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UPDATE, with additional figures Broadway reached a major post-pandemic milestone last week, with season-to-date box office receipts of $1,801,023,860 for the 2024-2025 season surpassing the same week of the record-setting pre-Covid season of 2018-2019.
The figure is in no small part due to the massive weekly box office tallies of star-driven productions such as Good Night, And Good Luck, with George Clooney; Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal; and Glengarry Glen Ross, starring Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr. The former two production have routinely grossed in excess of $3 million per week, a remarkable number for Broadway plays (with remarkable ticket prices as well – premium tickets can cost upwards of $800 per seat).
Glengarry Glen Ross, while not hitting the $3M heights, typically grosses in excess of $2M, as does the much-revitalized Wicked, a long-running musical that received a big resurgence in popularity with the release of the hit movie version.
In a statement accompanying this week’s release of The Broadway League’s weekly grosses, Jason Laks, the League President, said, “While we celebrate this milestone, we also need to be clear-eyed about where this industry stands today. Among other factors, these record grosses have been buoyed by the tremendous success of a few specific productions this season, without which we would still trail our pre-pandemic numbers. While we are, of course, thrilled by their successes, we also have to look at our industry as a whole.”
Continued Laks, “Every show, no matter how acclaimed, is grappling with rising costs across every facet of production. Shows have an ever-shorter window to get on their feet, find an audience, and determine their future. This is a major challenge shows face as they seek out investors, without which a production will never make it to the stage.”
“We can’t be satisfied with 2019’s definition of success,” Laks continued. “Broadway’s future depends on deepening the work and investment, expanding our audiences, and addressing the challenge of rising costs, so that we can keep this cultural treasure and economic engine vibrant and thriving.”
At this point in the 2018-2019 season, Broadway had amassed a then-record season-to-date tally of $1,793,406,470. The 2020 Covid shutdown slammed the industry, and Broadway struggled to regain its footing well after reopening in September 2021. At this point last year, the season-to-date figure was $1,502,896,749, trailing the pre-Covid high point.
The box office season-to-date grosses for this season, while heartening, make clear that the big numbers are due in no small part to this year’s higher ticket prices. Total attendance for the season so far is 13,979,961, compared to 14,453,937 for this week in the 2018-2019 season. This season’s average paid admission is $128.83, compared to $124.08 for 2018-2019.
Last week – the Broadway week ending May 11 – Othello set a new house record at the Ethel Barrymore, grossing $3,229,396. Good Night, And Good Luck, even with a 2,000-ticket giveaway to New York City public school students, grossed $3,812,165, and Glengarry Glen Ross was at $2,435,389.
Other recent Broadway arrivals pulling strong numbers include Just In Time, the Bobby Darin musical starring Jonathan Groff, grossing $1,173,111 last week. Buena Vista Social Club, riding high from multiple Tony nominations, is on a major upswing, grossing $1,164,304, while Death Becomes Her remained strong with $1,343,867.
The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook had a pre-scheduled six-show week, and still took in $1,204,238. Operation Mincemeat was at $761,702, and two of last fall’s most popular shows – Maybe Happy Ending and Oh, Mary! – were at $1,000,927 and $1,041,778, respectively.
In all, Broadway’s 40 productions took in $43,501,430 for the week ending May 11, about even with the previous week but 22% greater than last year at this time. Attendance was at 334,126, about 16% greater year-to-year.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office data visit the League’s website.