With a little help from a Hollywood action star, the Broadway box office again stayed flat in a week otherwise marked by sliding ticket sales.
Cumulative ticket sales for the Main Stem’s 28 productions totaled $21.2 million through the week ending October 30. While gross decreased about $300,000 from the previous frame, overall attendance also dipped about 4.5 percent last week.
Most productions, both old and new, were hit by the slide in sales and attendance. However, the arrival of Hugh Jackman’s latest song-and-dance revue helped keep Broadway afloat almost single-handed.
“Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway” completed a full week of previews and grossed $1.2 million total from those eight performances — enough to make it the week’s fifth highest-grossing show. The one-man show opens November 10 at the Broadhurst Theatre.
Without that $1.2 million life preserver, Broadway would’ve been harder hit by the nearly two dozen shows that saw ticket sales decrease by $100,000 or more last week. Among those with $100K dips were “Memphis” (down 19 percent to $637,715) and “Mary Poppins” (down 18 percent to $637,776).
Joining Jackman’s “Back on Broadway” in previews last week was “Seminar.” The dark comedy, starring Alan Rickman, grossed $143,850 from three weekend stagings. Based out of the John Golden Theatre, “Seminar” is scheduled to open November 20.
In other opening news, curtains officially rise November 3 for “Other Desert Cities.” The drama has fared well in previews to date, and Booth Theatre was near capacity through the week ending October 30. Considering the likely influx of press comps during that period, ticket sales dipped only slightly to $426,707.
All data provided by The Broadway League.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
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| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| Anything Goes (Sondheim) |
$751,386 | 7,457 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $100.76 | 90.9% |
| Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$713,713 | 8,742 | 0 | 8 | 1,421 | $81.64 | 76.9% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$533,300 | 6,669 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $79.97 | 77.2% |
| Chinglish (Longacre) |
$309,550 | 6,261 | 3 | 5 | 1,077 | $49.44 | 72.7% |
| Follies (Marquis) |
$845,689 | 8,311 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $101.76 | 64.4% |
| Godspell (Circle in Square) |
$264,916 | 5,147 | 8 | 0 | 735 | $51.47 | 87.5% |
| How to Succeed… (Hirschfeld) |
$895,500 | 9,763 | 0 | 8 | 1,424 | $91.72 | 85.7% |
| Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway (Broadhurst) |
$1,210,974 | 8,849 | 8 | 0 | 1,176 | $136.85 | 94.1% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$956,800 | 9,165 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $104.40 | 93.3% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$848,721 | 9,964 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $85.18 | 83.1% |
| Man and Boy (American Airlines) |
$282,979 | 4,509 | 0 | 8 | 728 | $62.76 | 77.4% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$637,776 | 8,889 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $71.75 | 61.8% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$637,715 | 8,553 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $74.56 | 72.7% |
| Other Desert Cities (Booth) |
$426,707 | 6,019 | 8 | 0 | 761 | $70.89 | 98.9% |
| Priscilla…Desert (Palace) |
$719,758 | 9,033 | 0 | 8 | 1,689 | $79.68 | 66.9% |
| Relatively Speaking (Atkinson) |
$741,903 | 8,423 | 0 | 8 | 1,076 | $88.08 | 97.9% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$355,261 | 4,037 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $88.00 | 86.6% |
| Seminar (Golden) |
$143,850 | 2,004 | 3 | 0 | 804 | $71.78 | 83.1% |
| Sister Act (Broadway) |
$645,348 | 9,201 | 0 | 8 | 1,493 | $70.14 | 77.0% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,370,573 | 12,952 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $105.82 | 83.9% |
| The Addams Family (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$647,101 | 8,427 | 0 | 8 | 1,519 | $76.79 | 69.3% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,351,169 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $154.38 | 102.6% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,537,920 | 13,410 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $114.68 | 100.0% |
| The Mountaintop (Jacobs) |
$712,760 | 7,371 | 0 | 8 | 1,065 | $96.70 | 86.5% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$827,073 | 10,665 | 0 | 8 | 1,615 | $77.55 | 82.5% |
| Venus in Fur (Friedman) |
$248,512 | 4,091 | 8 | 0 | 650 | $60.75 | 78.7% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$982,363 | 8,553 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $114.86 | 100.0% |
| Wicked (Gershwin) |
$1,629,545 | 14,327 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $113.74 | 99.0% |
