Though significantly lower than the lucrative Thanksgiving frame, ticket sales remained strong at Broadway box offices through the week ending December 4.
Overall gross dropped from $27.8 million to $23.8 million as Gotham’s holiday tourists returned home. However, the theatre district’s December 4 cumulative remained on par with previous weeks as 245,483 theatergoers filled Main Stem seats last week.
Six productions pulled healthy $1 million figures last week, with “Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway” perhaps making the biggest impression.
Jackman’s musical revue was the only major Broadway earner to improve on its Thanksgiving ticket sales. “Back on Broadway” filled its mid-sized playhouse beyond capacity and closed the week at $1.52 million — a 3 percent improvement over the holiday, and the third-highest gross for the week.
Ahead of the Hollywood action star were usual favorites “The Lion King” at $1.68 million (down 19 percent from November 27) and “Wicked” at $1.65 million (down 25 percent). With a 33 percent post-Thanksgiving downturn, “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” finished in fourth with $1.38 million.
While most productions posted similar slides from their tourist-fueled holiday highs, a few of the newer Main Stem shows gained traction with NYC theatre’s regular crowds for an uptick in ticket sales.
The concert special “An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin” ($447,102) boosted ticket sales by 42 percent through December 4. The star-studded two-hander opened November 21, just prior to the holiday rush.
Meanwhile, ticket sales rocketed 43 percent for Harry Connick Jr.’s “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” ($796,869). The musical seemed to find its footing with theatergoers for the first time since previews began November 12. How it fares while accommodating press comps for its December 11 opening remains to be seen.
But first, curtains will rise tomorrow, December 8, for the opening of the Alicia Keys-produced play, “Stick Fly.” Staged at the Cort Theatre, the comedy/drama last week grossed a modest $296,619 — just about a third of its potential.
All data provided by The Broadway League.
Broadway Gross Ticket Sales
|
|||||||
| Production (Theatre) |
Weekly Gross | Total Atten. | Prev. | Perf. | Total Capacity | Avg. Ticket Price | Atten. % |
| An Evening…Patinkin (Barrymore) |
$447,102 | 4,458 | 0 | 7 | 1,058 | $100.29 | 60.2% |
| Anything Goes (Sondheim) |
$722,042 | 6,583 | 0 | 8 | 1,026 | $109.68 | 80.2% |
| Billy Elliot (Imperial) |
$728,353 | 8,673 | 0 | 8 | 1,421 | $83.98 | 76.3% |
| Bonnie and Clyde (Schoenfeld) |
$341,908 | 7,544 | 4 | 4 | 1,043 | $45.32 | 90.4% |
| Chicago (Ambassador) |
$466,285 | 5,411 | 0 | 8 | 1,080 | $86.17 | 62.6% |
| Chinglish (Longacre) |
$221,009 | 3,654 | 0 | 8 | 1,077 | $60.48 | 42.4% |
| Follies (Marquis) |
$667,674 | 6,058 | 0 | 8 | 1,612 | $110.21 | 47.0% |
| Godspell (Circle in Square) |
$284,947 | 3,594 | 0 | 8 | 735 | $79.28 | 61.1% |
| How to Succeed… (Hirschfeld) |
$902,752 | 8,786 | 0 | 8 | 1,424 | $102.75 | 77.1% |
| Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway (Broadhurst) |
$1,520,929 | 9,594 | 0 | 8 | 1,176 | $158.53 | 102.0% |
| Jersey Boys (August Wilson) |
$1,045,834 | 8,747 | 0 | 8 | 1,228 | $119.56 | 89.0% |
| Lysistrata Jones (Kerr) |
$117,488 | 4,553 | 8 | 0 | 945 | $25.80 | 60.2% |
| Mamma Mia! (Winter Garden) |
$670,115 | 7,878 | 0 | 8 | 1,498 | $85.06 | 65.7% |
| Mary Poppins (New Amsterdam) |
$784,417 | 9,359 | 0 | 8 | 1,797 | $83.81 | 65.1% |
| Memphis (Shubert) |
$691,792 | 8,528 | 0 | 8 | 1,470 | $81.12 | 72.5% |
| On a Clear Day… (St. James) |
$796,869 | 8,361 | 7 | 0 | 1,367 | $95.31 | 87.4% |
| Other Desert Cities (Booth) |
$527,416 | 5,603 | 0 | 8 | 761 | $94.13 | 92.0% |
| Priscilla…Desert (Palace) |
$740,283 | 8,582 | 0 | 8 | 1,689 | $86.26 | 63.5% |
| Private Lives (Music Box) |
$380,333 | 5,195 | 0 | 8 | 989 | $73.21 | 65.7% |
| Relatively Speaking (Atkinson) |
$513,769 | 5,317 | 0 | 8 | 1,076 | $96.63 | 61.8% |
| Rock of Ages (Hayes) |
$392,119 | 4,174 | 0 | 8 | 583 | $93.94 | 89.5% |
| Seminar (Golden) |
$420,882 | 5,436 | 0 | 8 | 804 | $77.42 | 84.5% |
| Sister Act (Broadway) |
$787,283 | 9,726 | 0 | 8 | 1,755 | $80.95 | 69.3% |
| Spider-Man…Dark (Foxwoods) |
$1,385,685 | 12,671 | 0 | 8 | 1,930 | $109.36 | 82.1% |
| Stick Fly (Cort) |
$296,619 | 6,047 | 8 | 0 | 1,079 | $49.05 | 70.1% |
| The Addams Family (Lunt-Fontanne) |
$644,149 | 7,877 | 0 | 8 | 1,519 | $81.78 | 64.8% |
| The Book of Mormon (O’Neill) |
$1,374,003 | 8,752 | 0 | 8 | 1,066 | $156.99 | 102.6% |
| The Lion King (Minskoff) |
$1,682,555 | 12,865 | 0 | 8 | 1,677 | $130.79 | 95.9% |
| The Mountaintop (Jacobs) |
$535,145 | 6,020 | 0 | 8 | 1,065 | $88.89 | 70.7% |
| The Phantom of the Opera (Majestic) |
$701,171 | 8,638 | 0 | 8 | 1,605 | $81.17 | 67.3% |
| Venus in Fur (Friedman) |
$389,284 | 5,172 | 0 | 8 | 650 | $75.27 | 99.5% |
| War Horse (Beaumont) |
$958,523 | 8,337 | 0 | 8 | 1,069 | $114.97 | 97.5% |
| Wicked (Gershwin |
$1,656,955 | 13,290 | 0 | 8 | 1,809 | $124.68 | 91.8% |
