All but six of the current 22 Broadway productions filled more than 90% of their available seats last week, and most of the ones that didn’t hit that mark came close, according to the first detailed box office figures released this season by the Broadway League.
In all, the 22 shows grossed a total of $26,656,904 during the week ending March 20, a 19% jump over the previous week’s $22M tally. Total paid attendance of 196,036 was a 16% increase over the previous week’s 168,999, and indicates that about 92% of total available seats were filled.
For the first time since Broadway returned from the Covid pandemic shutdown last September, the League – the trade organization representing theater owners and producers – released box office data for each of the 22 productions. The League had been releasing only combined numbers for all productions due to the impact of Covid on playing schedules and other statistics.
This week’s box office report indicates that most Broadway shows are doing more than solid business as spring arrives, with Hadestown, Hamilton, Plaza Suite, Six, The Music Man and Wicked posting sell-out attendance. Aladdin, America Utopia, Birthday Candles, Company, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, MJ, Moulin Rouge!, Paradise Square,The Book of Mormon and The Lion King posted attendance figures in excess of 90% of capacity, while Chicago, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Take Me Out (a subscriber-heavy production of the nonprofit Second Stage Theater company) and The Phantom of the Opera hovered around the 80% to 90% range. Only Tina – The Tina Turner Musical fell below the 60% mark, with 55% of available seats filled.
As for the dollars, no fewer than 12 productions grossed more than $1 million for the week, with The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, leading the way – by far – with a $3.4 million take. Coming in second was Hamilton, with $2.2 million. (Others in the Million-Dollar-Plus Club were Aladdin, Hadestown, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, MJ, Moulin Rouge, Plaza Suite, Six, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King and Wicked.)
While the average paid admission for the entire Broadway roster was about $136, several of the shows went well beyond that number: Both Hamilton and Plaza Suite (the Neil Simon revival starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, currently in previews) posted average ticket prices of $213, while The Music Man seats went for a whopping $283 on average. The Music Man also reported the top premium ticket price at $697, with Plaza Suite following at $549 and Hamilton at $449.
Bargains were two shows at nonprofit theaters: Take Me Out, starring starring Patrick J. Adams, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jesse Williams, had an average ticket price of $86 and the Roundabout production of Birthday Candles starring Debra Messing ($70 on average).
Paradise Square, the new musical produced by Garth Drabinsky at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, was selling seats for a tiny average of $47.
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $568,550,517, with total attendance of 4,555,189 at about 82% of capacity.
Productions reporting performances on Broadway during the week ending March 20 were Aladdin; Birthday Candles; The Book of Mormon; Chicago; Come From Away; Company; David Byrne’s American Utopia; Dear Evan Hansen; Hadestown; Hamilton; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; The Lion King; MJ; Moulin Rouge!; The Music Man; Paradise Square; The Phantom of the Opera; Plaza Suite; Six; Take Me Out; Tina; and Wicked.
In previews were Plaza Suite (opening March 28); Paradise Square (opening April 3); Take Me Out (opening April 4) and Birthday Candles (opening April 10).
All figures courtesy of the Broadway League,