Hitting a sour note

Broadway’s box office coffers soars but attendance retreats

On Broadway, there’s great financial news to sing about but a sour note amid the flush times: Box offices are enjoying the highest grossing season in history but attendance has dipped after four consecutive seasons of gains.

The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, said Tuesday that box offices reported a record total gross of $1.45 billion for the season that began May 23, 2016, and ended Sunday- up 5.5 per cent from the $1.37 billion earned the previous season.

The trade association for theatre owners, operators and producers said attendance was up to 13.27 million ticket buyers, down 0.4 per cent from the 13.32 million the season before and despite more offerings.

The new numbers come during a season that saw a new theatre — the Hudson Theatre — joining the 40 existing ones. It also saw the average ticket price soar from $97.33 last season to $113.85 this time.

A total of 45 shows opened during the season. There were 20 new musicals, 20 plays and five special events. Last season saw 39 shows open.

It was an unpredictable season, heavy on revivals and not always kind to visiting Hollywood celebs. Sally Field returned in a stripped-down production of “The Glass Menagerie” and got a Tony nomination but reviews were poor and it struggled to earn more than half its weekly potential, closing early.

Cate Blanchett, an Oscarwinner making her Broadway debut in Anton Chekhov’s “The Present” and earning a Tony nomination in the process, didn’t sell out her theatre each week — not by a long shot. Nor has Glenn Close, in a widely praised revival of “Sunset Boulevard.”

Diane Lane, in a revival of “The Cherry Orchard,” often saw her show’s weekly take dip below 50 per cent of its potential. And interest in the Liev Schreiberled “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” seemed to plummet as the run went on.