Leaders in New York’s theater industry have warned that Broadway will not soon return to prepandemic attendance levels. But recent data shows the industry is down in some respects even compared to last year.
Broadway drew about 230,000 people and raked in $28.5 million across 26 shows during the week that ended on March 24, according to the latest figures released by the Broadway League. Both are down somewhat from the same period in 2023, when attendance stood at 260,000 and shows grossed $32.6 million, although there were also more total shows, numbering 31.
This season, which began at the end of May, is also not keeping up with last year’s. Broadway’s $1.2 billion in revenue is down by 4.6% compared to the same point last year, while total attendance, at 9.9 million, is down 1.7%, the data shows.
The picture could start looking better in the coming weeks, when more than a dozen new shows are set to open — including the Alicia Keys-inspired musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” a production of “Uncle Vanya” starring Steve Carell, and revivals of “The Wiz” and “Cabaret.” That will bring the total number of shows on Broadway to 38 by April, the New York Times reported.
“It’s really too soon to tell where we’re going to end up as a season,” said Jason Laks, interim president and general counsel of the Broadway League, which represents producers and theater owners. “There is a lot of demand pent up for upcoming shows, so the story has yet to be fully written until we see where we are when all the shows have opened up.”
Day to day, the most recent week was a modest improvement over the week before, with overall revenues growing by 1.6% and attendance by 4.5%. The top-grossing shows were the juggernauts “The Lion King,” “Wicked” and “Hamilton,” followed by newcomer “Merrily We Roll Along,” a Stephen Sondheim revival whose limited run was recently extended from March to July.
Charlotte St. Martin, who stepped down in February after a long tenure as the Broadway League’s president, told Crain’s shortly before her retirement that this season was unlikely to be as successful as the last prepandemic season in 2018-2019. But that was also a record year for the entire industry.
“The last year before Covid was the biggest year in our history by a longshot, so anything that’s compared to it looks like we’re really off,” St. Martin said in January.
Nick Garber , 2024-03-27 21:14:51
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