Broadway box office was up 15% last week, hitting $21,835,116 as average ticket prices climbed 11% over the previous week to $126.
With attendance up only 4% over the previous week (to 173,184), the higher ticket prices for the week ending Feb. 20 no doubt contributed mightily to the $21.8M box office tally for the 19 productions. (The previous week’s average ticket price was $114).
Still, last week’s attendance figure indicates that about 90% of available seats were filled, a big jump over the worst weeks of the Omicron surge, when fewer than 65% of seats were occupied. The $21.8M receipt tally is the highest figure since the $26M take of the final week in December, when premium holiday seats provided a boost.
Last week’s healthier capacity percentage numbers also reflect a still-slim 19-show roster. A likely shake-out when as many as 16 productions nearly double the roster this spring will be one of the most closely watched developments of the 2021-22 Broadway season.
Both last week and the previous week occurred during the February two-for-one Broadway ticket sale promotion for select shows (notably, the popular The Music Man, Hamilton and Six were not included on the ticket site listings of participating Broadway Week productions).
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $476,771,094, with total attendance of 3,859,184 at about 81% of capacity.
Productions reporting performances on Broadway during the week ending Feb. 20 were Aladdin; The Book of Mormon; Chicago; Come From Away; Company; David Byrne’s American Utopia; Dear Evan Hansen; Hadestown; Hamilton; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; The Lion King; MJ; Moulin Rouge! The Musical!; The Music Man; The Phantom of the Opera; Six; Skeleton Crew; Tina; and Wicked.
All figures courtesy of the Broadway League, which, in contrast to previous years, is not releasing box office figures for individual shows this season due to the impact of Covid on playing schedules and other statistics.