Broadway enjoyed what was likely the highest-grossing week in its history this holiday season, with at least three shows — “Wicked,” “Phantom of the Opera” and “The Lion King” — reporting the highest one-week dollar figures in their respective runs on the Great White Way, The Wall Street Journal reported in its Tuesday edition.
For the week ending Jan. 2, the industry’s total gross — $34.99 million — was up 24 percent from the same week last season. The one-week figure is almost certainly the largest in history, though the Broadway League, which compiles the data each week, declined to call it the highest because of a 2009 change in its methodology. Attendance also increased over the same week last year, from 250,134 to 272,864.
Looking at capacity alone, 20 shows hit 90 percent attendance, 27 shows saw more than 80 percent of their seats filled and 32 were at more than 70 percent capacity.
“It wasn’t just a few big record-breakings. It was an across-the-board success,” said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League.
At the TKTS booth in Times Square, the number of tickets sold was up almost 10 percent compared with the same week last year, according to Victoria Bailey, executive director of the Theatre Development Fund, the not-for-profit organization that operates the TKTS program.
The holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is traditionally a high point for Broadway, with spikes in attendance and average paid admission prices. This year, the combination of piling snow and a number of productions approaching their closing dates may have filled seats.
“People getting stuck in the city probably helped,” Bailey said. “It also meant that New Yorkers didn’t go away. There were a lot of shows closing. For New Yorkers who were here, it was a last chance.”

