January 04, 2008
Broadway sets record for '07; average ticket hits $76
Despite a 19-day stagehands' strike during the busiest part of the year, Broadway ended 2007 with a record $938 million in sales for the year, according to industry numbers as reported by Crain's and Bloomberg News.
The average ticket prices climbed to $76.32 from $75.69 in 2006, while attendance was 2.7 percent higher, at a record 12.3 million, according to the stats released by the Broadway League, (which until mid-December was called The League of American Theatres and Producers.)
Official grosses for the final week of 2007 (December 24-30,) indicate a dozen shows (all musicals,) were above 100-percent capacity: "Wicked," "Jersey Boys," "The Little Mermaid," "Grease," "Spamalot," "A Chorus Line," "The Lion King," "Mary Poppins," "Hairspray," "Mamma Mia!," "Les Miserables" and "The Phantom of the Opera."
However that list omits "The New Mel Brooks Musical: Young Frankenstein" which is the only show to break industry standards by refusing to release any of its ticket results. That also messes up those year-to-year grosses mentioned up top, and as the Bloomberg story notes, the official average ticket price for the year is probably higer as well since "Young Frank" charges up to $450 for weekend tickets.
And as Variety points out, although "Wicked" last week officially claimed the record for the highest-grossing week in Broadway history -- with $1.84 million -- unofficial estimates peg "Young Frankenstein" at $1.86 million for that same period.
One last asterisk to all those numbers: Broadway League's year-to-year numbers aren't apples-to-apples, as Crain's reports that due to "calendar issues," the League this year used 53 weeks, compared with 52 in 2006.
Earlier: Links to the official websites for all Broadway shows
Broadway sold record 12.3 mln tickets in past season
Broadway sales hit all-time-high for '05-'06 season
'05 was record year for Broadway, grossing $825 mln
Broadway money totals for 2004: good; end of 2004: eh
January 4, 2008 08:23 AM in Broadway
Comments (0)
®Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved
|
