Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis w/e 05/01/2016

By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on May 02, 2016 4:11 PM

Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis For Week Ending 05/01/2016. Ticket Sales Improve As Spring Season Approaches.

Broadway Picks Up Into The Month Of May

In the week ending May 1, 2016, the Broadway industry began to show signs of an upturn. Of the 37 shows presently running, the total collective gross was $28,331,921, which is an increase of $1,210,641 from the week before, with the same number of shows running. The average weekly gross per show this past week was $765,728, whereas the previous week it was $733,008.

This represents an average of 63.18% of the gross potential for all shows. The average paid admission across all shows was $96.70, up from $95.84 the week before. As for percentage of audience capacity, this past week was filled up to 82.01%, whereas the previous week was filled up to 79.49%.

Big Increase For "Waitress" As Spring Season Approaches

While these decreases are slight, they are a sign that as we are entering the heart of the spring season, Broadway sales are picking up. Of all the shows running last week, the biggest increase was seen by Waitress, which earned very positive reviews after its opening on April 24, 2016.

This past week, the all-female created musical brought in a weekly gross of $907,936, which is an increase of $161,065 from the week before. This represents 89.1% of the show’s gross potential. With a top ticket price of $270, the average paid admission was $107.73, and the audience was filled up to 100.8%. Meanwhile, the biggest decrease was seen by Shuffle Along, which brought in $708,267, a decrease of $100,766 from the week before.

How Tony Best Musical Nominees Fared Before The Nominations

This past week represents the last full week of the spring season before the Tony committee announced the nominees for the 2016 Tony Awards. Therefore, next week, we will be able to see whether these nominations had an immediate effect on ticket sales. In the meantime, it is interesting to see how the box office was faring for these recognized shows before the major awards announcement.

There are five nominees for Best Musical. In alphabetical order, first is Bright Star, the Steve Martin and Edie Brickell created bluegrass musical, which brought in a weekly gross this past week of $369,471, only 40.5% of its gross potential. While that show has been struggling financially, it was recognized with 5 Tony nominations, which may boost its box office in the coming months.

"Hamilton" Is One Of The Hottest Shows In Broadway History

Next, another Best Musical nominee is Hamilton, which has been earning excellent box office and is one of the hottest tickets in Broadway history. This past week, Hamilton brought in $1,818,758, which represents an astounding 136.2% of its gross potential. Furthermore, School of Rock-the Musical was nominated for Best Musical; that show has had a fluctuating box office in the months it has been open, sometimes performing quite well and sometimes less well.

This past week, the weekly gross was $1,003,657, or 66.09% of its gross potential. The next nominee for Best Musical is Shuffle Along, which this past week brought in $708,267, or 67.38% of its gross potential; the show has generally been bringing in closer to 80% of its gross potential. Finally, Waitress was nominated for Best Musical as well; this past week the show brought in $1,625,910, or 91.4% of its gross potential.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending May 1, 2016:

Broadway Show Ticket Analysis Chart week ending 5-01-16

#	Show Name	GrossGross	TotalAttn	%Capacity	AvgPdAdm
4	ALADDIN	$1,494,979	13,775	99.70%	$108.53
23	AMERICAN PSYCHO	$597,188	7,247	87.86%	$82.40
10	AN AMERICAN IN PARIS	$938,050	10,337	76.96%	$90.75
8	BEAUTIFUL	$996,237	7,935	96.67%	$125.55
27	BLACKBIRD	$417,680	5,756	70.96%	$72.56
32	BRIGHT STAR	$369,471	5,184	62.07%	$71.27
26	CHICAGO	$524,120	6,349	73.48%	$82.55
37	DISASTER!	$264,032	4,793	50.01%	$55.09
36	ECLIPSED	$269,110	3,588	55.92%	$75.00
14	FIDDLER ON THE ROOF	$854,640	10,073	73.76%	$84.84
24	FINDING NEVERLAND	$583,984	7,418	61.65%	$78.73
31	FULLY COMMITTED	$377,270	5,606	76.67%	$67.30
28	FUN HOME	$416,282	5,272	89.05%	$78.96
2	HAMILTON	$1,818,758	10,754	101.76%	$169.12
25	JERSEY BOYS	$553,984	6,099	62.08%	$90.83
16	KINKY BOOTS	$714,405	7,649	67.14%	$93.40
19	LES MISÉRABLES	$662,705	8,266	73.33%	$80.17
33	LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT	$344,594	4,954	95.64%	$69.56
15	MATILDA	$760,351	9,030	78.82%	$84.20
9	ON YOUR FEET!	$969,147	9,391	72.19%	$103.20
6	PARAMOUR	$1,065,771	11,043	97.07%	$96.51
7	SCHOOL OF ROCK	$1,003,657	10,496	87.76%	$95.62
22	SHE LOVES ME	$610,887	7,278	90.25%	$83.94
17	SHUFFLE ALONG, OR, THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED	$708,267	7,647	99.26%	$92.62
18	SOMETHING ROTTEN!	$695,800	8,838	69.68%	$78.73
5	THE BOOK OF MORMON	$1,332,910	8,712	102.16%	$153.00
13	THE COLOR PURPLE	$879,248	8,245	98.06%	$106.64
20	THE CRUCIBLE	$648,902	6,843	90.04%	$94.83
29	THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME	$413,167	5,831	71.60%	$70.86
35	THE FATHER	$294,222	3,463	66.60%	$84.96
30	THE HUMANS	$412,929	4,271	92.69%	$96.68
21	THE KING AND I	$621,885	7,286	86.99%	$85.35
1	THE LION KING	$1,950,539	13,567	99.99%	$143.77
12	THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA	$892,752	10,623	82.73%	$84.04
34	TUCK EVERLASTING	$340,152	7,198	77.50%	$47.26
11	WAITRESS	$907,936	8,428	100.81%	$107.73
3	WICKED	$1,625,910	13,753	95.14%	$118.22
	Totals	$28,331,922	292,998	82.00%	$92.02