Charlotte St. Martin, who’s led the Broadway League trade association since 2006, will step down on Feb. 16. The sudden departure occurs amid an industry changing of the guard as Broadway struggles to recover from the pandemic and respond to calls for greater diversity.Continue Reading
LEAGUE TOUTS SILVER LINING IN SMALLER AUDIENCE
Last season, 25 to 49-year-olds who attended Broadway shows outnumbered those 50 and up for the first time since 2008-09.
It’s too early to proclaim a generational shift. The audience was younger in the year ending May 21, 2023, than in the prior full season, 2018-19, because youngish age groups shrank less than the entire Broadway pie, which is still missing a slice or two.Continue Reading
NEW YORK EXTENDS $3 MILLION BROADWAY TAX CREDIT; DISNEY’S ‘ALADDIN’ APPROVED
New York State extended the New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit, a subsidy of up to $3 million per Broadway show, as the industry struggles with rising costs and subpar sales.
On May 3, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the two-year extension through 2025 and said commercial Off-Broadway shows will also be eligible, albeit for a smaller credit. The Broadway League trade association lobbied for preserving the program. It was designed to jumpstart the industry, which contributes billions to the economy, and encourage productions “to begin performances sooner and come back stronger” as the city recovered from Covid-19.Continue Reading
ACTORS’ EQUITY, BROADWAY LEAGUE REQUIRE VACCINATIONS FOR EMPLOYEES, NOT AUDIENCES
Actors’ Equity Association and the Broadway League mandated that actors and other employees at Broadway theaters be fully vaccinated — with a few exceptions — while unvaccinated audience members will be admitted and asked to wear a mask.Continue Reading
BROADWAY OFFICIALLY CANCELS ALL 2020 PERFORMANCES
The Broadway League said theaters are offering refunds through Jan. 3, 2021, as the industry officially canceled performances for the rest of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Continue Reading
WITH EARLY CURTAIN, BROADWAY HAS LOWEST BOX OFFICE TALLY IN FOUR YEARS
Is the Broadway season over? If so, statistically, 2019-20 was both disastrous and illustrative of the industry’s resilience.
BROADWAY LEAGUE REACHES SHUTDOWN PAY PACT AS ‘HANGMEN’ CANCELS
With no end in sight for the global coronavirus pandemic and U.S. theater shutdown, the Broadway League announced an agreement with the industry’s unions requiring suspended productions to pay an additional two weeks to actors and other workers who lost their incomes. Continue Reading
‘HARRY POTTER’ & THE CURSED BOX OFFICE YARDSTICK
The last week of July 2019 was business as usual for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway. Sales rose less than 2 percent to $1.4 million, according to data from the Broadway League, the trade association of producers and theater owners.
But there was a huge increase in a closely watched measure in those seven days. Harry Potter ‘s sales jumped from 84 percent of its “gross potential” to 101 percent, according to the same posting. What changed was the basis for comparison. After four months of claiming a weekly gross potential of $1.7 million, the production slashed the figure to $1.4 million.
Like average ticket prices, sales relative to gross potential is an important signifier of a show’s box office strength. But gross potential, which the League posts weekly with other box office figures, loses value as a benchmark of success when it fluctuates along with ticket prices.Continue Reading
BROADWAY POSTS RECORD SALES, RISING ATTENDANCE
Thanks to Hamilton, The Lion King, Harry Potter and other blockbusters that draw fans from around the world, Broadway reported a record $1.8 billion in sales — up 7.8 percent — for the season that ended on Sunday.
ACTORS’ EQUITY ENDS STRIKE AGAINST BROADWAY LEAGUE
After 33 days, Actors’ Equity has ended its limited strike against the Broadway League over how its members are compensated for developing new work.
Actors had sought profit share and a raise from the current $1,000 weekly salary when participating in a developmental lab, which are multi-week workshops to create new plays and musicals.Continue Reading