Wicked maintained its top grossing spot on Broadway, bringing in $2.3 million last week, while All In: A Comedy About Love moved into the number two spot for the week, bringing in just over $2 million.
The jump at All In came as the show, which features a rotating cast acting out short stories, was led by Jimmy Fallon, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Aidy Bryant and Nick Kroll. The average ticket price hit $268.69, the highest of any show last week, and the show played to 100 percent capacity at the Hudson Theater.
The other top five grossing shows included The Lion King, with $1.7 million, Gypsy, starring Audra McDonald, with $1.69 million, and Hamilton with $1.65 million. Overall, industry grosses were up 5 percent from the prior week and 33 percent from the same week last season, which is promising progress as the industry continues to work toward a rebound after the pandemic.
Per a new Broadway League report, the 2023-2024 Broadway season saw 12.3 million admissions, just 0.4 percent above the prior season and 16.8 percent below the 2018-2019 season, which was the last complete season before the closure of all theaters in March 2020.
As the report notes attendance figures resembled levels of ten years ago, before the recordbreaking seasons just prior to COVID, and the industry saw drops in admissions in most age groups.
Older theatergoers and international audiences made more of a return to the theater last season, with the number of theatergoers aged 65 and up reaching 1.81 million, up from 1.47 million and international audiences reaching 2.6 million last season, up from 2.1 million the prior year. Both are still below 2019 levels.
At the same time, the number of younger theatergoers decreased, with admissions by those 25 and younger falling to 2.65 million from 2.9 million in the prior season.
Only 13 percent of admissions that season were from the New York suburbs, which is the lowest percentage in 30 years and, as producers have noted, has been acutely felt.
The average age of the Broadway theatergoer last season was 42.1 years old, up from 40.4 years in the previous year.