Steve On Broadway (SOB)

Broadway Box Office Rebounds

Broadway Box Office Rebounds

As predicted, Broadway bounced back somewhat this past week from the steep decline it experienced the week before. Most shows enjoyed at least a bit of a rebound week-over-week.

Leading the pack in terms of week-over-week capacity increases was The Wedding Singer with a 17% larger audience than the week before at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. That increase brings the tuner's weekly capacity to 69.5%, ahead of such venerable hits as The Phantom Of The Opera (69.3%), Hairspray (68.9%), Rent (65.4%) and The Producers (which remains in the box office basement with 54.5%).

The other top gainers week-over-week were Hairspray (increase of 16%), Beauty And The Beast (increase of 12.3%), Rent (increase of 11.4%), The Drowsy Chaperone (increase of 11.1%) and The Producers (increase of 10.7%). Only two shows experienced drops in their box office: The Color Purple (down 1.7% to 84.1%) and Wicked (down a scant .1% to 99.7%). The latter still leads all shows in terms of gross ticket sales at $1,389,174 for the week followed by Jersey Boys at $1,161,546. Still number one in terms of capacity is Jersey Boys (100.8%), followed by Wicked. Talk about a one-two punch.

Not counting shows currently in previews, the productions with the lowest average ticket prices include: Rent ($50.48), Beauty And The Beast ($50.58), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ($61.41), Hairspray ($63.47), The Wedding Singer ($65.16), The Phantom Of The Opera ($66.67), Avenue Q ($68.44), Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (69.05) and The Producers ($69.52).

Still no word on which musical will be the next to depart from the Broadway stage. But my bet remains on an early exit for The Producers, although barring additional stunt casting, Rent's days could be numbered.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
Broadway's Biggest Box Office (September 13, 2006)
Fall At Broadway's Box Office (September 12, 2006)

Labels: Box Office, Broadway, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, Rent, The Phantom Of The Opera, The Producers, The Wedding Singer, Wicked

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, September 19, 2006