December 27, 2006

Broadway wraps up big year with $91.50 average ticket

Who helped push Broadway's 2005/06 season to one of the highest levels in two decades? She was most likely a 42-year-old white woman from out of town who paid $91.50 for her ticket, based on data collected by the League of American Theatres and Producers.

From June 2005 through June 2006, the 12 million Broadway tickets were purchased by women 62.3 percent of the time, according to the demographic report in The Stage. The age group of 35 and 49 purchased the most tickets, 28.7 percent, followed closely by the 50 to 64 bracket, (27.7 percent,) then the 25 to 34-year-olds (15.4 percent,), the 18 to 24-year-olds (9.8 percent) and the under 18s, at 9.6 percent. The 65-and-older crowd accounted for 8.8 percent of the audience.

Foreign tourists continued their post-Sept. 11 return as well. In the year before the attacks, they bought 11.6 percent of the tickets; that dropped to 4.8 percent in 2001-2002. This past season they bought 11 percent of the Broadway tickets. New York City residents bought 19 percent of the Broadway tickets while people who live nearby bought 24.4 percent.

In terms of ethnicity, whites led (77.3 percent,), Hispanics accounted for 5.9 percent, blacks bought 5.1 percent and Asians at 3.3 percent. (8.4 percent classified themselves as "other.")

The numbers for the current season are promising, Variety reports. Ticket sales have passed $500 million for the period May 29 to Dec. 17, with an average attendance of 82.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the city's most influential stage critic, Ben Brantley of the New York Times, has published his list of 10 best shows on Broadway for the year. His picks, including only the ones that are still running: "The Coast of Utopia, Part I, Voyage," "Company," "Grey Gardens," "The Little Dog Laughed," and "Spring Awakening."

Eric Grode of The Sun has also penned a year-end best-of list. Still-running shows on his list are "Spring Awakening" and "The Drowsy Chaperone."

Joe Dziemianowicz at the Daily News names his two favorite Broadway performances of the season: Julie White in "The Little Dog Laughed" and Christine Ebersole in "Grey Gardens."

Back at the Times, Charles Isherwood's list takes in both On- and Off-Broadway. "Spring Awakening" and "The Clean House" are the only productions on his list that are still running.

Earlier: 'Spring Awakening': Rockin' with Victorian German kids
Sex, rock and Broadway: 'Spring Awakening' scores
Stoppard's 'Coast of Utopia' extends to May 13
Sondheim's 'Company' revived on Broadway
Stoppard's Utopian 'Voyage' a huge hit with critics
Critics love witty 'Little Dog Laughed' on Broadway
Ebersole shines royally in Broadway's 'Grey Gardens'
Messy, but critics swept away by 'The Clean House'
$31.25 for a seat in Broadway's 'Spring Awakening'
Fall's cheap Broadway tickets start around $20
Broadway sales hit all-time-high for '05-'06 season

December 27, 2006 09:46 AM in Broadway

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