Broadway Season Hit Hard By Covid: $845M 2021-22 Total Off 54% From Pre-Pandemic $1.8B High

deadline.com:

Broadway’s 2021-22 season – 10 weeks shorter than usual, plagued by Covid and the cancelations it caused, not to mention the tourists who didn’t show up – took a beating at the box office, with season-end numbers no less stark for being expected: The industry took in a total of $845,414,915 at the box office, down 54% from the the historic high of $1.829 billion set by the 2018-19 Broadway season (the last full season prior to the 2020 pandemic shutdown).Figures compiled by the Broadway League released today indicate that total attendance for the season was 6,729,143, also down 54% from the 2019 record high of 14,768,254.

Despite the year-to-year downturn, the percentage of available seats that were filled during the 2021-22 season was a solid 82%.Some major caveats in a year-to-year analysis: The start of the season that came to a close on May 22 was delayed by 10 weeks due to the Covid shutdown, meaning the season was only 42 weeks long compared to the usual 52.

When Broadway returned last August, production openings were staggered throughout the fall, and by early November just 30 of the 39 available Broadway venues were occupied (two venues were under construction).Of the 42 weeks of the season, 16 included cancelled performance due to Covid, including the usually lucrative December and New Year’s holidays.In all, a total of 56 shows played on Broadway during the 2021-22 season, including 34 new shows, 17 continuing shows, and 5 return engagements.The season that just ended – which will be celebrated with the Tony Awards on June 12 – closed out on a positive note, with the 35 current productions grossing a total of $33,350,185, a 10% upswing from the previous week’s tally.