Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis For Week Ending 12/02/2012 Reflects Ticket Sales Normalizing After The Thanksgiving Holiday Boost


Sales Back To Normal Following Thanksgiving Boost

As expected, Broadway's total ticket revenue was considerably lower this week than it was Thanksgiving week, since Broadway always experiences abnormally high ticket sales during that holiday. However, this week's total earnings on Broadway, which amounted to $22,154,853, were still very good.

In fact, excluding last week's $27 million, that is the highest number Broadway has seen in total sales since August. December is traditionally a very good time for The Great White Way, since Christmas season tourists flood New York City during this time.

Broadway's Holiday Shows: "Elf" And "A Christmas Story"

This season, Broadway is hosting two musicals that are doing limited-run productions aimed squarely at the holiday theater-going crowd. Both Elf and A Christmas Story (each based on well-loved holiday films) are enjoying solid sales, earning $845,719 and $976,184, respectively.

However, given their particularly Christmas-y themes and recognizable names, it's surprising that they aren't doing a bit better. Elf, for instance, only filled its theater to 70% capacity, so the cheery musical could still stand to see better ticket sales. A Christmas Story is doing better, though, filling to nearly 85% capacity.

Long-Running Hits And Family Shows Fight For Tourist Dollars

Well-known shows like Chicago and Phantom, along with family-friendly fare like Annie and Spider-man are all wrangling to bring in the holiday visitors, and the results are rarely predictable. While the youth-friendly Newsies is doing very well (filling at 88.86% capacity, with an average paid admission of $99), Disney's Mary Poppins only filled 64.58% of its theater last week.

Long-running musical Jersey Boys is seeing better-than-usual sales, bringing in a total of $1,018,387 last week and filling to 89.45% capacity, while longtime tourist favorite Mamma Mia! only filled to 61.47%. When push came to shove, though, the week's winner in total sales was Wicked, followed very closely by risque hit The Book of Mormon, and perennial family favorite The Lion King.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers from the week ending December 2, 2012:
Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analsis
Show Name GrossGross TotalAttn %Cap AvgPaidAdm
A CHRISTMAS STORY $976,184 10,196 84.13% $95.74
ANNIE $948,150 10,204 74.68% $92.92
BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL $391,162 5,906 55.34% $66.23
CHAPLIN $354,820 4,713 56.38% $75.29
CHICAGO $464,224 5,365 62.09% $86.53
DEAD ACCOUNTS $410,308 6,789 84.11% $60.44
ELF $845,719 8,971 70.00% $94.27
EVITA $846,483 8,087 62.71% $104.67
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS $1,177,056 7,590 101.24% $155.08
GOLDEN BOY $213,174 5,553 70.11% $38.39
GRACE $323,974 4,197 48.62% $77.19
JERSEY BOYS $1,018,387 8,788 89.45% $115.88
MAMMA MIA! $623,646 7,366 61.47% $84.67
MARY POPPINS $699,157 9,284 64.58% $75.31
NEWSIES $841,298 8,495 88.86% $99.03
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT $897,600 8,408 73.04% $106.76
ONCE $1,046,542 8,073 95.38% $129.63
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER $289,982 5,176 62.33% $56.02
ROCK OF AGES $473,722 4,291 92.00% $110.40
SCANDALOUS $370,243 4,099 37.56% $90.33
SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK $1,098,685 10,598 68.64% $103.67
THE ANARCHIST $350,479 5,129 79.94% $68.33
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,672,310 8,752 102.63% $191.08
THE HEIRESS $546,017 5,417 71.20% $100.80
THE LION KING $1,647,968 12,607 93.97% $130.72
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD $351,796 5,688 70.82% $61.85
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $682,365 8,591 66.91% $79.43
WAR HORSE $603,197 6,558 76.68% $91.98
WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? $293,426 3,317 60.60% $88.46
WICKED $1,696,781 12,403 85.70% $136.80
TOTAL: $22,154,853 220,611 73.71% $95.60

Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2012 nytix.com