With a week to go, 2016-17 has already surpassed last season’s record grosses.
After 51 weeks, Broadway has sold $1.415 billion of tickets, vs. $1.373 billion for all of 2015-16. Sales are on track to rise 5 percent, according to figures from the Broadway League.
The average ticket price after 51 weeks is also a record — $109.11, up $6 from last season. No doubt Hamilton, and its $263 average ticket last week, has an outsized effect.
The numbers show continued strength for Broadway, with such hits as Dear Evan Hansen, Hello, Dolly! and the fall revival of The Front Page. But there’s vulnerability below the surface. Attendance is off 0.4 percent from last season — the second decline in four years.
Last week, buoyed by heavy advertising and Tony Award-related promotion, the musicals Come From Away and Groundhog Day had their bestselling weeks to date.
Come From Away sold $1.13 million of tickets, up 3 percent from the previous week, and Groundhog Day did $927,000, up 13 percent. Among the two other best musical nominees, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 enjoyed its best week in four months, at $1.2 million. And Dear Evan Hansen remains in the stratosphere, at $1.3 million, with the priciest average ticket among new musicals, $160.
