Broadway grosses drop 26% as many shows cancel performances
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, November 5, 2024


Broadway grosses drop 26% as many shows cancel performances
The box office where “Freestyle Love Supreme,” provided information to ticket-holders on how to get a refund after the show was cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test among cast members, in New York, Nov. 12, 2021. Broadway, where cancellations were once vanishingly rare, has seen a raft of them as positive coronavirus tests among cast and crew members have upended productions. Sara Krulwich/The New York Times.

by Michael Paulson



NEW YORK, NY.- The surge in coronavirus cases is starting to take a real financial toll on Broadway, just as the industry is attempting to rebound from its lengthy shutdown.

The Broadway League, a trade association, said Tuesday that its theaters brought in $22.5 million last week. That’s a 26% drop from the $30.5 million in tickets sold the previous week; in the week before Christmas in 2019, total grosses were $40.1 million.

The drop in grosses is a reflection of the fact that multiple shows have canceled performances when positive coronavirus tests forced cast or crew members to quarantine and there were not enough understudies or replacement workers for the shows to continue.

Last weekend, about one-third of all shows canceled some performances, and this week, multiple shows decided to postpone performances until after Christmas, including “Ain’t Too Proud,” “Aladdin,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Hadestown,” “Hamilton,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” “The Lion King, “MJ,” “Six” and “Skeleton Crew.”

Plus, “Tina” canceled until Christmas night; “Jagged Little Pill” closed entirely; “Come From Away” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” canceled Tuesday night; and “Waitress” canceled Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Attendance has dropped, given the cancellations: 184,227 people saw a Broadway show last week, down from 240,602 the previous week.

The resulting revenue drop is a real concern for an industry where most shows, even before the pandemic, fail financially. But the damage is not evenly dispersed — some shows that stay open are benefiting by selling tickets to people scrambling for something to see after their first-choice show canceled. This year the Broadway League is releasing only aggregate weekly grosses rather than breaking them down for individual productions, so it is difficult to see exactly how the financial ramifications are unfolding.

Five other shows cited the pandemic shutdown in deciding not to reopen this fall — the musicals “Frozen,” “Mean Girls” and “West Side Story” and the plays “Hangmen” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Two shows cited the ongoing pandemic in deciding to close for good after starting (or restarting) performances this fall, then pausing because of positive coronavirus tests in their companies: not only “Jagged Little Pill,” which announced its closing Monday night, but also the play “Chicken & Biscuits,” which closed last month.

The current crisis is coming at the worst possible time for the industry, because the holiday season is traditionally the most lucrative time of year for Broadway, and many shows depend on the holidays to make up for softer periods.

Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, said she does not envision the industry shutting down again, no matter how many individual shows have to pause. “I do not imagine a shutdown by us, unless every show has people with COVID,” she said. “We’re going to keep as many people employed as we can.”

And New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, at a news conference Tuesday, was similarly shutdown-averse. “No more shutdowns,” he said. “We’ve been through them. They were devastating. We can’t go through it again.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

December 23, 2021

Exhibition presents American art from the Thyssen collection

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival announces highlights of 26th edition in 2022

3,000 years ago, Britain got half its genes from... France?

Metropolitan Museum of Art limits attendance amid virus surge

Dayton Art Institute announces 2022 exhibitions

Artist duo DRIFT to stage a spectacular light installation on the Elbphilharmonie's facade

New issue of Jordaens Van Dyck Journal now available

Treasured belongings of legendary comic Don Rickles head to online auction

Four-part video series celebrates 'Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala' exhibition

Contemporary art evening auction at Bellmans saw British artists selling well

Pinakothek der Moderne's Rotunda project presents the cast whale project by Gil Shachar

Bruneau & Co. will greet the New Year with an online-only estate fine art & antiques auction

Sally Ann Howes, star of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,' dies at 91

Record-breaking year at Dorotheum: Best year in history of the auction house

2022 Adelaide Biennial artist's S.O.S callout for 1000 messages in a bottle

Ketterer Kunst opens an exhibition of charcoal drawings and sculptures by Andrea Zaumseil

Robert Berry Gallery opens an exhibition featuring new works by four artists

A 'Nutcracker' performance is canceled, as the virus halts holiday shows

Broadway grosses drop 26% as many shows cancel performances

Frederick Baldwin, whose photography told stories, dies at 92

Centre d'art La Malmaison presents a solo exhibition of works by Fiona Rae

Radical makeover gives a glittering new future to Scotland's unwanted jeweller

In 'Vigil,' Suranne Jones sounds the murky depths, as always

A ballerina who adds to the 'palette of what's possible'

NFTs: How Can Galleries Keep Up with the New Art Revolution?

7 INSTAGRAM TOOLS FOR SCHEDULING INSTAGRAM UPDATES

Everything You Need to Know About Diamond Stud Earrings

Speculations About Foldable iPhone

WEMBLEY 020 TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Is TikTok A Great Place For An Artist To Enhance Their Career?

Your Guide to Sustainable Living This Winter




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful