The Week Ending September 14, 2014 Was A Stark Improvement In Terms Of Ticket Sales From The Week Before, Which Was A Notable Poor Week.


Picking Up From Last Week

In the week ending September 14, 2014, the Broadway industry has picked up the slack from its poor week of returns last week. Now that the fall season is officially underway, with new shows opening and others beginning previews, locals and tourists alike are finding their fare of choice.

In this past week, the overall gross for all running Broadway shows increased by $2,447,824 compared to the week before. Furthermore, every single individual show saw an increased gross with one exception: The Phantom of the Opera, which only decreased by a negligible $21,679.

Big Increase For "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical"

The biggest increase for any show that was running both this past week and the week before was Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which has now officially recouped at the box office.

It grossed $1,300,961 this past week, which was an increase of $223,444 from the week before. The next biggest boost was seen by Cinderella, which increased by $140,143 to reach a weekly gross of $598,979. This is however still exceedingly low, at only 37.12% of its gross potential.

New Shows On Broadway This Week

There were three new shows that began previews this past week. The best performing of the three was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which transfers to Broadway from the National Theatre via the West End with excellent acclaim. In its first week of four performances, this play based on the novel of the same name grossed $288,614, which represents 65.69% of the show’s gross potential.

These numbers are sure to pick up as word of mouth spreads, and especially after the show’s official opening on October 5, 2014. The next new show was The Country House, which grossed $198,383 over the course of 7 performances.

"Love Letters" Struggles In First Week

This new play by Donald Margulies stars Blythe Danner, but in its first week the show only grossed 38.30% of its gross potential. Time will tell whether sales pick up for this one, or whether it plateaus at some unprofitable level. The third and worst performing of the new plays was Love Letters, which earned only $54,749 over the course of its first two performances.

This A.R. Gurney play will have a starry cast that will rotate over the course of the run, and presently the stars are Mia Farrow and Brian Dennehy. It is therefore surprising that the play has performed so poorly. It is to be expected that sales will increase as the public becomes aware of the A-list names on that stage.

The following are the Broadway ticket sales numbers for the week ending September 14, 2014:
Broadway Show Ticket Analysis w/e 9/14/14
Show GrossGross Total Attn %Cap AvgPdAdm
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER $848,790 7,257 100.01% $116.96
ALADDIN $1,312,257 13,616 98.78% $96.38
BEAUTIFUL $1,300,961 8,215 100.09% $158.36
CABARET $643,502 5,946 83.23% $108.22
CHICAGO $619,784 7,874 91.13% $78.71
CINDERELLA $598,979 8,506 60.72% $70.42
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH $524,687 5,705 70.82% $91.97
IF/THEN $698,918 9,045 86.24% $77.27
IT’S ONLY A PLAY $1,230,603 8,569 100.20% $143.61
JERSEY BOYS $848,378 8,561 87.14% $99.10
KINKY BOOTS $1,228,758 11,168 98.03% $110.02
LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL $652,702 5,245 96.13% $124.44
LES MISÉRABLES $813,225 10,034 89.02% $81.05
LOVE LETTERS $54,749 1,375 64.37% $39.82
MAMMA MIA! $659,092 8,481 90.92% $77.71
MATILDA $805,004 10,050 87.73% $80.10
MOTOWN THE MUSICAL $1,026,470 11,108 92.14% $92.41
ONCE $467,069 6,129 72.34% $76.21
PIPPIN $552,516 7,101 89.66% $77.81
ROCK OF AGES $360,561 4,431 95.00% $81.37
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,555,886 8,741 102.50% $178.00
THE COUNTRY HOUSE $198,383 3,704 81.41% $53.56
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME $288,614 3,801 93.34% $75.93
THE LION KING $1,725,567 13,478 99.10% $128.03
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $897,140 11,522 89.74% $77.86
THIS IS OUR YOUTH $372,793 7,164 84.40% $52.04
WICKED $1,462,840 14,352 99.17% $101.93
YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU $542,918 7,481 87.15% $72.57
Totals: $22,291,144 228,659 88.95% $93.64
Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2014 nytix.com