Thanksgiving has come and gone, and with it one of the most lucrative weeks for the Broadway box office. Given how badly live entertainment suffered during the shutdown, industry leaders were hoping the holiday would prove to be as strong a sales window as it had been before Covid.
Good news first: According to data released by the Broadway League, all 33 shows grossed $32.54 million over the turkey frame, with 83% of available seats filled and the average ticket going for $136 a pop. That’s a huge surge over the week prior, when the industry brought in just $25 million. It is music to the ears of some producers and investors - not to mention the thousands of workers shouldering the productions themselves.
The numbers do show an industry still in recovery after an 18-month shutdown. Accounting for inflation, number of shows running, and number of performances, Broadway is about 81% back to where it “should be” compared to its Thanksgiving haul in 2019.
On its own, that’s not a bad number. Given the total lack of revenue for a year and half, it’s downright fantastic live entertainment has made up so much ground, and over just a few months.
But as part of a trend, that number is unsettling. The same math, accounting for the same variables, charts a slowing recovery through the autumn. In mid-October, the industry was about 94% of the way back to where it “should” be. But as weeks went by, that number dropped, first to 89%, then 87%, then 85%. Now it’s at 81%, and during one of the biggest weeks of the year.
As has been true all along, the public data doesn’t break down numbers for individual shows, so there’s no way to measure the recovery of musicals vs. plays, or long-running hits vs. new material. According to independent producers and investors, the gap between the haves and have-nots, which has always existed, is wider than they can ever recall. Three new plays closed over the holiday weekend, months earlier than planned. Meanwhile, at least a few musicals are selling even better than they were pre-pandemic.
The upshot: Broadway is almost back to full strength in terms of occupied theaters, but grosses haven’t kept up with the glut of content. And with the new Omicron variant on the horizon, the industry is bracing for an uncertain winter.
“Everyone is hoping Omicron won’t be as bad as Delta,” said one producer, referring to the cooling effect the Delta variant seemed to have on consumer confidence earlier this year. “But until we know more, it’s full steam ahead.”
Assuming the available vaccines will treat Omicron with the same efficacy as previous variants, Broadway theatres remain among the safer places to gather with hundreds of people. Vaccines and masks are mandatory, and each show is enforcing rigorous testing protocols for all company members. The tests have turned up several breakthrough infections, most recently in the long-running Chicago, but they’ve allowed producers to take necessary containment measures, keeping the industry running and audiences protected.
Many shows also received federal grants to assist their restart efforts. Eligible companies could apply for up to $10 million to cover operating expenses as they relaunched, an unprecedented show of support by a government that has long given the arts short shrift, despite the sector comprising 5.2 million jobs and accounting for 4.3% of the nation’s GDP.
But $10 million can only stretch so far if your show costs $650,000 a week to operate. Many producers say they are bracing for a brutal kind of market correction this winter as the federal grants dry up and holiday tourists (and their wallets) leave the city. And a looming Omicron only adds to the uncertainty.
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