Wicked’s Landing in Little Rock Makes Big Economic Impact

In a statement released today, the theater production company Celebrity Attractions, which recently brought “Wicked” into Little Rock, said almost 40,000 people were in attendance during the run of 16 performances which resulted in $2.8 million in ticket sales.

Little Rock’s premiere engagement of “Wicked,” the blockbuster musical, was an incredibly wicked success, casting a spell on its audiences who traveled from all parts of Arkansas and beyond over the two week span of its performances. It also provided a boost in revenue for a number of local businesses.

The production was attended by 39,339 patrons at Robinson Center Musical Hall.

The total ticket sales for “Wicked” was almost $2,800,000 for the 16 performances, breaking the gross sales box office record for a Broadway engagement.

The local economic impact that “Wicked” had on Little Rock is estimated at more than $8,000,000. The figure includes salaries of local labor, rentals, advertising, taxes, sales and ancillary spending from ticket buyers estimated to be more than $3,343,815 on hotels, dining, transportation, shopping, etc.

Celebrity Attractions thanks Little Rock for their warm embracing of the engagement. The show’s overwhelming success is a great reflection of the community and helps to bring Little Rock national attention as a premiere market for Broadway productions. Celebrity Attractions President, Larry Payton, explained that “Wicked” truly is a musical phenomenon. Our producers were very impressed with our last sell out results and response. We are in negotiations currently to bring “Wicked” back. The crew and cast loved Little Rock and look forward to returning very soon.

The welcoming sponsor of the Wicked engagement was the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. Fantastic community feedback was received by Gretchen Hall, Director of Merchandising & Communications and Co-Interim CEO. She said, the recent “Wicked” run of 14 days exceeded all expectations, which placed Little Rocks into a heightened and new level of Broadway performances. The run also provided the local economy with a very much needed boost. Hotels, restaurants and other local performing arts institutions are still telling us about how the show impacted their businesses. Our convention bureau is very thankful for our partnership with Celebrity Attractions. We are looking forward to being able to host future Broadway endeavors with this magnitude.

Boscos Restaurant & Brewing Company general manager, Chuck Corzine said, we were very happy with the increased business during the 12 day “Wicked” run. We were very luck to be involved in the program. We would welcome any future opportunities to do it again.

By Julie Harmon On December 1, 2010

All photos made available via creative commons licensing courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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