Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Witch Is Alive! ‘Wicked’ Regains Top Spot As Broadway Box Office Sputters

The winter doldrums have arrived at most of Broadway’s box offices, as they usually do this time of year. Many musicals and plays had swaths of empty seats last week, and 19 of the theater district’s 40 houses were dark because of shows closing or being on hiatus. Broadway productions grossed a total of $14.9 million last week, compared with $20.8 million the week before and $17.6 million for the comparable week in January 2010. The slowdown in ticket sales traditionally sets in mid-January, with the end of holiday vacations and the resumption of school, and often lasts until the advent of spring vacations and new productions.

The long-running hit “Wicked” recaptured its usual spot at the top of the box office last week, earning $1.54 million, while “The Lion King” took in $1.33 million and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” — which had brought in more than “Wicked” during the week following New Year’s Day — grossed $1.26 million. “Spider-Man” played only six performances last week, instead of the usual eight. (This also while the show is still in previews and before the recent announcement that opening night would be delayed until March 15.)

Those three big musicals accounted for almost 30 percent of the total gross revenue on Broadway last week. Among the shows that performed relatively strongly was one small compatriot: the six-actor musical “Next to Normal,” which was playing the final eight performances of a Broadway run that began in March 2009. “Next to Normal” set a new box-office record at its home, the Booth Theater, grossing $552,653; the show set the Booth’s previous record,$550,409, a week earlier.

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