(© Joan Marcus)
The Broadway production of Wicked has broken a significant record by becoming the first show to gross over $5 million in ticket sales in a single week. From December 23-29, Wicked pulled in $5,037,392, the largest weekly number ever recorded. The average paid admission was $290.61.
The holidays are usually a boom time on Broadway, with theatergoers taking advantage of time off and Christmas bonuses to splurge on tickets. Some producers attempt to maximize the windfall by adding performances, which is exactly what Wicked did with a 9-show week (the show performed every night except Christmas eve, with two performances on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday).
The 20-year-old production also seems to be benefiting from the excitement around the first installment of the film adaptation of Wicked, which itself reported record box office for a movie-musical.
The next highest-grossing show on Broadway, The Lion King, also performed 9 times last week, but it only brought in $4.2 million with an average paid admission of $279.04 — still an impressive showing for a production that has been playing on Broadway since 1997.
The very oldest production on Broadway, Chicago, reported a gross of $1.37 million, an 8-show week record at the Ambassador Theatre. The producers of the Kander and Ebb revival, which has played over 11,000 total performance since opening in 1996, declined to add a ninth performance last week.
Several other productions reported record earnings including The Outsiders with $2,015,452.15, Six with $1,367,523.10, and The Great Gatsby with $2,618,358.
