golden) |
$426,562 | 5,014 | 0 | 7 | 804 | $85.07 | 89.1% |
| Sister Act (Broadway) |
$760,041 | 10,857 | 0 | 8 | 1,755 | $70.00 | 77.3% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,519,872 | 14,184 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $107.15 | 91.9% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,485,024 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $169.68 | 102.6% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,843,641 | 13,420 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $137.38 | 100.0% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$972,899 | 12,042 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $80.79 | 93.8% |
| Venus in Fur (Lyceum) |
$316,010 | 3,814 | 0 | 8 | 708 | $82.86 | 67.3% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$803,872 | 7,417 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $108.38 | 86.7% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,841,661 | 14,002 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $131.53 | 96.8% |
All data provided by The Broadway League.
