Broadway achieved the remarkable feat of improving ever so slightly on its record Easter Week box office. Thirty-four shows brought in $18,856,000 during Week 44 (March 28-April 3), up $86,661 over the previous session. Paid attendance came to 277,578, up a minuscule 0.45%.
Although 21 shows took a dip, Broadway's total tally rose thanks to a small handful of gainers.
It was kids' week on Broadway: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" ($864,436) went from one to seven previews and had $727,667 more to show for it.
More previews also pumped up "A Streetcar Named Desire" ($248,287), which went from two to seven and added $142,815 to its receipts.
In its post-preem session, "All Shook Up" ($684,595) gained $105,274 to perform at 94.2% capacity. Spring break also blessed "Little Women" ($523,850), up $59,089. Just $12,000 under its gross potential, "Spamalot" ($898,621) rose $32,106 with few press freebies in the B.O. mix. And despite lots of crix tix, "Steel Magnolias" ($258,646) managed to find $53,444 more.
Premium tix boosted "Wicked" ($1,261,177), up $49,464.After the Easter holiday, "Fiddler on the Roof" ($755,281) and "La Cage aux Folles" ($434,883) returned to reality with big six-figure plunges. Sunday's premiere and crix comps took a similar chunk out of "Julius Caesar" ($512,781), down $100,538.
Not good news is the $52,898 decrease for "The Glass Menagerie" ($285,247).
Off $78,386, the B.O. for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" ($315,831) will continue to fluctuate due to its rotating performance sked. It did seven last week after the previous session's full eight, and so on for its run.
The 21 musicals grossed $14,935,284 for 79.2% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 215,659 at 91.2% of capacity.
The 14 plays grossed $3,920,716 for 20.8% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 61,919 at 66.5% of capacity.
Average ticket prices were $69.25 for musicals, $63.32 for plays, and $67.93 for all shows.
Contact Robert Hofler at
bob.hofler@variety.com