Summer went out with a whimper on Broadway, as the final week of August had the lowest total ticket sales for the Great White Way all summer season. Presumably most people preferred to spend the Labor Day weekend barbecuing or buying school supplies rather than seeing a Broadway show.
New kid on the block Chaplin saw a modest but encouraging increase in attendance and average paid admission this week. But this wonderful musical about a silent film star may be a hard sell in coming weeks, this new show may need to see some really positive reviews from the critics when it opens next week, especially if it hopes to survive the season.
The closing show Clybourne Park ended its Broadway run with solid numbers, filling to over 86% capacity over the course of the week. But this week's other closer, One Man, Two Guvnors, really went out with a bang at almost 98% capacity and an average ticket price of $111 (which is impressive for a play with no major Hollywood stars in it) - which is a masterclass in how to close a show.
Wicked recovered the ground that it lost last week, and Nice Work turned around its slump with a nice rally. Porgy and Bess dropped to last place, with its closure scheduled for Sept 23, it is hoped that it can remain viable until then.
All bets are off heading into the "back to school" season, where this summer's Broadway successes may have trouble selling to the Broadway audience demographic shift that happens around this time of year.
The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers from the week ending September 2, 2012:
Show Name
GrossGross
TotalAttn
%Cap
AvgPaidAdm
BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL
$529,972
8,049
75.42%
$65.84
CHAPLIN
$390,616
6,299
75.35%
$62.01
CHICAGO
$601,035
7,349
85.06%
$81.78
CLYBOURNE PARK
$486,336
6,599
86.74%
$73.70
EVITA
$1,104,048
10,235
79.37%
$107.87
GORE VIDAL’S THE BEST MAN
$649,776
6,911
81.27%
$94.02
JERSEY BOYS
$907,978
8,894
90.53%
$102.09
MAMMA MIA!
$743,291
8,618
71.91%
$86.25
MARY POPPINS
$766,669
10,559
73.45%
$72.61
NEWSIES
$964,326
9,669
101.14%
$99.73
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT
$896,413
8,836
76.75%
$101.45
ONCE
$1,026,372
8,065
95.29%
$127.26
ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
$853,768
7,630
97.82%
$111.90
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
$396,386
5,466
65.82%
$72.52
PORGY AND BESS
$574,830
6,544
61.27%
$87.84
ROCK OF AGES
$490,670
4,633
99.34%
$105.91
SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK
$1,430,429
12,701
82.26%
$112.62
THE BOOK OF MORMON
$1,667,593
8,752
102.63%
$190.54
THE LION KING
$1,721,417
13,420
100.03%
$128.27
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
$829,029
10,387
80.90%
$79.81
WAR HORSE
$543,877
7,208
84.28%
$75.45
WICKED
$1,700,412
13,609
94.04%
$124.95
Total:
$19,275,241
190,433
84.58%
$98.38
*Broadway Grosses provided courtesy of The Broadway League
