Broadway box office and ticket prices fell back to earth last week following the previous week’s Thanksgiving holiday-inflated numbers, with the total gross for the 26 productions dropping 14% to a combined $29,568,897.
The average ticket price for the week ending Dec. 3 was $134.70, down $16.19, or 11%, from the holiday week’s average. Total attendance was off only 4%, to 219,511, indicating the decline in box office revenue can be attributed largely to the lower amount spent on tickets.
One new show, Appropriate starring Sarah Paulson, joined the roster and filled nearly every seat at the non-prof Second Stage’s Hayes Theatre. The play, written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and co-starring Elle Fanning and Corey Stoll, among others, took in $483,124 for seven previews, with attendance at 98% of the venue’s capacity. Opening night is Dec. 18.
While all but eight of the productions reported post-Thanksgiving declines in box office receipts, attendance at a healthy number of the shows was at 90% capacity or more: & Juliet, Aladdin, Appropriate, Hadestown, Hamilton (100%), I Need That, Merrily We Roll Along (100%), MJ, Moulin Rouge!, Six, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King and Wicked (99.5%).
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $799,226,359, with total attendance at 6,485,630.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.