Broadway showed signs of a spring blossoming last week, with box office receipts and ticket prices taking their traditional climb during the tourist-bumped week leading up to Easter. In all, the 33 productions grossed $38,594,054, a 12% increase over the previous week.
Attendance for the week ending April 9 was 280,760, up 4%. The more modest jump in attendance left ticket prices to do some heavy lifting: Average paid admission was $137.46, up 8% from the previous week.
Some of Broadway’s tourist favorites were among the clear winners for the week, with The Lion King selling out for a big $2,980,093 gross, with an average ticket of $220.08 second only to that of the mighty Phantom of the Opera, once again topping the chart with a massive $3,648,872 and an average ticket price to match: $279.37. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom closes April 16.
Two other shows popular with out-of-towners had their best performances of the calendar year: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child took in $1,819,727, and Moulin Rouge! grossed $1,801,019. Both were sell-outs.
Among more recent arrivals, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street continued its killer run, grossing $1,790,826, as did the previewing Camelot ($931,246). For seven previews, New York, New York filled 94% of seats at the St. James with a relatively modest average ticket of $86.23; total gross was $931,111.
The well-reviewed musical comedy Shucked had a promising opening week at the Nederlander, grossing $554,956, with attendance at 95% of capacity.
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,381,274,621, with total attendance of 10,666,969 at 88% of capacity.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.
