Broadway Shows Enjoy Record Year
POSTED January 9, 2006
NEW YORK -- Broadway enjoyed the best year in its history
in 2005, grossing a record-breaking $825 million according to
The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc. This figure
is up 10.2 % from the 2004 total of $749 million.
Paid attendance for Broadway in 2005 reached 11.98 million
, the highest calendar year paid attendance in the past two
decades -- a 5.7 % increase from 11.33 million in 2004
Theatre seats were 80.4% filled the highest level since
1997. Thirty-nine shows opened in the 2004 season.
Playing weeks, the best indicator of overall Broadway activity,
numbered 1,517, the highest in the past decade.
"This incredible calendar year for Broadway is a testament
to an extraordinary, diverse array of offerings, as well as the
return of domestic and international tourism to Broadway, now
back to pre-September 11 levels," said Jed
Bernstein, President, The League of American
Theatres and Producers, Inc. "These record-breaking numbers
for Broadway's 2005 calendar year demonstrate how live entertainment
and Broadway are very much at the top of the cultural menu."
Additional factors for this year's success include:
The Year of The Play
Plays like Doubt, The Pillowman, Twelve Angry Men, Glengarry
Glen Ross and Democracy demonstrated that there is
a tremendous appetite for excellent plays.
This year also celebrated the classic American play like no
other year in recent history, with representation by legendary
American playwrights Edward Albee ( Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf? and Seascape ), Tennessee Williams ( A Streetcar
Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie ), Neil Simon
( The Odd Couple ), Eugene O'Neill ( A Touch of the
Poet) and August Wilson (Gem of the Ocean).
In 2005, plays brought in $136,245,789 and 2.11 million in
paid attendance, a 57.2% increase over last year's $86,656,934
gross, and 33.2% increase over last year's 1.58 million in paid
attendance.
For 2005, there were 439 playing weeks, compared to 372 in 2004
an 18% increase. Twenty-three new plays opened in the 2005
calendar year, compared to 2004's twenty-two plays.
Staying Power of Musicals
There was something for everyone this year in the musical category,
with such diverse offerings as The Light in the Piazza ,
Monty Python's Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, recently joined
by Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White, The Color Purple ,
Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, and Jersey Boys.
It was such a powerhouse year for new musicals that most of
the 2005 Tony-nominated musicals continue to play to packed houses,
joining longer running hits.
Celebrities on Broadway
An impressive list of celebrities took a turn on Broadway this
year, demonstrating all-around excellence in performance categories.
Among the highlights: Alan Alda ( Glengarry Glen Ross ),
Christina Applegate ( Sweet Charity ), Hank Azaria ( Monty
Python's Spamalot ), Matthew Broderick ( The Odd Couple
), Gabriel Byrne ( A Touch of the Poet ), Jill Clayburgh
( Naked Girl on the Appian Way ), Billy Crudup ( The
Pillowman ), Billy Crystal ( 700 Sundays ), Tim Curry
( Monty Python's Spamalot ), Harvey Fierstein ( Fiddler
on the Roof ), Jeff Goldblum ( The Pillowman ), Nathan
Lane ( The Odd Couple ), Jessica Lange ( The Glass
Menagerie ), John Lithgow ( Dirty Rotten Scoundrels ),
Rosie O'Donnell ( Fiddler on the Roof ), David Hyde Pierce
( Monty Python's Spamalot ), Nathasha Richardson ( A
Streetcar Named Desire ), John C. Reilly ( A Streetcar
Named Desire ), Liev Schreiber ( Glengarry Glen Ross ),
Brooke Shields ( Chicago ), Christian Slater ( The
Glass Menagerie ), Kathleen Turner ( Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf? ), Richard Thomas ( A Naked Girl on the Appian
Way ), and Denzel Washington ( Julius Caesar ).
The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc., founded
in 1930 and operating under the trademark "Live Broadway,"
is the national trade association for the Broadway industry.
The League's 500-plus members include theatre owners and operators,
producers, presenters, and general managers in over 140 North
American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to
the theatre industry.
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