Newsies and Once, both Cinderella stories over the summer, have seen slight declines in business this post Rosh Hashanah week (both saw over 3% decrease in their total capacity). Whether or not this bodes ill for these new musicals going forward remains to be seen, but it could be that the post-Tony Awards buzz is starting to wear off- The departure of Jeremy Jordan probably didn't help, but his inclusion into NBC's "Smash" may raise awareness of his roots.
Meanwhile the longer-running Broadway show hits The Book of Mormon, Jersey Boys, and Wicked all experienced slight upturns in revenue, proving the value of having a well-marketed, much-buzzed-about "brand name" to sell to tourists who are looking for a title they recognize (but have probably already seen Phantom, Chicago and Mamma Mia!).
Porgy and Bess received its anticipated last minute buying spree and closed with a strong 87% full and $96 average ticket paid, it actually placed ninth in highest grossing Broadway show this week - not bad for this new perspective on Gershwin's classic. Its run was rocky, but encouraging - as it did recoup its investment.
An Enemy of the People's struggle continues, as its average paid admission went down from an already low $44.74 last week to $39.35 this week. The other new production of a classic play to recently start performances, Cyrano de Bergerac, is also having difficulties, with its capacity falling from 74.39% to 66.27%. However, Cyrano did at least see an increase in average paid admission from $38.16 to $46.41, less papering and more paid audience. Does papering a Broadway show actually save a show, or does it create the air of desperation from which a show can never recover?
The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers from the week ending September 23, 2012:
Show Name
GrossGross
TotalAttn
%Cap
AvgPaidAdm
AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
$182,194
4,630
89.87%
$39.35
BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL
$371,851
6,724
63.01%
$55.30
CHAPLIN
$444,259
6,045
72.31%
$73.49
CHICAGO
$619,591
7,425
85.94%
$83.45
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
$178,864
3,854
66.27%
$46.41
EVITA
$1,045,494
10,058
77.99%
$103.95
GRACE
$465,332
6,601
76.47%
$70.49
JERSEY BOYS
$976,415
9,171
93.35%
$106.47
MAMMA MIA!
$729,744
9,040
75.43%
$80.72
MARY POPPINS
$604,542
9,026
62.79%
$66.98
NEWSIES
$800,484
9,249
96.75%
$86.55
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT
$902,213
9,252
80.37%
$97.52
ONCE
$970,686
8,060
95.23%
$120.43
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER
$294,536
5,203
62.66%
$56.61
PORGY AND BESS
$891,566
9,281
86.90%
$96.06
ROCK OF AGES
$464,585
4,412
94.60%
$105.30
SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK
$1,113,184
11,874
76.90%
$93.75
THE BOOK OF MORMON
$1,626,122
8,752
102.63%
$185.80
THE LION KING
$1,555,752
13,222
98.55%
$117.66
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
$803,236
10,566
82.29%
$76.02
WAR HORSE
$535,858
7,067
82.64%
$75.83
WICKED
$1,495,735
13,562
93.71%
$110.29
Total:
$17,072,241
183,074
82.57%
$88.56
*Broadway Grosses provided courtesy of The Broadway League
