In The Week Ending June 7, 2015, The Week Approaching The Tony Awards, Many Shows Nominated Saw An Increase In Ticket Sales.


An Act Of God Sails Upward

In the week leading up to the Tony Awards, the week ending June 7, 2015, the show that saw the biggest increase in ticket sales from the week before was one that was ineligible for awards consideration. An Act of God, a new comedy starring Jim Parsons, opened past the date for eligibility for Tony nominations, and thus it was not honored at the ceremony this past Sunday night.

Still, it received great reviews on its recent opening night, and the numbers showed an increase because of it. This past week, it brought in $843,731, which represents 83.72% of the show’s gross potential. This weekly gross is an increase of $150,352 from the week before, when it brought in only $693,379.

Beloved Actor Jim Parsons Draws In Audiences

This past week, the average paid admission was $120.12, with a top ticket price of $349.00. This is also a significant increase from last week’s average paid admission of $93.92. Finally, the average audience capacity across the eight performances increased to 91.7%, up from 82.5% the week before.

Therefore, this show is defying the general principle that a summer opening is a bad idea, and that Tony recognition is a crucial factor in a show’s success. In this case, a beloved lead actor, great reviews, and the attraction of a light-hearted comedy on religious themes was enough to boost ticket sales.

Long Running Musicals Saw A Decrease In Interest

As the Tony buzz was buzzing, the long running musicals that have been playing on Broadway for years saw a decrease in ticket sales. One of the highest earning musicals on Broadway, The Lion King, saw a decrease of $67,274 from the week before, bringing in the still extraordinary gross of $1,959,636.

Les Miserables saw a decrease of $46,631, bringing in a weekly gross of $564,893. Furthermore, The Phantom of the Opera, decreased by $45,159 from the week before, bringing in a weekly gross of $883,328. Kinky Boots, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2013, decreased by $23,688, bringing in a gross of $832,015.

Many Shows Nominated For Tony Awards Saw Increases

In addition, Chicago saw a decrease of $12,481, Jersey Boys went down by $4,586, and Matilda decreased by $3,063. The only shows nominated for this year’s Tony Awards that saw a decrease in ticket sales this past week were On the Twentieth Century, Something Rotten!, and Gigi.

On the other hand, most of the shows that were nominated for Tony Awards saw an increase in ticket sales in the week approaching the event. These included It’s Only a Play, which increased by $134,047, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which increased by $97,788, Wolf Hall Parts One and Two, which increased by $86,781, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which increased by $67,380.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending June 7, 2015:
Broadway-Show-Ticket-Analysis-06-07-15
Show GrossGross TotalAttn %Cap AvgPdAdm
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER $533,867 5,932 81.75% $90.00
AIRLINE HIGHWAY $169,126 3,690 73.56% $45.83
ALADDIN $1,535,301 13,787 100.02% $111.36
AN ACT OF GOD $843,731 7,024 87.28% $120.12
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS $1,368,734 13,489 100.42% $101.47
BEAUTIFUL $964,024 7,357 89.63% $131.03
CHICAGO $626,499 7,700 89.12% $81.36
FINDING NEVERLAND $1,103,830 11,588 96.31% $95.26
FISH IN THE DARK $1,246,196 8,716 101.54% $142.98
FUN HOME $652,930 6,054 103.66% $107.85
GIGI $401,946 5,324 48.09% $75.50
HAND TO GOD $449,227 5,481 88.75% $81.96
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH $457,557 4,912 69.68% $93.15
IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU $321,819 5,304 65.51% $60.67
IT’S ONLY A PLAY $669,145 7,314 84.89% $91.49
JERSEY BOYS $639,044 6,565 66.83% $97.34
KINKY BOOTS $832,015 7,942 69.72% $104.76
LES MISÉRABLES $564,893 7,193 63.81% $78.53
MAMMA MIA! $718,764 8,173 87.62% $87.94
MATILDA $873,458 10,887 95.03% $80.23
ON THE TOWN $493,263 10,016 66.81% $49.25
ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY $491,692 4,972 98.38% $98.89
SKYLIGHT $831,694 6,416 100.00% $129.63
SOMETHING ROTTEN! $1,033,492 11,430 85.71% $90.42
THE AUDIENCE $1,114,361 7,499 100.21% $148.60
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,478,236 8,716 102.20% $169.60
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME $800,264 7,887 96.84% $101.47
THE KING AND I $1,110,174 8,376 100.00% $132.54
THE LION KING $1,959,636 13,557 99.68% $144.55
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $883,328 10,771 83.89% $82.01
THE VISIT $194,400 4,213 58.45% $46.14
WICKED $1,737,141 14,228 98.42% $122.09
WOLF HALL PARTS ONE & TWO $634,917 6,302 56.96% $100.75
Totals $27,734,699 268,815 85.18% $99.84
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