Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis w/e 8/17/2014

A Summer With No Straight Plays

As represented by the week ending August 17, 2014, the summer has reached the point where there are no straight plays running. The only so-called play still running is actually a play with music, and could legitimately be deemed a musical – that is, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.

This goes to show that the theatre industry truly goes in cycles, with the fall and spring seasons climaxing with a slew of opening intended to attract a range of clientele, including New York locals.

Tourists Drawn To Large-Scale Musicals

The summer season, on the other hand, is reserved pretty exclusively for tourists, who are more generally drawn to large-scale musical fare. At this point in the summer, many New Yorkers are on vacation, or are concerned with catching the final outdoor bursts of enjoyment in their leisure hours. Theatre, on the other hand, is reserved for the colder months for locals.

An Overall Decrease in Sales

This past week, the majority of shows saw a decrease in box office compared to the week prior. As for the industry as a whole, the composite weekly gross was $25,177,910, which was a decrease of $332,330 from the week before. Of the 25 shows presently running, only 8 saw an increase in sales this week.

The biggest increase was on the part of The Book of Mormon, which grossed $1,759,420, compared to $1,647,095 last week. The bigger loser, on the other hand, was Aladdin, which grossed $104,809 less this week than last week, when it reached $1,602,785.

Few Shows Saw An Increase In Sales

The only other shows that saw an increase were A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Rocky (in its final week), Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Cabaret, Newsies, Les Misérables, and Chicago.

In sum, these are either long-running musicals, 2014 Tony Award winners, or musicals about to close. In general, however, it seems this week was a moderate one on Broadway, with few new shows having opened as the fall season begins to gear up.