Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis w/e 11/22/2015

This Week’s Notable Movements on Broadway are:

“The Illusionists: Live on Broadway” Returns for a Holiday Engagement

In the week ending November 22, 2015, two new shows began previews on Broadway. The first, The Illusionists: Live on Broadway, began previews on November 19, 2015, and played seven shows in its first week. In this partial week of performances, it brought in a weekly gross of $595,610, which represents 51.7% of its gross potential. With a top ticket price of $250, the average paid admission was $87.27, and the average audience capacity was filled up to 69.7%. The Illusionists is an untraditional Broadway show, as it features magic rather than drama or musical theatre.

The series first premiered on Broadway last year, with the show The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible running from November 26, 2014 to January 4, 2015, and did fairly well throughout the run. Now just one year later, another The Illusionists has come to Broadway. In its first week, the sales were just okay, so time will tell whether it was too soon for this show to return to Broadway, or whether it will be a holiday favorite. While the initial were grosses were not bad, the show has the potential to reach a weekly gross of $1,152,931 in the Neil Simon Theatre, and so there is a long way to go before the audiences are filled up as much as they can be for this magic show.

“Fiddler on the Roof” Begins Sixth Broadway Production

Furthermore, the past week Fiddler on the Roof began previews on November 20, 2015. This is the sixth time this classic musical has been seen on Broadway, beginning with the premiere in 1964. The most recent time was from January 23, 2004 to January 8, 2006, that time starring Alfred Molina as Tevye, and thus a decade has gone by since this show was last seen on Broadway. In the current revival, Tevye is played by Tony Award winner Danny Burstein, who may be less of a household name, but has certainly proved his chops on the stage. In its first partial week of three performances, Fiddler on the Roof brought in $490,059, representing 82.6% of its gross potential.

With a top ticket price of $225, the average paid admission was $96.11, and the average audience capacity was filled up to 99.8%. These numbers are quite remarkable for a show that is so well known, but also so familiar that it is not exciting or new compared to those making their Broadway premiere for the first time. In any case, this goes to show that there is still an avid audience for Fiddler on the Roof, with or without a Hollywood star in the lead, as the classic songs “Tradition,” “Anatevka,” “Miracle of Miracles,” “Sunrise Sunset,” “Far From the Home I Love,” and many more remain classics not just in the Jewish American tradition, but on a wider scale attracting hungry Broadway audiences.

The Following are the Broadway Ticket Sales Numbers for the Week Ending November 22, 2015:

Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2015 nytix.com