Ticket sales on the Great White Way increased dramatically through the week ending October 21 as Broadway newcomers continue to draw packed audiences and limited engagements are bringing in huge earnings. According to figures posted by The Broadway League, gross ticket sales totaled $22 million through Sunday, up $1.4 million from the previous week.
“The Lion King” remains atop the Broadway box office with receipts totaling $1.7 million and “Wicked” trails closely behind, earning just $1,716 less than the “king” of Broadway, according to Playbill.com. Despite the earnings, “The Lion King” experienced a decrease of $51,231 from the previous week.
Now in its seventh year on Broadway, “Jersey Boys” has long been a favorite, but theatergoers packed the Broadway Theatre this past week to catch the real Frankie Valli perform with the Four Seasons in a limited engagement. The show earned $633,900 across just 3 performances and played to crowds at 101.5 percent capacity, according to Broadway.com. Al Pacino also seems to be a hot commodity on Broadway. The Pacino-led revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross” earned a strong $703,755 across its first four performances at the Schoenfeld Theatre. With everyone getting ready for Halloween, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is likely to attract big audiences. The show played its first week of performances at Studio 54 and earned $176,694 across five shows and played to audiences at 86.7 percent capacity.
“Seeing Frankie Valli and Al Pacino live on the Broadway stage is pretty awesome,” Amanda Pekoe, president of advertising and marketing company The Pekoe Group, told TicketNews via email. “I don’t anticipate sales on those two shows to be low moving forward.”
Comedian Lewis Black’s “Running on Empty” ended its limited engagement on a high note. The show played its final two performances and earned $254,816 and played to sold-out audiences at 101 percent capacity, according to BroadwayWorld.com.
Broadway newcomer “The Heiress” had the greatest increase in ticket sales the previous week, but with several new openings this week, the show’s upward climb came to an end. Receipts for the show totaled $507,850, down $34,614 from the previous week. Other newcomers were able to stay afloat despite all the openings this week. “Scandalous” had the greatest increase of any Broadway show, up $175,272 from the previous week. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” increased sales by $106,851. “Cyrano de Bergerac” saw an increase of $38,915. It seems that theatergoers are still excited to see everyone’s favorite redhead. “Annie” earned $733,956, an increase of $86,193 from the previous week.
J. William Bruce, sales representative for Applause-Tickets.com told TicketNews that he expects that ticket sales for “Annie” will increase as the holidays get closer, and the same goes for other family favorites. “Mary Poppins,” “The Lion King,” and “Newsies” all experienced a decrease in sales this week, and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” and “Wicked” did not see very significant increases. According to Bruce, October is typically a slow month for these shows with kids still in school, but sales will likely pick up as the holidays near.
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) |
$217,806 | 3,803 | 0 | 8 | 644 | $57.27 | 73.8% |
| Annie (Palace) |
$733,956 | 10,335 | 8 | 0 | 1,668 | $71.02 | 77.5% |
| Bring It On (St. James) |
$393,195 | 6,198 | 0 | 8 | 1,334 | $63.44 | 58.1% |
| Chaplin (Barrymore) |
$514,816 | 6,514 | 0 | 8 | 1,045 | $79.03 | 77.9% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$666,105 | 7,985 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $83.42 | 92.4% |
| Cyrano de Bergerac (American Airlines) |
$249,257 | 4,243 | 0 | 8 | 728 | $58.75 | 72.9% |
| Evita (Marquis) |
$1,198,969 | 11,206 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $106.99 | 86.9% |
| Frankie…Seasons (Broadway) |
$633,900 | 5,071 | 0 | 3 | 1,759 | $125.00 | 96.1% |
| Glengarry Glen Ross (Schoenfeld) |
$703,775 | 4,279 | 4 | 0 | 1,071 | $164.47 | 99.9% |
| Grace (Cort) |
$554,173 | 6,659 | 0 | 8 | 1,079 | $83.22 | 77.1% |
| Jersey Boys (Wilson) |
$1,058,814 | 9,685 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $109.33 | 98.6% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$854,181 | 9,760 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $87.52 | 81.4% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$740,217 | 10,904 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $67.88 | 75.8% |
| Newsies (Nederlander) |
$921,648 | 9,562 | 0 | 8 | 1,195 | $96.39 | 100.0% |
| Nice Work If You Can Get It (Imperial) |
$1,105,092 | 10,762 | 0 | 8 | 1,439 | $102.68 | 93.5% |
| Once (Jacobs) |
$1,063,940 | 8,547 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $124.48 | 101.0% |
| Peter and the Starcatcher (Atkinson) |
$413,479 | 6,177 | 0 | 8 | 1,038 | $66.94 | 74.4% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$521,696 | 4,604 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $113.31 | 98.7% |
| Running On Empty (Rodgers) |
$254,816 | 2,801 | 0 | 2 | 1,386 | $90.97 | 101.0% |
| Scandalous (Simon) |
$241,613 | 6,233 | 7 | 0 | 1,352 | $38.76 | 65.9% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,321,997 | 13,071 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $101.14 | 84.7% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,655,294 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $189.13 | 102.6% |
| The Heiress (Kerr) |
$507,850 | 5,888 | 7 | 0 | 955 | $86.25 | 88.1% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,718,718 | 13,303 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $129.20 | 99.2% |
| The Mystery…Drood (Studio 54) |
$176,694 | 4,297 | 5 | 0 | 991 | $41.12 | 86.7% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$899,485 | 11,518 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $78.09 | 89.7% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$662,956 | 7,578 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $87.48 | 88.6% |
| Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Booth) |
$322,346 | 4,156 | 0 | 7 | 782 | $77.56 | 75.9% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,717,002 | 14,458 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $118.76 | 99.9% |
All data provided by The Broadway League.
