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Broadway's Dramas Double in Ticket Sales

By: Aug. 17, 2005
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Broadway's prognosis for this year? So far, it's been very healthy, according to the League of American Theatres and Producers, crediting the dramas flourishing on the Great White Way. Both tickets sales and attendance for non-musical plays have doubled.

In fact, attendance for straight plays more than doubled--a 57.4% increase was achieved between last year's attendance figure of 738,611 to this year's 1,162,615 (since March 21st).

Both Broadway grosses and attendance, for both musicals and plays, have been stronger during this period than the corresponding weeks from last year. Grosses leapt from $326.9 to $361.2, marking a 10.5 % increase. Similarly, paid attendance rose from 5 million to 5.3 million--a 6.3 % increase.

The number of playing weeks on Broadway (which is the best overall measure of New York activity) for this 21-week period, was 688 playing weeks, compared to 625 last season during this period (a 10.1% increase).

Doubt remains the highest-grossing drama, raking in $480,857 last week. "Given the quality of dramas seen on Broadway this season, it's no wonder attendance and grosses are so high. It's clear Broadway is on this hot streak because of this season's tremendous plays," commented Jed Bernstein, President of The League of American Theatres and Producers.





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