Broadway box offices earned $26.1 million through the week ending April 29 with gross ticket sales up less than a percent over the previous week’s sales of $25.9 million.
As the 2011-2012 Broadway season comes to an end, 20 of the 39 shows on the Great White Way experienced an increase, with a loss among 19 productions compared to 29 the previous week, according to figures posted by The Broadway League.
“The Lion King,” ($1.8 million) “Wicked,” ($1.7 million) “ The Book of Mormon,” ($1.6 million) and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” ($1.4 million) were among the top earners through the final week of the season. Newcomer “Evita” also managed to earn a top spot, bringing in $1.5 million in ticket sales through the week ending April 29.
The 2012 Tony Award nominations were announced May 1 and according to Broadway.com, “Once” topped the list receiving eleven nods followed closely by “Peter and the Starcatcher” with nine nominations — both shows experienced a decrease in ticket sales. “Once” ($609,412), down 4.7 percent had a capacity of 84 percent and “Peter and the Starcatcher” ($302,416), down 4.2 percent had an audience at just 62 percent of capacity.
“Leap of Faith,” nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical, is among the shows with the smallest gross earnings, bringing in $224,539 through April 29, down 16.4 percent. “Porgy and Bess” also tops the list of most Tony Award nods, but is an underdog when it comes to capacity, according to Broadway.com. “Porgy” brought in an audience at just 58.4 percent of capacity, earning $558,173 in ticket sales, up 4.6 percent over the previous week.
“Death of a Salesman” continued to climb toward the $1 million mark as sales reached $900,749, up less than one percent over the previous week — the show once again broke the house record at the Barrymore Theatre, according to Broadway.com.
According to figures posted by Playbill.com, Broadway newcomers topped the list of the week’s biggest winners based on increase. “Ghost” ($667,994) brought in $138,067 more than the previous week. Tony Award Best Play nominee “Clybourne Park” ($373,230) increased its sales by $91,071 and newcomer “One Man, Two Guvnors” ($541,263) earned $85,907 over the previous week.
Among the productions with the biggest losses for the week are a Tony Best Musical nominee and two family favorites. “ Nice Work If You Can Get It” is nominated for top honors at this year’s Tony Awards and earned $829,755 in ticket sales through April 29, a major feat for any Broadway show, especially a newcomer — however, the production lost $109,194 after nearly reaching $1 million the previous week. Ironically, “Spider-Man” and “Wicked” made the list for the week’s top earners, but also two of the biggest losses over the previous week, down $71,035 and $58,378 respectively.
Several shows made their official opening on the Great White Way last week. According to Broadway.com, three of those newly-opened productions are among the lowest grossing shows — “Leap of Faith” was on the list as well as “The Lyons” ($198,432) and “Don’t Dress for Dinner” ($177,606). “Ghost” and “The Lyons” were the only two shows that opened last week and had an increase in ticket sales with all others experiencing a decrease.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
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| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| A Streetcar…Desire (Broadhurst) |
$363,842 | 5,790 | 0 | 8 | 1,168 | $62.84 | 62.0% |
| Anything Goes (Sondheim) |
$553,549 | 6,306 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $87.78 | 76.8% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$611,178 | 7,255 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $84.24 | 84.0% |
| Clybourne Park (Kerr) |
$373,230 | 5,963 | 0 | 8 | 951 | $62.59 | 78.4% |
| Death of a Salesman (Barrymore) |
$900,749 | 7,208 | 0 | 7 | 1,036 | $124.97 | 99.4% |
| Don’t Dress For Dinner (American Airlines) |
$177,606 | 4,959 | 3 | 5 | 728 | $35.81 | 85.1% |
| End…Rainbow (Belasco) |
$371,930 | 4,589 | 0 | 8 | 990 | $81.05 | 57.9% |
| Evita (Marquis) |
$1,515,746 | 12,086 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $125.41 | 93.7% |
| Ghost (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$667,994 | 10,667 | 0 | 8 | 1,506 | $62.62 | 88.5% |
| Godspell (Circle in Square) |
$227,240 | 3,915 | 0 | 8 | 735 | $58.04 | 66.6% |
| Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (Schoenfeld) |
$892,877 | 8,374 | 0 | 8 | 1,063 | $106.62 | 98.5% |
| How to Succeed… (Hirschfeld) |
$475,977 | 6,025 | 0 | 8 | 1,424 | $79.00 | 52.9% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$907,895 | 8,552 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $106.16 | 87.1% |
| Jesus Christ Superstar (Simon) |
$626,676 | 7,094 | 0 | 8 | 1,424 | $88.34 | 62.3% |
| Leap of Faith (St. James) |
$224,539 | 9,325 | 5 | 3 | 1,367 | $24.08 | 85.3% |
| Magic/Bird (Longacre) |
$211,639 | 4,547 | 0 | 8 | 1,077 | $46.54 | 52.8% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$804,623 | 9,693 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $83.01 | 80.9% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$801,008 | 11,117 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $72.05 | 77.3% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$597,846 | 8,198 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $72.93 | 69.7% |
| Newsies (Nederlander) |
$897,046 | 9,366 | 0 | 8 | 1,195 | $95.78 | 98.0% |
| Nice Work If You Can Get It (Imperial) |
$829,755 | 9,557 | 1 | 6 | 1,439 | $86.82 | 94.9% |
| Once (Jacobs) |
$609,412 | 7,070 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $86.20 | 83.5% |
| One Man, Two Guvnors (Music Box) |
$541,263 | 6,301 | 0 | 8 | 975 | $85.90 | 80.8% |
| Other Desert Cities (Booth) |
$305,562 | 4,092 | 0 | 8 | 761 | $74.67 | 67.2% |
| Peter and the Starcatcher (Atkinson) |
$302,416 | 5,299 | 0 | 8 | 1,064 | $57.07 | 62.3% |
| Porgy and Bess (Rodgers) |
$558,173 | 6,237 | 0 | 8 | 1,335 | $89.49 | 58.4% |
| Priscilla…Desert (Palace) |
$628,523 | 8,116 | 0 | 8 | 1,689 | $77.44 | 60.1% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$416,009 | 4,321 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $96.28 | 92.6% |
| Seminar (Golden) |
$134,207 | 3,656 | 0 | 8 | 804 | $36.71 | 56.8% |
| Sister Act (Broadway) |
$735,261 | 9,986 | 0 | 8 | 1,755 | $73.63 | 71.1% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,371,737 | 12,951 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $105.92 | 83.9% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,603,228 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $183.18 | 102.6% |
| The Columnist (Friedman) |
$227,696 | 4,383 | 1 | 6 | 650 | $51.95 | 96.3% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,761,855 | 13,299 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $132.48 | 99.1% |
| The Lyons (Cort) |
$198,432 | 5,179 | 0 | 8 | 1,079 | $38.31 | 60.0% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$890,181 | 11,507 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $77.36 | 89.6% |
| Venus in Fur (Lyceum) |
$303,913 | 4,179 | 0 | 8 | 906 | $72.72 | 57.7% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$721,028 | 6,793 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $106.14 | 79.4% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,742,571 | 13,646 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $127.70 | 94.3% |
All data provided by The Broadway League.
