Blumenthal Performing Arts Has Record-Breaking Season

Charlotte, NC – Charlotte theater and music fans have flocked to Broadway shows and concerts in record numbers this year as a rebounding economy and strong lineup of shows have fueled a string of record-breaking, sold-out performances at Blumenthal Performing Arts theaters.
 
“It’s been a landmark year,” said Blumenthal President Tom Gabbard. “We’ve broken some of our own records and have been a leading market nationally for a number of shows.  It’s this kind of response from local fans that has turned Charlotte into a top ten market for Broadway shows and a key reason why the hottest new shows, like next season’s The Book of Mormon and Once, play here early in their national tours.”
 
Broadway blockbuster Wicked, which closed its three-week Charlotte run Sunday (March 31), set a new Charlotte record for gross sales each week of its engagement.  It became the first Broadway show to cross the $1.7 million mark during a single week.  The hit musical grossed $1,709,422 for the week ending March 31, breaking the record the show set each of the previous two weeks when it sold $1,564,088 in week one and $1,668,524 in week two.
 
Another mega-hit, the beloved Les Misérables, played to a sold-out Belk Theater in February. The show grossed an astonishing $1,227,450 during its one-week run; the highest single-week gross at Belk Theater in the Blumenthal’s history.  It achieved these sales without paid advertising, relying solely on email alerts and postings on the Blumenthal’s websites and social media channels.
 
The incredible demand for tickets prompted Blumenthal and the show’s management to add a ninth performance, which had only occurred twice before in the show’s history.  It was also the second time this season a show in a Blumenthal theater had added a ninth performance.  The Knight Theater run of Cirque Dreams in December also needed nine shows to satisfy demand for tickets.
 
Two performances of Broadway hit FELA also sold out in February. Another Broadway hit on its first national tour, Sister Act, recorded its second highest tour gross in Charlotte. The late May run of the landmark theater event War Horse at the Belk Theater is also already more than 85% of the available seats.
 
The year’s strong sales began with the opening show in the Duke Energy Broadway Lights Series,
Jekyll & Hyde. Charlotte’s November run, which opened on the night of the Presidential Election, produced the second highest one-week gross of the tour with $858,436. Additionally, Jekyll & Hyde garnered the highest sales for the opening show of a Broadway Lights Series’ season.
 
Helping to fuel the early season success were strong season tickets sales.  The Duke Energy Broadway Lights Series sold more than 10,000 season seats last year, meaning that more than 60% of the available tickets were already sold to series shows like Les Misérables before single seats became available.
 
“Season tickets are the best way to guarantee you have seats for the performance and the location of your choice,” Gabbard said.  “You also lock down the best price.”
 
Like the airlines, Broadway shows and concerts employ demand pricing, meaning that as inventory decreases, prices rise.  “Our season ticket buyers lock in at the starting price,” Gabbard said.  “Season tickets have become an even greater value with the advent of demand pricing particularly when you have the kind of demand we’ve seen this year in Charlotte.”
 
Broadway shows aren’t the sole beneficiaries of the strong local demand.  Concerts and special attractions also have been selling briskly and recording sell-outs. John Tosco’s New Year’s Eve Variety Show and The Temptations & The Four Tops concerts ignited the trend, selling out in December.  An Evening with Bill Maher and Tristan Prettyman continued the sellout streak.  Just this week, Sara Bareilles set a Booth Playhouse record for the quickest sold out show in the venue's 20-year history. Bareilles’ solo concert on May 21 (her first Charlotte appearance since 2010) sold out in just 3 hours.
 
Strong sales don’t just benefit Blumenthal and the productions. “Blockbuster shows like Les Misérables and Wicked,” Gabbard said, “contributed significantly to economic activity in the Center City.  These shows drive cultural tourism, drawing visitors as well as Charlotteans, into the Center City to enjoy the great restaurants, hotels and nightlife options nearby.”
 
With another strong lineup on tap for the 2013-14 Duke Energy Broadway Lights Series, anchored by a two-week Belk Theater run of the hottest show currently touring—The Book of Mormon—Gabbard expects Season Tickets for the 2013-14 Duke Energy Broadway Lights Series to sell briskly. In the first days since the season was announced, more than 1,000 subscriptions were sold, with over half purchased by new season ticket holders.
 
Fans can visit BlumenthalArts.org/Broadway or call 704-335-1010 for more information.