Broadway gross ticket sales increased by 4.7 percent or over $1 million through the week ending July 15 with overall sales up for several productions.

According to figures posted by The Broadway League, ticket sales totaled $23.4 million with an increase among 19 productions. While several shows have closed their doors over the past few weeks, Broadway welcomed two new shows to their lineup.

Broadway newbie “Bring It On: The Musical” got off to a very successful start. Preview performances began July 12 and will run through October with the show officially opening on August 1. Receipts totaled $235,957 over four preview performances with audiences at 94.8 percent capacity at the St. James Theatre.

According to Broadway.com, “Fela!” opened July 12 for a 32-performance encore run at the Al Hirschfield Theatre. In its opening week the show’s ticket sales totaled $238,642 across four preview and four regular performances. The musical previously received three Tony Awards for its 2010 run on Broadway.

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“‘Fela!’ has already been here before and while it sold well it was not on the same level as shows like ‘Wicked’ or ‘The Book of Mormon;’ however, since it is a limited run of a few weeks [sales] will probably stay the same,” said J. William Bruce, sales rep at Applause-Tickets.com, in a recent email to TicketNews.

Luckily for producers of “Evita,” Grammy-winner Ricky Martin made his return to the show after a weeklong vacation — the show had the greatest increase this week with sales totaling $1.2 million, up $568,786 over the previous week, according to figures posted by Playbill.com. Ticket sales through July 8 were at just $643,663 and the show had lost nearly half of their overall sales. In contrast, “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” had the largest decrease through Sunday with sales dropping to $547,947, a decrease of $89,015.

With tourists flocking to New York City, “The Lion King” earned the top spot on Broadway with sales over $2 million for the second consecutive week. “Wicked” climbed closer to the $2 million mark with sales of $1.98 million, up $59,651.

“Chicago” also saw a large jump in sales, up nearly $200,000 with sales totaling $771,152, and according to Bruce, the boost is likely due to the fact that the show remains a Broadway mainstay among tourists. “A Streetcar Named Desire” saw an increase of $108,144 with receipts totaling nearly $488,099 and capacity up 13.5 percent, the second highest of any Broadway show.

“The Book of Mormon” set another record at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre with sales at $1.64 million, according to figures posted by The Broadway League, with the show playing to crowds at 103 percent of capacity.

With ticket sales up close to $1 million through Sunday, ticket sales for “Evita” made up nearly half of the overall increase, while increased sales from “Chicago” also contributed to the boost and the addition of two productions didn’t hurt.

Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
Week Ending July 15, 2012

Production
(Theatre)
Weekly Gross Total Atten. Prev. Perf. Total Capacity Avg. Ticket Price Atten. %
A Streetcar…Desire
(Broadhurst)
$488,099 7,184 0 8 1,168 $67.94 76.9%
Bring It On
(St. James)
$235,957 5,059 4 0 1,334 $46.64 94.8%
Chicago
(Ambassador)
$771,152 8,078 0 8 1,080 $95.46 93.5%
Clybourne Park
(Kerr)
$429,513 6,188 0 8 951 $69.41 81.3%
End…Rainbow
(Belasco)
$253,535 4,012 0 8 990 $63.19 50.7%
Evita
(Marquis)
$1,212,448 11,033 0 8 1,612 $109.89 85.6%
Fela!
(Hirschfeld)
$238,642 7,470 4 4 1,369 $31.95 68.2%
Ghost
(Lunt-Fontanne)
$575,956 7,978 0 8 1,505 $72.19 66.3%
Gore Vidal’s The Best Man
(Schoenfeld)
$547,947 5,587 0 8 1,063 $98.08 65.7%
Harvey
(Studio 54)
$600,469 8,207 0 8 1,004 $73.17 102.2%
Jersey Boys
(August Wilson)
$955,638 9,460 0 8 1,228 $101.02 96.3%
Mamma Mia!
(Winter Garden)
$863,782 10,453 0 8 1,498 $82.63 87.2%
Mary Poppins
(New Amsterdam)
$1,021,205 12,705 0 8 1,797 $80.38 88.4%
Memphis
(Shubert)
$591,721 8,896 0 8 1,470 $66.52 75.6%
Newsies
(Nederlander)
$1,055,178 9,711 0 8 1,195 $108.66 101.6%
Nice Work If You Can Get It
(Imperial)
$814,142 7,982 0 8 1,439 $102.00 69.3%
Once
(Jacobs)
$1,015,977 8,607 0 8 1,058 $118.04 101.7%
One Man, Two Guvnors
(Music Box)
$636,677 6,216 0 8 975 $102.43 79.7%
Peter and the Starcatcher
(Atkinson)
$517,681 6,362 0 8 1,050 $81.37 75.7%
Porgy and Bess
(Rodgers)
$550,485 6,367 0 8 1,335 $86.46 59.6%
Rock of Ages
(Hayes)
$496,313 4,601 0 8 583 $107.87 98.6%
Sister Act
(Broadway)
$738,916 9,499 0 8 1,755 $77.79 67.7%
Spider-Man…Dark
(Foxwoods)
$1,738,983 14,943 0 8 1,930 $116.37 96.8%
The Book of Mormon
(O’Neill)
$1,637,543 8,752 0 8 1,066 $187.11 102.6%
The Lion King
(Minskoff)
$2,002,353 13,418 0 8 1,677 $149.23 100.0%
The Phantom of the Opera
(Majestic)
$914,957 11,760 0 8 1,605 $77.80 91.6%
War Horse
(Beaumont)
$552,605 5,827 0 8 1,069 $94.84 68.1%
Wicked
(Gershwin)
$1,980,214 14,088 0 8 1,809 $140.56 97.3%

All data provided by The Broadway League.

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