Broadway Box Office comes to life as “Shucked” opens and “Phantom” goes to the final curtain

Broadway showed signs of a spring bloom last week, with box office receipts and ticket prices enjoying their traditional surge in the tourist-infested week before Easter. Overall, the 33 productions earned $38,594,054, a 12% increase over the previous week.

Visitor attendance for the week ending April 9 was 280,760, an increase of 4%. The more modest increase in attendance forced ticket prices up sharply: The average paid admission was $137.46, an 8% increase from the previous week.

Some of Broadway’s tourist favorites were among the week’s clear winners The lion king sold out for a whopping $2,980,093 gross, with an average ticket price of $220.08, surpassed only by that of the mighty spirit of the opera, topped the list again with a massive $3,648,872 and a corresponding average ticket price: $279.37. Andrew Lloyd Webbers ghost closes on April 16.

Two other programs popular with foreigners had their best performances of the calendar year: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child took out $1,819,727 and Moulin Rouge! $1,801,019 raised. Both were sold out.

Among other newcomers, Sweeney Todd: Fleet Street’s demonic barber continued its excellent run earning $1,790,826 just like the previews Camelot ($931,246). For seven previews, New-York, New-York 94% of the seats at the St. James occupied with a relatively modest average ticket of $86.23; Total gross was $931,111.

The highest rated musical comedy peeled off had a promising opening week at the Dutchman with $554,956 in sales and 95% attendance.

In the season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,381,274,621 with a total admission of 10,666,969 at an 88% seat load rate.

All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. Visit the league’s website for a complete list of ticket offices.