Ben Waterhouse

February is typically one of the slowest months of the year for Broadway. The first two weeks were included in this year’s Broadway Week discounts, where even the longer running shows that do not typically sell discounted tickets run some special deals. In spite of the cold weather this season was a significant improvement from last year, with the total gross as a whole being up well over 20% for the month compared to February 2024. 

Luckily, there is a limit to how many musicians that can be cut for a Broadway show on the main stem, in the form of musician minimums. These minimums range as high as 19 for the Broadway, Lyric, Minskoff, Marquis, New Amsterdam, and St James Theatres, to as low as three for Circle in the Square, Booth, Belsaco, Ambassador, Golden, Lyceum, Jones, and Kerr Theatres.

If you were to ask practically every current Broadway producer, they would tell you that initial capitalization costs (that is the cost of a show to open on Broadway before a single ticket is sold) are way out of control. There are many explanations for these increases...

It’s no secret that the current commercial landscape of Broadway is making it more and more difficult for new shows to become successful. Between skyrocketing development and operating costs, and stagnate average ticket prices, rarely has there been a more challenging time for new shows.