Broadway's New Year's Eve was a triumph, with 33 productions grossing a total of $52,037,125. 24 shows were sell-outs, and only one filled fewer than 90% of its seats. The week's highlights included Mamma Mia!, playing its best week at the Winter Garden Theatre, grossing $2,594,204 for nine performances. The Lion King set a new eight-performance house record at the Minskoff, grossing $3,145,899, marking the 34th house record for the musical. Total attendance for the 33 shows was 313,513, even with the previous week and season. Beetlejuice and Waiting For Godot closed last week, with Beetlejuice posting a big gain, taking in $1,373,691 and selling 96% of its seats. Godot, starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, was a sell-out, grossing $1,549,152. Other sell-outs included & Juliet, Aladdin, Buena Vista Social Club, Chess, Death Becomes Her, Hadestown, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Just In Time, Mamma Mia!, Marjorie Prime, Maybe Happy Ending, MJ, Moulin Rouge, Oh, Mary!, Operation Mincemeat, Ragtime, The Book of Mormon, The Great Gatsby, The Outsiders, and Wicked. Oedipus, starring Mark Strong and Lesley Manville, came close at 98% for a gross of $813,700. Top earners were Hamilton ($3,332,754), Wicked ($3,286,525), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ($3,270,719), The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Aladdin ($2,155,912), and Stranger Things: The First Shadow ($2,001,639). Bug, a non-profit Manhattan Theatre Club production of Tracy Letts' play starring Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood, took in $446,806 for eight previews, filling 96% of seats at the Samuel J. Friedman. Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), a critically acclaimed two-person musical, saw an upswing at the Longacre, filling about 90% of seats, up from 81% the previous week. For nine performances, Two Strangers grossed $885,968. Liberation saw some improvement in attendance, with 66% of capacity compared to the previous week’s 52%, but figures remain sub-par. Eight performances at the James Earl Jones took in $424,723. With the overall average ticket price at $165.98, four productions topped the $200 mark and one the $300. Top tickets were Hamilton ($310.49), Just In Time ($281.22), Harry Potter ($252.06), Lion King ($234.09), and Wicked ($213.30). Season to date, Broadway has grossed $1,199,642,229, up about 10% over last year, with total attendance of 8,844,829, up 3%. All figures courtesy of The Broadway League.
