Broadway Closes Season With Record Box Office

“After a season battered by more than its fair share of bad shakes – four orange terror alerts, an Iraqi war, a brutal winter, an ongoing sluggishness in tourism, and a bitterly divisive musicians strike – the League of American Theatres and Producers reported total season grosses up 12%, to a new high of $720.9 million. Attendance was up to 11.4 million, a half-million-ticket rise over last season, and playing weeks, an indicator many consider key to assessing Broadway’s health, also rose — to 1,544 weeks, up 7.7% over last season. But do these seemingly sunny statistics entirely reflect Broadway’s well-being?”