Over holidays, ticket sales for Broadway plays can be erratic. Even though most productions closed for Thanksgiving, many made up for it with a special matinee performances for families on Friday, November 23, in addition to their normal Friday night performances.
Ticket sales had a big jump over the holiday with gross ticket sales up $6.4 million from the previous week ending November 18. According to this week’s figures posted by The Broadway League, Broadway gross ticket sales totaled $27,019,880 for the week ending on November 25.
Twelve Broadway shows earned over $1 million through the Thanksgiving week. “Wicked” was very thankful as it broke the record for the highest grossing eight performance week in Broadway history at $2.2 million. “Annie” earned $1,499,197 and set a house record at the Palace Theatre. “Annie” wasn’t alone a few other shows also broke records at their theaters including: “Once,” “The Book of Mormon,” “The Lion King,” and “Newsies.”
Some notable productions that stayed opened on Thanksgiving Day were “A Christmas Story,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” and “Chicago.” Their hard work paid off with an increase in ticket sales. “A Christmas Story” grossed $1,104,312 and made the top five for productions that increased the most compared to last week, which was $533,800. “The Phantom of the Opera” grossed $1,125,470 with an increase of $466,275 and “Chicago” grossed $675,747 with an increase of $228,511.
“Wicked” came in as the top earner for the week ending November 25 with $2.2 million. “The Lion King” came up behind at $2.1 million, and “The Book of Mormon” followed in third hitting $1.8 million.
Figures on BroadwayWorld.com show that “The Lion King” had the biggest increase in sales compared to last week with an increase of $723,492. “Wicked” followed the week-to-week sales with $692,343 and “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark” increased by $667,598.
“Glengarry Glen Ross” had the largest increase in week-to-week gross sales for the week ending November 18, but this week it had the worst, with a decrease of $303,582. “The Heiress” followed with a loss of $109,448 and “The Anarchist” was down $62,661.
“Golden Boy” grossed the least this week bringing in only $164,198. “Scandalous” came in second at $194,511 and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” grossed only $304,196.
“The Book of Mormon” packed the house again this week with 102.6 percent of capacity according to The Broadway League. “Glengarry Glen Ross” followed with a house full of 101.2 percent capacity. “Once” filled seats at 100.5 percent capacity, while “Newsies” and “The Lion King” tied at 100.0 percent capacity.
The holiday season has started and the Broadway productions are feeling the wonderful cheer as families fill the theater seats.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
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| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| A Christmas Story (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$1,104,312 | 11,963 | 0 | 9 | 1,515 | $92.31 | 87.7% |
| Annie (Palace) |
$1,499,879 | 12,899 | 0 | 8 | 1,708 | $116.28 | 94.4% |
| Bring It On (St. James) |
$577,305 | 7,493 | 0 | 8 | 1,334 | $77.05 | 70.2% |
| Chaplin (Barrymore) |
$373,040 | 4,791 | 0 | 8 | 1,045 | $77.86 | 57.3% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$675,747 | 7,472 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $90.44 | 86.5% |
| Cyrano de Bergerac (American Airlines) |
$344,631 | 5,375 | 0 | 8 | 728 | $64.12 | 92.3% |
| Dead Accounts (Music Box) |
$402,460 | 4,965 | 8 | 0 | 1,009 | $81.06 | 61.5% |
| Elf (Hirschfeld) |
$997,145 | 10,192 | 0 | 9 | 1,424 | $97.84 | 79.5% |
| Evita (Marquis) |
$1,012,795 | 8,758 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $115.64 | 67.9% |
| Glengarry Glen Ross (Schoenfeld) |
$853,737 | 5,419 | 5 | 0 | 1,071 | $157.55 | 101.2% |
| Golden Boy (Belasco) |
$164,198 | 4,459 | 8 | 0 | 990 | $36.82 | 56.3% |
| Grace (Cort) |
$320,199 | 3,897 | 0 | 8 | 1,079 | $82.17 | 45.1% |
| Jersey Boys (Wilson) |
$1,009,048 | 8,483 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $118.95 | 86.3% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$862,275 | 9,841 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $87.62 | 82.1% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$1,118,687 | 12,633 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $88.55 | 87.9% |
| Newsies (Nederlander) |
$1,106,383 | 9,559 | 0 | 8 | 1,195 | $115.74 | 100.0% |
| Nice Work If You Can Get It (Imperial) |
$877,412 | 8,733 | 0 | 8 | 1,439 | $100.47 | 75.9% |
| Once (Jacobs) |
$1,166,784 | 8,503 | 0 | 8 | 1,058 | $137.22 | 100.5% |
| Peter and the Starcatcher (Atkinson) |
$540,463 | 5,841 | 0 | 8 | 1,038 | $92.53 | 70.3% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$496,583 | 4,144 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $119.83 | 88.9% |
| Scandalous (Simon) |
$194,511 | 3,631 | 0 | 8 | 1,364 | $53.57 | 33.3% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,779,777 | 13,152 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $135.32 | 85.2% |
| The Anarchist (Golden) |
$317,201 | 4,462 | 8 | 0 | 802 | $71.09 | 69.5% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,801,672 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $205.86 | 102.6% |
| The Heiress (Kerr) |
$505,468 | 5,127 | 0 | 8 | 951 | $98.59 | 67.4% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$2,125,661 | 13,417 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $158.43 | 100.0% |
| The Mystery…Drood (Studio 54) |
$370,869 | 5,946 | 0 | 8 | 1,004 | $62.37 | 74.0% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$1,125,470 | 12,239 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $91.96 | 95.3% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$701,152 | 6,885 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $101.84 | 80.5% |
| Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Booth) |
$304,196 | 3,382 | 0 | 7 | 782 | $89.95 | 61.8% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$2,290,819 | 14,051 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $163.04 | 97.1% |
All data provided by The Broadway League.
