Broadway Gets Big Serving Of Thanksgiving Bounty: Weekly Grosses And Ticket Prices Up Nearly 30%

Thanksgiving proved plentiful for Broadway last week, with box office – and ticket prices – up by nearly 30% over the previous week.

With tourists packing New York City, theatergoers splurging on higher priced holiday seats and the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade trumpeting Broadway’s bounty, the 26 shows on the boards grossed a combined $34,512,033, a 28% increase over the previous week’s $27,060,113.

With total attendance holding steady – and three fewer shows on the roster – the increase in receipts can be attributed to a 27% bump in average ticket price: $151, compared to the previous week’s $118.

Overall, 90% of Broadway seats were filled during the holiday week.

Nearly all of the productions reported a surge, with, for just two examples, both Merrily We Roll Along and & Juliet setting new house records at their respective venues: Merrily took in $2,046,288, beating its own previous record at the Hudson Theatre, and & Juliet grossed $1,459,276, besting Beautiful‘s previous high-water marks at the Sondheim.

The Thanksgiving Week increases weren’t limited to Broadway’s recent arrivals: Perennial top earnner The Lion King grossed a huge $2.9 million – up by $867,691 over the previous week – and Wicked took in $2.6 million, a $792,588 jump.

Only four shows bucked the upward trend: A Beautiful Noise, Harmony, How To Dance In Ohio and Purlie Victorious. While it’s too early for the roster to indicate any impact from the Thanksgiving Parade performances, How To Dance could see an eventual uptick from its spotlight in the NBC broadcast (the musical, in previews, opens December 10).

With across-the-board ticket price surges, the standouts were Merrily, topping the roster with an average price just shy of $265; The Lion King at $217; and Hamilton at $214. & Juliet was in the higher reaches with $178, and MJ came in at $177.

Season to date, Broadway has grossed $769,657,462, with total attendance at 6,266,119.

All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.