One may be the loneliest number that you'll ever know, but not when you are thinking about maximizing your revenue.
The grosses for Broadway week ending 12-19-2010 are in. This week I've added a column showing the percent differential between Average Paid Admission and Revenue per Seat to illustrate how shows are succeeding with their pricing. The ideal differential has a value of 1, where the APA and RPS are the same. A higher differential shows that a show is priced incorrectly as it reflects a low capacity. However, you may argue that the pricing is not the issue with the low capacity of a show as the show itself is not appealing to the largest number of Broadway theatergoers (tourists). I disagree. When someone is online at the TKTS booth, they, most often, have not yet decided which show they plan to see and price is often a major factor in the decision they make. So pricing is important to those consumers. It would be interesting to see a show price itself at near its RPS average over several weeks and then put a large number of tickets onsale at the TKTS booth and see what the results were. As you can see from some of the grosses over the past few weeks, some shows would not hurt their bottom line were they to do so.
What do you think?
| Show Name | Gross | % Cap | Avg Paid Admission | Revenue per Seat | Differential |
| THE MERCHANT OF VENICE | $645,015 | 102.56% | $136.48 | $139.98 | 0.98 |
| SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK | $1,036,133 | 98.92% | $90.45 | $89.48 | 1.01 |
| WICKED | $1,631,743 | 97.94% | $115.12 | $112.75 | 1.02 |
| ELF | $1,464,913 | 96.30% | $133.53 | $128.59 | 1.04 |
| JERSEY BOYS | $1,133,645 | 95.71% | $120.56 | $115.40 | 1.04 |
| THE LION KING | $1,571,953 | 94.61% | $123.84 | $117.17 | 1.06 |
| FELA! | $613,717 | 93.60% | $79.57 | $74.48 | 1.07 |
| BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL | $978,780 | 88.75% | $97.01 | $86.10 | 1.13 |
| NEXT TO NORMAL | $308,859 | 85.75% | $58.32 | $50.01 | 1.17 |
| PROMISES, PROMISES | $1,117,422 | 83.46% | $95.79 | $79.95 | 1.20 |
| DRIVING MISS DAISY | $595,313 | 80.10% | $115.55 | $92.55 | 1.25 |
| THE PEE-WEE HERMAN SHOW | $637,669 | 80.07% | $94.36 | $75.55 | 1.25 |
| BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON | $419,303 | 79.62% | $63.91 | $50.89 | 1.26 |
| DONNY & MARIE: A BROADWAY CHRISTMAS | $1,047,740 | 78.06% | $117.20 | $91.49 | 1.28 |
| IN THE HEIGHTS | $608,332 | 77.23% | $73.26 | $56.58 | 1.29 |
| MARY POPPINS | $914,985 | 75.16% | $84.68 | $63.65 | 1.33 |
| MEMPHIS | $795,212 | 73.71% | $91.74 | $67.62 | 1.36 |
| THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | $761,245 | 73.31% | $80.37 | $58.92 | 1.36 |
| A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC | $438,142 | 72.07% | $81.62 | $58.83 | 1.39 |
| RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY | $676,048 | 71.36% | $81.79 | $58.36 | 1.40 |
| THE ADDAMS FAMILY | $912,688 | 70.54% | $106.47 | $75.11 | 1.42 |
| THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST | $71,928 | 69.90% | $34.76 | $24.30 | 1.43 |
| MAMMA MIA! | $713,888 | 68.40% | $87.09 | $59.57 | 1.46 |
| WEST SIDE STORY | $751,136 | 67.93% | $81.45 | $55.33 | 1.47 |
| ROCK OF AGES | $478,936 | 67.24% | $89.30 | $60.05 | 1.49 |
| LA CAGE AUX FOLLES | $453,873 | 61.75% | $86.92 | $53.67 | 1.62 |
| BRIEF ENCOUNTER | $278,911 | 60.60% | $57.41 | $34.79 | 1.65 |
| CHICAGO | $431,498 | 60.47% | $82.58 | $49.94 | 1.65 |
| LOMBARDI | $238,737 | 59.95% | $63.01 | $37.77 | 1.67 |
| WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN | $269,357 | 54.73% | $63.42 | $34.71 | 1.83 |
| MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET | $445,007 | 53.04% | $86.39 | $45.82 | 1.89 |
| TIME STANDS STILL | $325,677 | 51.52% | $73.24 | $37.73 | 1.94 |
| A FREE MAN OF COLOR | $214,439 | 50.97% | $50.42 | $25.70 | 1.96 |
| COLIN QUINN: LONG STORY SHORT | $147,620 | 48.53% | $64.77 | $31.44 | 2.06 |
| AMERICAN IDIOT | $489,532 | 47.36% | $75.60 | $35.81 | 2.11 |
| LA BETE | $232,383 | 42.45% | $67.95 | $28.85 | 2.36 |
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