Columbus Day Weekend Gives Big Boost To Broadway's Already Robust Fall Season Grosses and Paid Attendance

Broadway grosses and attendance during the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are traditionally soft; however, this year, with the holidays landing later, and Columbus Day weekend falling during Rosh Hashanah week, Broadway experienced a big boost.

Grosses for the week ending October 9 (Week 19) were $15,412,092, up from last year's week 19 gross of $12,689,084, a 21.5% increase, and up 29.1%, from the same period in 2003-04's total of $11,933,974. Attendance for the week, jumped to 219,608, from 192,559 the same week last season (up 14.0%), and up 22.6% from the same week during the 2003-04 season. (179,198).

Capacity for the week was 85.01%, compared to 81.14% for the same week last year, with almost one-half of currently running shows playing at 90% or more.

For the 2005-06 season-to-date, grosses are at approximately $289,000,000, up 10.5 % from last season, and up 16.5% from the 2003-04 season. Paid attendance for this season to date is 4.2 million, up 6.2% from last season, and 12.3% from the 03-04 season.

The number of playing weeks on Broadway -- the best overall measure of New York activity -- for the season-to-date is 527 playing weeks, compared to last year's season-to-date total of 504.

"The fall is always a time of great excitement for the Broadway theatre – with so many long-running hits, recent hits, and new shows beginning previews," said Jed Bernstein, President, The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc. "It is really exciting that the first few weeks of Fall have been so impressive, and that we continue to break box office records."

The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc. reported a gross of $769 million in New York for the 2004-5 season. The number of tickets sold for Broadway during the 2004-5 season reached 11.5 million.