Gross ticket sales on the Great White Way continued their climb, up 1.6 percent, as several shows played to packed houses and brought in the big bucks through the week ending July 22.
According to figures posted by The Broadway League, receipts totaled $23.8 million through Sunday. Although only 13 productions saw an increase in sales this week, compared to the previous 19, overall earnings were up thanks to several shows that saw a jump in sales of close to $200,000.
“The Lion King” narrowly beat “Wicked” for the top spot with ticket sales totaling $2.2 million — the show had the biggest increase with sales up $217,180 over the previous week. “Wicked” has nothing to feel bad about with sales up $165,703, which put the show over the $2 million mark. According to Broadway.com, both of the popular musicals played nine performances.
Broadway newcomer “Harvey” starring Jim Parsons schooled several of Broadway’s heavy hitters by playing to sold-out audiences with capacity at 102 percent, the highest of any production. Musical mainstays “Chicago” and “Evita” both experienced big drops in capacity. According to Playbill.com, capacity for “Chicago” was down 5.4 percent, while “Evita” took a much bigger hit with capacity down 12.9 percent.
Both “Evita” and “Chicago” also had the greatest decreases in sales for the week, with a loss of over $150,000. Ironically, “Evita” had the greatest increase the previous week. J. William Bruce, sales rep at Applause-Tickets.com, told TicketNews in a recent email that the dip in sales might have been attributed to actress Elena Rogers’ vacation from the show last week.
“A Streetcar Named Desire” played its final Broadway performance on its original closing date of July 22. Ticket sales for the show were up $126,799 across eight performances with receipts totaling $614,897. Producers for the show are planning a run on London’s West End this fall.
While musicals are typically among the more successful shows on Broadway, “Rock of Ages” seems to be the exception. With receipts totaling just $490,703, the musical is the fifth-lowest grossing show; however, among the lowest grossing are two Broadway newcomers. “Bring It On: The Musical” played to audiences at 91 percent of capacity at the St. James Theatre and earned $374,495 across seven preview performances. The latest Broadway adaptation of “Fela!” seems to be struggling a bit, filling the Al Hirschfeld Theatre to just 53 percent of its capacity with ticket sales totaling $305,190 across eight performances.
Several shows managed to stay above the $1 million mark with an increase in sales through the week ending July 22. “Newsies,” “Once,” “Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark,” and “The Phantom of the Opera” all made significant gains, which contributed to the overall increase in gross ticket sales.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
|
|||||||
| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| A Streetcar…Desire (Broadhurst) |
$614,897 | 7,919 | 0 | 8 | 1,168 | $77.65 | 84.7% |
| Bring It On (St. James) |
$374,495 | 8,346 | 7 | 0 | 1,304 | $44.87 | 91.4% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$609,778 | 7,613 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $80.10 | 88.1% |
| Clybourne Park (Kerr) |
$358,048 | 4,710 | 0 | 8 | 951 | $76.02 | 61.9% |
| End…Rainbow (Belasco) |
$232,719 | 3,725 | 0 | 8 | 990 | $62.47 | 47.0% |
| Evita (Marquis) |
$1,039,330 | 9,365 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $110.98 | 72.6% |
| Fela! (Hirschfeld) |
$305,190 | 5,806 | 0 | 8 | 1,369 | $52.56 | 53.0% |
| Ghost (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$528,401 | 6,852 | 0 | 8 | 1,505 | $77.12 | 56.9% |
| Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (Schoenfeld) |
$621,505 | 6,379 | 0 | 8 | 1,063 | $97.43 | 75.0% |
| Harvey (Studio 54) |
$666,018 | 8,269 | 0 | 8 | 1,004 | $80.54 | 103.0% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$906,865 | 8,856 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $102.40 | 90.1% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$874,943 | 10,339 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $84.63 | 86.3% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$1,006,062 | 12,342 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $81.52 | 85.9% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$602,051 | 9,103 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $66.14 | 77.4% |
| Newsies (Nederlander) |
$1,066,049 | 9,716 | 0 | 8 | 1,195 | $109.72 | 101.6% |
| Nice Work If You Can Get It (Imperial) |
$767,559 | 7,567 | 0 | 8 | 1,439 | $101.44 | 65.7% |
| Once (Jacobs) |
$1,069,942 | 8,385 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $127.60 | 99.1% |
| One Man, Two Guvnors (Music Box) |
$624,487 | 6,344 | 0 | 8 | 975 | $98.44 | 81.3% |
| Peter and the Starcatcher (Atkinson) |
$493,268 | 5,883 | 0 | 8 | 1,050 | $83.85 | 70.0% |
| Porgy and Bess (Rodgers) |
$546,647 | 6,066 | 0 | 8 | 1,335 | $90.12 | 56.8% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$490,703 | 4,562 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $107.56 | 97.8% |
| Sister Act (Broadway) |
$733,276 | 9,678 | 0 | 8 | 1,755 | $75.77 | 68.9% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,770,424 | 14,777 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $119.81 | 95.7% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,628,157 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $186.03 | 102.6% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$2,219,534 | 15,100 | 0 | 9 | 1,677 | $146.99 | 100.0% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$1,022,487 | 12,225 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $83.64 | 95.2% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$494,019 | 5,287 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $93.44 | 61.8% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$2,145,917 | 15,307 | 0 | 9 | 1,809 | $140.19 | 94.0% |
All data provided by The Broadway League.
