Broadway 2014-2015 is Best Ever with Record Grosses of $1.83 Billion
The Broadway League on Tuesday announced 2014-2015 to be its highest grossing season in history making over $.183 million while the audience attendance for these shows were also at topped at 13.1 million.
This is a rise of 7.3 percent from the previous season's 12.2 million in audience attendance and a 7.6 percent rise in grosses from last seasons $1.26 billion.
The bumper sales were helped by the presence of a number of Hollywood A-Listers like Hugh Jackman in the River, Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man and Helen Mirren's Queen Elizabeth who all had limited runs last season.
The Lion King set a sales record for a show over one season when it made $ 101.9 million while the Wicked generated $91.7 million and the Book of Mormon made $84.2 million.
"It's been an extraordinary season on Broadway, and I'm thrilled that we have broken all records," Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin said in a statement.
"We've been saying for several years now that there is something for everyone on Broadway; to have audience growth of over 13 per cent in two years clearly proves our point."
Today a lot of seats are being sold at 'premium rates' which has further enhanced the box office takings. For instance the average price of a ticket for a play like The Audience is $153 while for a musical like The Book of Mormon is $177.
