June 01, 2006
Broadway sales hit all-time-high for '05-'06 season
Broadway just racked up its best season ever, with more than 12 million tickets sold in the past year, according to figures released by The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc.
While the total number of seats sold was up 4.1 percent over a year ago, the percentage of seats filled was 81.6 percent, also a an all-time high since the League began collecting data in 1957.
The 39 new shows and 15 long-running shows grossed a record $861.6 million, up 12 percent from $768.5 million last year. “Although the strong business results continue to underline Broadway’s revenue stakes in New York, increasing cost pressures have resulted in no increase in the number of shows making a profit. Broadway is still a high risk investment,” League president Jed Bernstein said in a statement when releasing the totals. The numbers cover the 2005-2006 Broadway season, which began May 30, 2005, and ended May 28, 2006.
The increases were due in part to tourist spending, according to the League, which estimated that U.S. tourists bought 5 million tickets and international visitors paid for about 1.3 million. For a little context, consider this comment from Jennifer Tattenbaum, the e-commerce manager at ticket seller Telecharge.com that recently appeared on The Situation, a Broadway blog run by Situation Marketing: I think the biggest myth is that there are a large number of people out there who go to the theatre more than once a year. In fact, the number is pretty small (around 300,000 people in the tri-state area, around 500,000 people if you include the rest of the country). The numbers for the final week of the year, published in Playbill, show a number of productions with strong numbers. There were 19 shows with at least 90 percent capacity: "Avenue Q," "Beauty and the Beast," "Faith Healer," "Hairspray," "Jersey Boys," "Mamma Mia!," "Shining City," "Spamalot," "Tarzan," "The Color Purple," "The Drowsy Chaperone," "The History Boys," "The Lion King," "The Odd Couple," "The Pajama Game," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The ThreePenny Opera," "Three Days of Rain," and "Wicked." Of those, three had an average ticket price above $90: "Jersey Boys," "Three Days of Rain" and "Wicked."
Earlier:
'05 was record year for Broadway, grossing $825 mln
Broadway ends 2005 with highest grossing week ever
Broadway rising: $110 for regular orchestra seats
Musical-loving tourists are Broadway's big spenders
Broadway money totals for 2004: good; end of 2004: eh
June 1, 2006 05:14 PM in Broadway
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