Last week, Broadway grosses for the season-to-date surpassed 2018-2019’s record season-to-date box office for the first time.
Total industry box office hit $1.8 billion for the season, propelled by hits such as Good Night, and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, which was last week’s highest earner, with $3.8 million, followed by Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, with $3.2 million and Glengarry Glen Ross, starring Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr, with $2.4 million.
Good Night, and Good Luck and Glengarry Glen Ross both announced that they had recouped their capitalizations, with Glengarry Glen Ross breaking the Palace Theatre box office record with a gross of $2.4 million.
Some shows also appeared to get a boost from the Tony nominations, including Death Becomes Her, which saw its grosses shoot up close to $270,000 from the prior week to $1.3 million, Buena Vista Social Club, which saw a close to $90,000 gain to $1.2 million, Maybe Happy Ending, which shot up close to $100,000 to $1 million. All three tied for having the most Tony nominations.
Among the plays, Purpose, which is Tony nominated and was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Drama, saw its grosses increase by about $100,000 to $522,691 last week, and the Tony-nominated play John Proctor is The Villain, starring Sadie Sink, also increased close to $100,000 to $596,511.
The milestone of surpassing the 2018-2019 season is significant as that season is the highest on record for Broadway grosses and attendance and has been viewed as a benchmark to measure post-pandemic recovery. At this point in the 2018-2019 season, Broadway had brought in $1.79 million.
However, Jason Laks, president of the Broadway League noted that the numbers are driven by a few productions – namely the recent celebrity-driven titles, with high ticket prices – and that otherwise the economics of Broadway are making it harder for productions to survive. Othello commanded the highest average ticket price on Broadway last week at $387.
“Broadway audiences are responding to the remarkable and diverse slate of productions this season. These grosses and attendance numbers are a testament to, and a reflection of, the efforts of every person working both on stage and off to turn the dream of each show into a reality,” Laks said in a statement.
“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,” the statement reads.
“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,” Laks said.
