Broadway ticket sales made a slight jump through the week ending September 30 with overall sales up $94,000 over the previous week’s $17 million. According to figures posted by The Broadway League, receipts totaled $17.2 million this week and 17 of the 22 productions experienced an increase in sales, compared to the previous week in which 14 shows had a drop in sales. Of the four shows that saw a decrease this week, three of them are Broadway newcomers.
“The Book of Mormon” topped the box office for the fourth consecutive week with receipts totaling $1.64 million. Broadway’s long-running musical “The Lion King” is still nipping at the heels as it still remains in the No. 2 spot with sales totaling $1.6 million, up $44,377 over the previous week. “The Book of Mormon” has earned $62.9 million over 40 weeks, according to BroadwayWorld.com. In comparison, “The Lion King” has earned $71.5 million.
Broadway newcomers came up short this week, all with a slight drop in ticket sales. “Grace” had the greatest week-over-week decrease of any production, down $24,980 from the previous week’s sales across seven performances. Officially opening October 4, the show has grosses just over $1 million, 55 percent of its potential gross, since beginning preview performances three weeks ago, according to BroadwayWorld.com. Fellow newcomer “Cyrano de Bergerac” experienced an $8,914 decrease over eight preview performances.
The fall 2012 Broadway season kicked off with the official opening of “An Enemy of the People” at the Friedman Theatre. After three weeks of preview performances; however, the opening did not seem to help ticket sales. The show saw a decrease of $16,813 over three preview and five regular performances, playing to an audience at 92 percent capacity. “‘Enemy of the People’ got fairly good reviews and believe it or not we actually have been getting quite a few calls which is surprising since musicals are our biggest sellers this time of year,” J. William Bruce, sales representative for Applause-Tickets.com, told TicketNews via email.
“Bring It On The Musical” had the greatest increase in sales, up $113,418 over the previous week. Since opening in July at the St. James Theatre, the show has grossed $5 million and ticket sales have seemed to hover around the $500,000 mark. Other shows with a significant week-over-week increase are “Mamma Mia,” up $84,212, “Jersey Boys,” up $76,499, and “War Horse,” up $68,966. Bruce told TicketNews that low ticket prices and good reviews has generated increased sales for the new show.
“Chaplin” seems to have turned things around this week, earning its best week to date, with an increase in sales of $54,309, according to Playbill.com. The show played to a significant audience through Sunday, filling the Ethel Barrymore Theatre to 80.6 percent capacity, up 8.3 percent. Prior to this week’s sales, “Chaplin” experienced a drop in sales two weeks in a row. Despite the mixed reviews, the show has grossed $2.6 million over six weeks of performances.
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” first opened on Broadway 50 years ago, but the latest revival starring Tracy Letts and Amy Morton, opened this week at the Booth Theatre. Receipts for the show’s first week totaled $190,160 across five performances, playing to an audience at 85.6 percent capacity. The revival is scheduled to make its official Broadway opening on October 13.
“Five performances and an average ticket price of $56.82 does not translate to big numbers at the box office,” Bruce said of the opening week of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” “I’m sure once word of mouth catches on it should see a substantial increase in sales,” he added.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
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| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| An Enemy…People (Friedman) |
$165,381 | 4,724 | 3 | 5 | 644 | $35.01 | 91.7% |
| Bring It On (St. James) |
$485,269 | 8,091 | 0 | 8 | 1,334 | $59.98 | 75.8% |
| Chaplin (Barrymore) |
$498,568 | 6,740 | 0 | 8 | 1,045 | $73.97 | 80.6% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$616,184 | 7,499 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $82.17 | 86.8% |
| Cyrano de Bergerac (American Airlines) |
$169,950 | 4,112 | 8 | 0 | 728 | $41.33 | 70.6% |
| Evita (Marquis) |
$1,061,157 | 10,152 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $104.53 | 78.7% |
| Grace (Cort) |
$440,352 | 6,544 | 7 | 0 | 1,079 | $67.29 | 86.6% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,052,914 | 9,645 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $109.17 | 98.2% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$813,955 | 9,828 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $82.82 | 82.0% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$639,620 | 9,422 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $67.89 | 65.5% |
| Newsies (Nederlander) |
$848,585 | 9,354 | 0 | 8 | 1,195 | $90.72 | 97.8% |
| Nice Work If You Can Get It (Imperial) |
$969,674 | 9,804 | 0 | 8 | 1,439 | $98.91 | 85.2% |
| Once (Jacobs) |
$1,007,256 | 8,284 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $121.59 | 97.9% |
| Peter and the Starcatcher (Atkinson) |
$340,839 | 5,700 | 0 | 8 | 1,038 | $59.80 | 68.6% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$476,793 | 4,400 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $108.36 | 94.3% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,159,061 | 12,041 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $96.26 | 78.0% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,636,331 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $186.97 | 102.6% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,600,129 | 13,416 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $119.27 | 100.0% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$853,340 | 11,386 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $74.95 | 88.7% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$604,824 | 7,532 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $80.30 | 88.1% |
| Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Booth) |
$190,160 | 3,347 | 5 | 0 | 782 | $56.82 | 85.6% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,536,124 | 13,437 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $114.32 | 92.8% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,508,501 | 14,109 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $106.92 | 97.5% |
| Wit (Friedman) |
$232,701 | 4,016 | 0 | 8 | 650 | $57.94 | 77.2% |
All data provided by The Broadway League.
