‘Wicked’ breaks Broadway box-office record over holidays

The holiday season is usually a bountiful time of year for Broadway shows. Hordes of tourists bring about a bump in box-office receipts for musicals and plays across the board.

The most recent holiday period proved to be no exception. “Wicked,” still going strong at close to 10 years, had an especially merry Christmas, grossing $2.9 million, which is the highest weekly figure of any Broadway production in history.

“Wicked” benefited at the box office from premium ticket pricing, which is the practice of jacking up prices for certain performances and sections of the house. The musical charged as much as $300 for a seat in the last week, with an average ticket price of $181 for the week.

The most expensive ticket on Broadway for the week was “The Book of Mormon,” with priciest seats going for $477.

During the holiday week, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” grossed $2.7 million and “The Lion King” earned slightly less than $2.7 million. “Mormon” grossed $2.2 million. Figures are provided by the Broadway League.

Producers of “Wicked” said that two national touring productions of the musical in St. Louis and Honolulu brought in an additional $4.3 million during the week.

“Wicked” will return to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa starting Feb. 20.

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