Sunday, December 15, 2013

2013 - 2014 Box Office: 1st Half Summary Report

The first half of the 2013 - 2014 Broadway Season is over, and here's how the box office turned out - the winners and the losers.

Here are some interesting statistics for the first 26 weeks (May 27 - November 24, 2013).

Number of Shows: 47
Total Number of Playing Weeks: 683
Show Breakdown: 21 Musicals, 4 Musical Revivals, 6 Plays, 10 Play Revivals, 3 Solo Shows, 3 Specials

82.58% = The Average Attendance of all Broadway Shows
66.11% = The Average Percentage of Gross Potential of all Broadway Shows
$92.65 = The Average Paid Ticket Price of all Broadway Shows

The to date ranking was determined by averaging the two quarter averages of Attendance Attendance, Average Percentage of Gross Potential and Average Paid Ticket Price for each show.  Shows are ranked by each category.  Each ranking number is added together, and the shows are ranked in order from lowest to highest to make the final list. For example: The Book of Mormon ranked the highest in all three categories, so three number 1's equals 3, the lowest total of all Broadway shows so far this season.  Forever Tango ranked 44/47 in Attendance, 46/47 in Average Paid Ticket Price, and 45/47 in Average Percentage of Gross Potential, for a total of 135 points, the highest total of all Broadway shows so far this season.



Of note: Star power does seem to drive box office, with three of the top 5 shows are limited run, star-driven vehicles featuring Daniel Craig, Tom Hanks and Bette Midler, respectively.  Look for more such vehicles for seasons to come. Special event shows prove to be either a huge draw (Il Divo kicked ass in its one week run, so good that it made the top 10!  However, Let It Be  and Forever Tango ended at the bottom of the list).  Still, Broadway musicals continue to drive the bottom line, with mega hit The Book of Mormon out pacing all shows by a wide margin, and perennial mega musicals The Lion King and Wicked both making the top 10.  And who says that Tony wins don't boost the B.O.?  Both the past season's winners for Best Musical and Best Musical Revival, Kinky Boots and Pippin  made the top 10.  Motown, a critical flop, but audience-pleaser, rounds out the top 10, supporting those who subscribe to the theory that critics have lost their power.  The bottom line (so far this season, at least) seems to be that producers and Broadway spin doctors can weave any tale they need to to justify investments in their shows.

The Broadway Box Office for the First Half of the 2013 - 2014 Season*

1 The Book of Mormon
2 Betrayal
3 Lucky Guy
4 I'll Eat You Last
5 Kinky Boots
6 The Lion King
7 Il Divo
8 Wicked
9 Pippin
10 Motown
11 700 Sundays
12 Matilda
13 Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
14 The Glass Menagerie
15 Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
16 Newsies
17 Twelfth Night/Richard III
18 Once
19 Rock of Ages
20 The Phantom of the Opera
21 Jersey Boys
22 No Man's Land/Waiting for Godot
23 Chicago
24 After Midnight
24 Mamma Mia!
26 Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
27 A Night with Janis Joplin
28 The Trip to Bountiful
29 Annie
29 Cinderella
31 Big Fish
32 The Nance
33 Nice Work If You Can Get It
34 The Snow Geese
35 A Gentleman's Guide…
36 Macbeth (Lincoln Center)
37 First Date
38 The Assembled Parties
39 Macbeth (Solo)
40 The Big Knife
41 A Time to Kill
42 Romeo and Juliet
43 Soul Doctor
44 The Winslow Boy
45 Ann
46 Let It Be
47 Forever Tango

* - NOTE: After Midnight and Mamma Mia! tied after all averages were ranked and totaled.  Mamma Mia! played at total of 25 weeks, with 1 week off for moving theatres.

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