Broadway Box Office Slips As Wintertime Ticket Prices Drop

With a slimmed-down roster and many productions offering 2 for 1 tickets during the annual Broadway Week promotion, Broadway box office was down 24% for the week ending January 22, with the 23-show total at $25,835,362. Attendance of 204,847 was off 17% from the previous week when 29 shows were on the boards.

Despite the overall drop, the percentage of seats filled remained at about 93% of capacity, consistent with the previous week. Average ticket price was down considerably though – those 2-for-1s kicking in – with the average price of $126 down a full $10 from the previous week.

The annual Broadway Week winter promotion (which actually lasts several weeks) seems to have had an impact – 18 of the 23 shows were at 90% of capacity or more, even as ticket prices fell. Filling all their seats were MJ (grossing $1,654,435) and The Phantom of the Opera ($2,227,185).

The sole previewing show, Pictures From Home starring Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein and Zoë Wanamaker, sold about 92% of its seats at Studio 54, grossing $413,288 with a $79.69 average ticket. Opening night is February 9.

Season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,062,714,005, with total attendance of 8,172,023 at about 87% of capacity.

All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For the complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.