Chaplin on Broadway
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