Ticket sales on the Great White Way fell by $1 million from the previous week with receipts totaling $21.8 million. Family-friendly shows took the biggest hit this week as the back-to-school season approaches and families take a break from vacationing to get ready for the school year.
According to figures posted by The Broadway League, 16 productions experienced a decrease in sales through the week ending August 19 while just eight shows had an increase. Two productions played their final performances this week, which may have contributed to the overall drop in sales.
Based on figures from Playbill.com, “Evita” stole the show this week with sales up just over $300,000 from the previous week as star Ricky Martin made his return after another weeklong vacation. The jump in sales once again put the show over the $1 million mark after sales fell to around $700,000 the previous week with Martin’s absence.
“End of the Rainbow” and “Ghost” both said goodbye to Broadway this week on a high note. “End of the Rainbow” had the second greatest increase in ticket sales, up $72,474; however, despite the slight climb, the show still ended its run with the lowest gross sales on Broadway — receipts totaled $325,000 through Sunday. “Ghost” played its final performance with sales up $53,108 and receipts totaling $634,581.
“The Lion King” made history this week, as it became the fifth-longest running show on Broadway, according to Broadway.com. The popular musical continues to be the biggest Broadway contender when it comes to ticket sales — although the show’s sales dropped below $2 million, it still remained ahead of “Wicked” with sales of $1,958,780. “Wicked” had the greatest decrease in sales, down $328,924 from the previous week, followed by “The Lion King” ($260,956), and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” ($148,485).
J. William Bruce, sales rep for Applause-Tickets.com, told TicketNews via email that family-friendly shows tend to see a decrease in sales around this time as families prepare for the start of the school year. “I would expect it to pick up again around Columbus Day weekend,” added Bruce.
“Bring It On: The Musical” continues to see an increase in ticket sales with receipts totaling just over $500,000, up $35,243 over the previous week. TicketNews recently discussed the announcement made by producers that the show would extend its run through January 20, 2013. The production, based on the popular 2000 film, originally opened August 1 and was slated to end its limited engagement on October 7.
“Once,” which recently announced that it had recouped its $5.5 million investment, saw a nearly $30,000 decrease in sales this week, but remained above the $1 million mark.
TicketNews reported that after its March 18 opening and just 21 weeks on Broadway, the show still continues to pack in audiences — capacity for the show through Sunday was at 98.2 percent.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
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| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| Bring It On (St. James) |
$508,052 | 8,209 | 0 | 8 | 1,334 | $61.89 | 76.9% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$600,661 | 7,517 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $79.91 | 87.0% |
| Clybourne Park (Kerr) |
$380,155 | 5,461 | 0 | 8 | 951 | $69.61 | 71.8% |
| End…Rainbow (Belasco) |
$325,001 | 4,953 | 0 | 8 | 990 | $65.62 | 62.5% |
| Evita (Marquis) |
$1,039,196 | 10,102 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $102.87 | 78.3% |
| Ghost (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$634,581 | 8,627 | 0 | 8 | 1,505 | $73.56 | 71.7% |
| Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (Schoenfeld) |
$557,268 | 5,942 | 0 | 8 | 1,063 | $93.78 | 69.9% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$896,346 | 9,096 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $98.54 | 92.6% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$846,506 | 9,687 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $87.39 | 80.8% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$953,751 | 13,048 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $73.10 | 90.8% |
| Newsies (Nederlander) |
$1,003,363 | 9,702 | 0 | 8 | 1,195 | $103.42 | 101.5% |
| Nice Work If You Can Get It (Imperial) |
$744,376 | 7,483 | 0 | 8 | 1,439 | $99.48 | 65.0% |
| Once (Jacobs) |
$1,030,434 | 8,310 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $124.00 | 98.2% |
| One Man, Two Guvnors (Music Box) |
$659,289 | 6,761 | 0 | 8 | 975 | $97.51 | 86.7% |
| Peter and the Starcatcher (Atkinson) |
$429,784 | 5,678 | 0 | 8 | 1,038 | $75.69 | 68.4% |
| Porgy and Bess (Rodgers) |
$524,067 | 5,989 | 0 | 8 | 1,335 | $87.50 | 56.1% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$480,779 | 4,540 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $105.90 | 97.3% |
| Sister Act (Broadway) |
$804,261 | 9,981 | 0 | 8 | 1,755 | $80.58 | 71.1% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,542,699 | 13,319 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $115.83 | 86.3% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,651,064 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $188.65 | 102.6% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,958,780 | 13,418 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $145.98 | 100.0% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$925,633 | 11,499 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $80.50 | 89.6% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$540,524 | 7,277 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $74.28 | 85.1% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,818,537 | 13,148 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $138.31 | 90.9% |
All data provided by The Broadway League.
