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Broadway box office took the expected drop last week, declining nearly 30% (to $37,394,931) from the previous week’s holiday-pumped $52M figure. Attendance for the 32 shows was down about 12% (to 275,834), but remained at a solid 92% of total capacity.
The reason for the decline, of course, is the previous week’s New Years week numbers, which included the annual bonus performances and premium ticket prices (average paid admission for the week ending Jan. 8 was $135.57, compared to $165.92 for the holiday week before).
Also of note: Broadway’s season-to-date gross crossed the $1 billion threshold. Thirty-three weeks into the 2022-23 season, Broadway box office tallied up to $1,003,018,654. Last season, Broadway, reeling from the Covid shutdown, grossed only $845,354,915 for the entire 52-week season. During the (mostly) pre-pandemic 2019-20 season, Broadway hit $1,004,439,001 for the week ending December 22, 2019.
Four shows played their final weeks, with Beetlejuice topping the dearly departed with a sell-out gross of $2,146,200, a new eight-performance record at the Marquis. (The musical had set a new nine-performance record the previous week, with $2,462,667.) Star Alex Brightman returned to the musical for three weekend performances after recuperating from a Dec. 24 backstage accident that left him with a concussion.
Other shows that closed January 8 were Almost Famous ($886,112, with 92% of seats filled); 1776 ($361,426, 90%); and Into the Woods ($1,496,876, 85%).
Also setting another eight-performance house record was Funny Girl, taking $2,062,739 at the August Wilson Theatre. The revival starring Lea Michele had previously set the Wilson record with $2,005,696 for the week ending Dec. 28, 2022, when it surpassed a 2018 record set by Mean Girls.
Among the longest-running shows, The Lion King was at 99.8% of capacity at the Minskoff, grossing $1,998,294, down from the massive, record-setting high of $4,315,264 from the holiday week. The Phantom of the Opera was SRO at the Majestic, with another week of eye-popping grosses at $2,185,286.
The Music Man, nearing its Jan. 15 closing date, was last week’s top grosser at $3,146,164.
Season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,003,018,654, with total attendance of 7,719,509 at about 87% of capacity.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For the complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.