In The Week Ending July 12, 2015, Penn & Teller On Broadway Began Previews And Brought In Over A Million Dollars.


Sales Pick Up After Holiday Weekend

In the week ending July 12, 2015, Broadway as a whole saw an increase of $2,076,675 from the week before. This is primarily because in the week ending July 5, 2015, Broadway had seen a decrease in sales of $2,288,441. Therefore, sales are almost back to their levels a week ago, but still not quite as high.

With the closure of Wolf Hall Parts One and Two and the beginning of previews of Penn & Teller on Broadway, sales still saw a pick up on a show by show basis. The biggest increase in a show that was running both weeks was seen by Aladdin, which increased by $188,986 to a figure of $1,787,410.

Amazing Grace Still Under-Performing

The next biggest jump was seen by The Lion King which went up by $165,547, reaching the weekly gross of $2,308,891. At the height of the summer season, this tourist favorite managed to gross 100.1% of its gross potential. Amazing Grace, which is still performing terribly, saw an increase of $90,234 to reach the weekly gross of $291,315, representing just 26.54% of its gross potential.

After the over two million dollar gross of The Lion King, the next biggest weekly gross was seen by Wicked with a gross of $1,900,091. Aladdin came at number three, and the fourth-highest weekly gross was earned by The Book of Mormon at $1,450,865. Overall, the most popular audience seats on Broadway in the heat of summer are the tourist attractions, as the locals are at the beach.

Penn & Teller Launches Out Of The Gate

On the note of tourist shows, Penn & Teller have left their semi permanent home of the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to do a seven week run on Broadway. In the first week of eight performances, Penn & Teller brought in $1,075,289, which represents 62.40% of the show’s gross potential.

Though this figure is outstanding at over one million dollars for the first week of previews, there is still a lot more ticket selling room at the Marquis Theatre, which can seat 1,611 people. With a top ticket price of $247.00, the average paid admission was $114.64, showing that the magic of the world’s most famous magicians extends beyond their home territory in Nevada.

Tourists Want To Be Dazzled

Those who travel to New York looking for a spectacle-filled Broadway show are not looking for dramatic or literary profundity; they are looking to be dazzled. Therefore, Penn & Teller is a great tourist treat, not relying on the Tony Award buzz to sell tickets in the summer months right after the awards.

Though the audience was only 66.4% filled this week, word of mouth is sure to spread as Penn & Teller stick around New York for another month and a half. The word of mouth needs to spread quickly in order to catch up with the longtime performing duo before they turn right back around and return to Vegas.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending July 12, 2015:
Broadway-Show-Ticket-Analysis-07-12-15
Show Name GrossGross TotalAttn %Capacity AvgPdAdm
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER $489,049 5,707 78.65% $85.69
ALADDIN $1,787,410 13,785 100.01% $129.66
AMAZING GRACE $291,315 5,810 62.50% $50.14
AN ACT OF GOD $920,623 7,375 91.64% $124.83
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS $1,406,875 12,894 95.99% $109.11
BEAUTIFUL $918,122 7,337 89.39% $125.14
CHICAGO $625,581 7,675 88.83% $81.51
FINDING NEVERLAND $1,126,473 11,526 95.79% $97.73
FISH IN THE DARK $861,784 7,863 91.60% $109.60
FUN HOME $783,291 6,129 103.53% $127.80
HAND TO GOD $317,244 4,239 68.64% $74.84
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH $533,938 5,539 78.58% $96.40
IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU $358,327 5,281 65.23% $67.85
JERSEY BOYS $614,775 6,423 65.38% $95.71
KINKY BOOTS $841,500 8,802 77.26% $95.60
LES MISÉRABLES $688,996 8,389 74.42% $82.13
MAMMA MIA! $852,207 9,130 97.88% $93.34
MATILDA $1,077,379 11,416 99.65% $94.37
ON THE TOWN $509,820 9,090 60.63% $56.09
ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY $469,559 5,219 90.36% $89.97
PENN & TELLER ON BROADWAY $995,616 8,685 66.44% $114.64
SOMETHING ROTTEN! $1,088,662 11,847 88.83% $91.89
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,450,865 8,745 102.54% $165.91
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME $890,693 7,711 94.68% $115.51
THE KING AND I $1,247,155 8,376 100.00% $148.90
THE LION KING $2,308,891 13,556 99.91% $170.32
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $914,409 10,596 82.52% $86.30
WICKED $1,900,091 14,729 96.34% $129.00
Total $26,270,648 243,874 85.97% $104.00
Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2015 nytix.com