Halloween scared ticketbuyers away from Broadway, which saw a sales dip in week 23 (Oct. 26-Nov. 1) that was exacerbated by Gotham's rooting interest in the World Series.
The B.O. dip was far from unexpected. The holiday's trick-or-treating activities and spooky parties often end up distracting theatergoers from Main Stem productions, and an essentially local World Series between the Yankees and the Phillies was virtually guaranteed to overshadow Broadway, too.
Total Rialto cume sank almost $2.4 million to $18.3 million for 32 shows on the boards. Overall attendance fell by more than 20,000 to 229,603, or 75% of capacity.
The story of the week was "Brighton Beach Memoirs" ($119,561), which announced its closure soon after. On the other hand, strong reviews seem to have given at least a bit of a boost to "Finian's Rainbow" ($371,003), which opened Oct. 29 and saw box office step up by about 8%.
The 23 musicals grossed $13,760,412 for 75.2% of the Broadway total, with an attendance of 172,421 at 75.2% capacity and average paid admission of $79.81.
The nine plays grossed $4,541,899 for 24.8% of the Broadway total, with an attendance of 57,182 at 69.9% capacity and average paid admission of $79.43.
Average paid admission was $79.71 for all shows.
Gordon Cox and Sam Thielman
Contact Gordon Cox at
gordon.cox@variety.com