NYCPlaywrights July 1, 2023
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NYCPlaywrights
Jul 1, 2023, 6:20:15 PM7/1/23
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Greetings NYCPlaywrights
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
The FreshPlay Festival merges the voices and creativity of youth company members with the experience of professionals, creating provocative, innovative and fresh theater. This year, the FreshPlay Festival will focus on the workshop process with six original plays written by Playwriting Lab writers. These young scribes will work with a roster of professional directors and actors, including alumni from the Youth Company.
FreshPlay Festival staged readings are FREE of charge and will be take place at MCC Theater at 511 West 52nd St, NY NY 10019 in the Frankel Theater.
Friday July 21 6PM
Saturday July 22 12PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/freshplay-festival-2023-tickets-669600211257?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
*** BEYOND BROOKLYN ***
'I studied playwriting at the Yale School of Drama so my memoir titled BEYOND BROOKLYN includes a few short, humorous plays and a one-woman play titled SUFFER QUEEN, all produced in New York and in regional theaters. Check it out on Amazon. One top agent called the plays "cheeky." I don't live in Brooklyn anymore, but I was born and bred there, and still have the accent of a "Noo Yawker."'
Edith Tarbescu
www.edithtarbescu.com
Congratulations Edith, and thank you for sharing.
We're happy to share info about any recent or upcoming productions, especially, but not exclusively, if you found the opportunity via the NYCPlaywrights website - just send your info to in...@nycplaywrights.org and we will share here.
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
On the first Monday evening of each month, Hear Me Out Monologues introduces us to 5 characters through 5 monologues written by 5 fabulous writers. We call this: Some1Speaking.
***
The Stories Found Podcast is seeking 10-minute comedies for our upcoming season
We want your funniest ten (ish) minute plays.
Comedies only, please.
Plays will be performed as audio productions, so send scripts that can be easily adapted to audio-only.
1 – 4 characters
Playwrights may submit up to three plays.
***
Bridge publishes original work by writers and artists age 14-24. We look for work that demonstrates virtuosity and wonder, work that interrogates norms and assumptions, and delights us all along the way. Bridge ONLY publishes writers and artists age 14-24. Bridge accepts work from young writers in the following genres: short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, art, graphic novels and short plays for stage and screen. Please, no fan-fiction or excerpts from novels.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** WHAT IS AMERICAN THEATER? ***
For the majority of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, it is undeniable that the USA has been a cultural powerhouse. While this can be seen quite clearly in musical theatre and screen (to say nothing of the U.S. streaming giants), stage plays that were originally written, performed and produced in America have left a lasting imprint on art in the Western world. From rich characters, to witty dialogue, to biting social commentary and satire, American theatre is not only great to watch and read, but incredibly fulfilling to play with as an actor.
In broad strokes, American theatre is largely naturalistic, based in reality but by no means a reinvention of form or function. What truly sets it apart from other examples of Western theatre—and what continues to intrigue audiences worldwide—is its focus on the minutiae of American life: the everyday trials and tribulations of the individual. This article explains some of the overarching thematic concerns you might encounter in the genre, and how best to approach them in your acting craft.
More...
https://www.stagemilk.com/american-theatre/
***
...during the American Revolution, theater seemed to spring up in the oddest of places, often in productions acted by soldiers. The American army attempted a few performances, but it was the British army that seemed to have a firm grasp on the wartime theatrical process.
As the army occupied Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City, they used their time as an invading power to set up theaters. Advertisements for their productions can be seen in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ current exhibition, Shakespeare’s Star Turn in America, as obtained from the library’s electronic resources, particularly America’s Historical Newspapers.
The military theatrical companies were under the command of three men, General John Burgoyne in Boston, General William Howe in Philadelphia, and General Henry Clinton in New York, but there were officers who acted in more than one location. One of the most famous men of the company, Major John André, was active in both Philadelphia and New York. However, he may have confined his Philadelphia activities to painting an elaborate stage backdrop. It ended up outliving him, as he was executed by the Continental Army, and the backdrop stayed in the Southwark Theatre until that theater burned down in 1821.
The military’s performances in Boston were the briefest, but they were the most political. While in Boston, Burgoyne penned an attack on his American foes in the form of a farce entitled The Boston Blockade. The play’s George Washington was “an uncouth figure, awkward in gait, wearing a large wig and a rusty sword.”
More...
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2016/04/21/british-soldiers-theatre-revolutionary-war
***
On the evening of June 28, 1849, Frederick Douglass attended a performance by Gavitt’s Original Ethiopian Serenaders, one of the few all-black minstrel troupes before the Civil War. In spite of his “disgust” at minstrelsy’s racist grotesqueries, Douglass decided to go to the theatre because of his “love of music” and “curiosity to see persons of color exaggerating the peculiarities of their race,” as he put it in his review that ran in his newspaper, The North Star, the following day.1
***
The Broadway Musical is one of New York City’s greatest inventions, over 150 years in the making! It’s one of the truly American art forms, fueling one of the city’s most vibrant entertainment businesses and defining its most popular tourist attraction — Times Square.
But why Broadway, exactly? Why not the Bowery or Fifth Avenue? And how did our fair city go from simple vaudeville and minstrel shows to Shuffle Along, Irene and Show Boat, surely the most influential musical of the Jazz Age?
This podcast is an epic, a wild musical adventure in itself, full of musical interludes, zipping through the evolution of musical entertainment in New York City, as it races up the ‘main seam’ of Manhattan — the avenue of Broadway.
We are proud to present a tour up New York City’s most famous street, past some of the greatest theaters and shows that have ever won acclaim here, from the wacky (and highly copied) imports of Gilbert & Sullivan to the dancing girls and singing sensations of the Ziegfeld revue tradition.
***
In the 2022-23 season — Broadway’s first full season since the pandemic began — the industry almost bounced back to pre-COVID levels.
The total gross for the season reached nearly $1.6 billion, which is a marked improvement from the previous two seasons but still below the pre-pandemic total of $1.8 billion in 2018-19, according to new data from the Broadway League. Attendance reached 12.3 million, above the previous two years’ totals but also below the 14.8 million in 2018-19, which was the highest-grossing and best attended season ever.
Total capacity reached 88.4 percent, largely in line with pre-pandemic levels. This past season was the first without major disruptions from COVID-19 — in contrast to the 2021-22 season, which began later than the usual May opening, with the first show starting in August, followed by a staggered rollout of shows throughout the fall as the industry got back on its feet after all theaters had been closed. However, because of a surge in COVID-19 cases related to the omicron variant, many productions were forced to cancel performances or close prematurely in December and January. Sixteen of the season’s 42 weeks saw performance cancellations, and the season grossed just over $845 million, with attendance at 6.7 million.
The 2019-20 season was infamously cut short by the closure of all Broadway theaters on March 12, 2020, and grossed $1.4 billion, with attendance at 11.1 million. Theaters were still closed during what would have been the 2020-21 season.
The 2022-23 season saw the entrance of several high-grossing shows, such as the revival of Sweeney Todd, starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, as well as the closure of The Phantom of the Opera, which brought in an eye-popping $3.7 million in its last week of performances after 35 years on Broadway. Other big earners have included such stalwarts as Hamilton and The Lion King, along with brands like MJ: The Musical. Original shows continue to lag, as many audience members gravitate toward known intellectual property rather than new material since the pandemic.
More...
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/broadway-box-office-2022-2023-1235503660/
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
The FreshPlay Festival merges the voices and creativity of youth company members with the experience of professionals, creating provocative, innovative and fresh theater. This year, the FreshPlay Festival will focus on the workshop process with six original plays written by Playwriting Lab writers. These young scribes will work with a roster of professional directors and actors, including alumni from the Youth Company.
FreshPlay Festival staged readings are FREE of charge and will be take place at MCC Theater at 511 West 52nd St, NY NY 10019 in the Frankel Theater.
Friday July 21 6PM
Saturday July 22 12PM
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/freshplay-festival-2023-tickets-669600211257?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
*** BEYOND BROOKLYN ***
'I studied playwriting at the Yale School of Drama so my memoir titled BEYOND BROOKLYN includes a few short, humorous plays and a one-woman play titled SUFFER QUEEN, all produced in New York and in regional theaters. Check it out on Amazon. One top agent called the plays "cheeky." I don't live in Brooklyn anymore, but I was born and bred there, and still have the accent of a "Noo Yawker."'
Edith Tarbescu
www.edithtarbescu.com
Congratulations Edith, and thank you for sharing.
We're happy to share info about any recent or upcoming productions, especially, but not exclusively, if you found the opportunity via the NYCPlaywrights website - just send your info to in...@nycplaywrights.org and we will share here.
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
On the first Monday evening of each month, Hear Me Out Monologues introduces us to 5 characters through 5 monologues written by 5 fabulous writers. We call this: Some1Speaking.
***
The Stories Found Podcast is seeking 10-minute comedies for our upcoming season
We want your funniest ten (ish) minute plays.
Comedies only, please.
Plays will be performed as audio productions, so send scripts that can be easily adapted to audio-only.
1 – 4 characters
Playwrights may submit up to three plays.
***
Bridge publishes original work by writers and artists age 14-24. We look for work that demonstrates virtuosity and wonder, work that interrogates norms and assumptions, and delights us all along the way. Bridge ONLY publishes writers and artists age 14-24. Bridge accepts work from young writers in the following genres: short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, art, graphic novels and short plays for stage and screen. Please, no fan-fiction or excerpts from novels.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** WHAT IS AMERICAN THEATER? ***
For the majority of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, it is undeniable that the USA has been a cultural powerhouse. While this can be seen quite clearly in musical theatre and screen (to say nothing of the U.S. streaming giants), stage plays that were originally written, performed and produced in America have left a lasting imprint on art in the Western world. From rich characters, to witty dialogue, to biting social commentary and satire, American theatre is not only great to watch and read, but incredibly fulfilling to play with as an actor.
In broad strokes, American theatre is largely naturalistic, based in reality but by no means a reinvention of form or function. What truly sets it apart from other examples of Western theatre—and what continues to intrigue audiences worldwide—is its focus on the minutiae of American life: the everyday trials and tribulations of the individual. This article explains some of the overarching thematic concerns you might encounter in the genre, and how best to approach them in your acting craft.
More...
https://www.stagemilk.com/american-theatre/
***
...during the American Revolution, theater seemed to spring up in the oddest of places, often in productions acted by soldiers. The American army attempted a few performances, but it was the British army that seemed to have a firm grasp on the wartime theatrical process.
As the army occupied Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City, they used their time as an invading power to set up theaters. Advertisements for their productions can be seen in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ current exhibition, Shakespeare’s Star Turn in America, as obtained from the library’s electronic resources, particularly America’s Historical Newspapers.
The military theatrical companies were under the command of three men, General John Burgoyne in Boston, General William Howe in Philadelphia, and General Henry Clinton in New York, but there were officers who acted in more than one location. One of the most famous men of the company, Major John André, was active in both Philadelphia and New York. However, he may have confined his Philadelphia activities to painting an elaborate stage backdrop. It ended up outliving him, as he was executed by the Continental Army, and the backdrop stayed in the Southwark Theatre until that theater burned down in 1821.
The military’s performances in Boston were the briefest, but they were the most political. While in Boston, Burgoyne penned an attack on his American foes in the form of a farce entitled The Boston Blockade. The play’s George Washington was “an uncouth figure, awkward in gait, wearing a large wig and a rusty sword.”
More...
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2016/04/21/british-soldiers-theatre-revolutionary-war
***
For many years the most popular plays in American theatres were Shakespearean tragedies, Restoration comedies, and farces (particularly those involving political satire). The first 'all-American' play, which is to say one written by an American playwright on an American subject, was "The Contrast" by Royall Tyler, produced by the Old American Company at the John Street theatre in New York in 1787. The first great American theatrical impresario was Thomas Wignell, a former comedian with the Old American Company, who built the first theatres in Baltimore and Washington D.C. and was responsible for bringing to America the English Shakespearean actor Thomas Abthorpe Cooper - who would go on to be recognised as "the greatest of American Tragedians".
By the close of the 18th century, as the population continued to expand, many more cities had grown large enough to join New York and Philadelphia in supporting permanently resident stock companies, in some cases even two or more in direct opposition. The standard of the productions being offered at this time was steadily improving both in terms of the standard of acting and the quality of costumes and scenery. At the same time, conditions for patrons were improving in other ways with the building of better and more luxurious playhouses. In 1794, Thomas Wignell built the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, modelled after the Theatre Royal at Bath (in England). With Corinthian columns marking the facade, this theatre could house 2000 patrons in comfort and boasted possibly the best equipped stage in the United States at that time. That same year the first theatre was built in Boston, the most puritanical of the the early colonies and the city which had held out longest in banning theatrical entertainments of any kind. Four years later, in 1798, The Park Theatre was opened in New York and was immediately hailed as another distinct advance in theatre architecture, underscoring New York's emerging advantage over Philadelphia in becoming the leading centre for the theatrical arts on the American continent.
More...
http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net/th-ushist.html
For many years the most popular plays in American theatres were Shakespearean tragedies, Restoration comedies, and farces (particularly those involving political satire). The first 'all-American' play, which is to say one written by an American playwright on an American subject, was "The Contrast" by Royall Tyler, produced by the Old American Company at the John Street theatre in New York in 1787. The first great American theatrical impresario was Thomas Wignell, a former comedian with the Old American Company, who built the first theatres in Baltimore and Washington D.C. and was responsible for bringing to America the English Shakespearean actor Thomas Abthorpe Cooper - who would go on to be recognised as "the greatest of American Tragedians".
By the close of the 18th century, as the population continued to expand, many more cities had grown large enough to join New York and Philadelphia in supporting permanently resident stock companies, in some cases even two or more in direct opposition. The standard of the productions being offered at this time was steadily improving both in terms of the standard of acting and the quality of costumes and scenery. At the same time, conditions for patrons were improving in other ways with the building of better and more luxurious playhouses. In 1794, Thomas Wignell built the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, modelled after the Theatre Royal at Bath (in England). With Corinthian columns marking the facade, this theatre could house 2000 patrons in comfort and boasted possibly the best equipped stage in the United States at that time. That same year the first theatre was built in Boston, the most puritanical of the the early colonies and the city which had held out longest in banning theatrical entertainments of any kind. Four years later, in 1798, The Park Theatre was opened in New York and was immediately hailed as another distinct advance in theatre architecture, underscoring New York's emerging advantage over Philadelphia in becoming the leading centre for the theatrical arts on the American continent.
More...
http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net/th-ushist.html
***
When Macready opened his run at Astor Place a few days before the deadly riot, protestors packed the house and booed the Englishman off the stage. Swearing never to return, Macready prepared to leave for England, but was halted by an unprecedented show of unity by the city’s leaders. A long list of lawyers, merchants, business owners, as well as the city’s premiere authors, including Washington Irving and Herman Melville, published a petition begging Macready to stay. Likewise, the mayor agreed to call up troops to guard the theatre in order to ensure his safety.
All of this seems to have mollified Macready, who announced his return in Macbeth for 10 May 1849. In response, Forrest announced he would play Macbeth at the Broadway Theatre a few blocks downtown. Sensing the possibility of publicity, Thomas Hamblin, actor and manager of the Bowery Theatre, did the same thing. Meanwhile, nativists – encouraged by Buntline and his ilk – posted bills over the city spreading a conspiracy theory that British sailors were preparing to attack the city that night. New Yorkers were urged to report to Astor Place to defend America. By evening, a crowd of thousands were gathered in the square to protest against Macready, the Opera House and the English.
When some audience members erupted at Macready’s entrance as the Scottish thane, the situation grew severe enough that local police called in militia regiments for support. The large crowd outside grew restless, hurling stones at the troops and theatre, causing significant damage. Eventually, the militia fired three volleys, dispersing the crowd, leaving 22 people dead and the city on the verge of mass revolt.
More...
https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/britain-and-america’s-theatrical-war
When Macready opened his run at Astor Place a few days before the deadly riot, protestors packed the house and booed the Englishman off the stage. Swearing never to return, Macready prepared to leave for England, but was halted by an unprecedented show of unity by the city’s leaders. A long list of lawyers, merchants, business owners, as well as the city’s premiere authors, including Washington Irving and Herman Melville, published a petition begging Macready to stay. Likewise, the mayor agreed to call up troops to guard the theatre in order to ensure his safety.
All of this seems to have mollified Macready, who announced his return in Macbeth for 10 May 1849. In response, Forrest announced he would play Macbeth at the Broadway Theatre a few blocks downtown. Sensing the possibility of publicity, Thomas Hamblin, actor and manager of the Bowery Theatre, did the same thing. Meanwhile, nativists – encouraged by Buntline and his ilk – posted bills over the city spreading a conspiracy theory that British sailors were preparing to attack the city that night. New Yorkers were urged to report to Astor Place to defend America. By evening, a crowd of thousands were gathered in the square to protest against Macready, the Opera House and the English.
When some audience members erupted at Macready’s entrance as the Scottish thane, the situation grew severe enough that local police called in militia regiments for support. The large crowd outside grew restless, hurling stones at the troops and theatre, causing significant damage. Eventually, the militia fired three volleys, dispersing the crowd, leaving 22 people dead and the city on the verge of mass revolt.
More...
https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/britain-and-america’s-theatrical-war
***
On the evening of June 28, 1849, Frederick Douglass attended a performance by Gavitt’s Original Ethiopian Serenaders, one of the few all-black minstrel troupes before the Civil War. In spite of his “disgust” at minstrelsy’s racist grotesqueries, Douglass decided to go to the theatre because of his “love of music” and “curiosity to see persons of color exaggerating the peculiarities of their race,” as he put it in his review that ran in his newspaper, The North Star, the following day.1
Midway through the review, Douglass turned from his assessment of the Serenaders’ act to relect on the political potential of black performance in general. He writes: “It is something gained, when the colored man in any form can appear before a white audience; and we think that even this company, with industry, application, and a proper cultivation of their taste, may yet be instrumental in removing the prejudice against our race.”2
In other words, if African Americans controlled the means of production – even if they appropriated the form of blackface minstrelsy, which by the late 1840s was virulently anti-black – their aesthetic and cultural efforts could help redress racial inequality. Much to Douglass’s dismay, however, Gavitt’s Original Ethiopian Serenaders simply “exaggerate[d] the exaggerations of our enemies” and “cater[ed] to the lower elements of the baser sort.”3
In his brief review, Douglass articulated a profound degree of ambivalence regarding the use of performance in the work of black uplift. His ambivalence was born of the decidedly fraught relation that enslaved Africans and their descendants have had with cultural performance since the time of their earliest arrivals in the early seventeenth century. Simply put, Douglass perceived how dominant performance practices entrenched sociopolitical norms such as slavery and white supremacy, but he also recognized how slaves and free people of color used performance to fashion modes of protest and pleasure. What, therefore, to do?
More...
https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/immigrantstagef16/files/2016/08/Jones-Slavery-Performance.pdf
In his brief review, Douglass articulated a profound degree of ambivalence regarding the use of performance in the work of black uplift. His ambivalence was born of the decidedly fraught relation that enslaved Africans and their descendants have had with cultural performance since the time of their earliest arrivals in the early seventeenth century. Simply put, Douglass perceived how dominant performance practices entrenched sociopolitical norms such as slavery and white supremacy, but he also recognized how slaves and free people of color used performance to fashion modes of protest and pleasure. What, therefore, to do?
More...
https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/immigrantstagef16/files/2016/08/Jones-Slavery-Performance.pdf
***
The Broadway Musical is one of New York City’s greatest inventions, over 150 years in the making! It’s one of the truly American art forms, fueling one of the city’s most vibrant entertainment businesses and defining its most popular tourist attraction — Times Square.
But why Broadway, exactly? Why not the Bowery or Fifth Avenue? And how did our fair city go from simple vaudeville and minstrel shows to Shuffle Along, Irene and Show Boat, surely the most influential musical of the Jazz Age?
This podcast is an epic, a wild musical adventure in itself, full of musical interludes, zipping through the evolution of musical entertainment in New York City, as it races up the ‘main seam’ of Manhattan — the avenue of Broadway.
We are proud to present a tour up New York City’s most famous street, past some of the greatest theaters and shows that have ever won acclaim here, from the wacky (and highly copied) imports of Gilbert & Sullivan to the dancing girls and singing sensations of the Ziegfeld revue tradition.
More...
***
Papp’s rise from the rough-and-tumble Brooklyn streets to free Shakespeare in a church basement to the largest nonprofit theater in America is told in Joe Papp in Five Acts, a new American Masters documentary airing on PBS on June 3, directed and produced by Holder and Thorsen. Because Papp left a vast archive of festival documents, memorabilia, video and audio tapes of productions, television interviews, and reminiscences from the 1950s until his death in 1991, Holder and Thorsen had a treasure trove of material to let Papp and others tell his story without added narration.
“At the height of his success with A Chorus Line, where he’s flush with cash, he thought that one theater in America should have a documented history. And, of course, that should be his theater,” says Holder. “So, Papp hired four full-time archivists. When he died, he left behind the single largest archive the New York Public Library ever received.” Holder and Thorsen also filmed actors, directors, and playwrights who Papp helped launch, including James Earl Jones, Martin Sheen, Meryl Streep, Roscoe Lee Browne, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Walken, George C. Wolfe, David Rabe, David Hare, Ntozake Shange, Liz Swados, and many others.
“He was a complicated guy, he was difficult, he was autocratic,” says Holder. “But they really knew who he was. Nobody placed him on a pedestal. They . . . described him as flesh and blood, and yet, they loved him. To me, that is the highest tribute you could pay to somebody is to really see them for who they are and still love them despite their flaws, and to recognize what they had achieved.”
After high school, with no money for college, Papp joined the Navy during World War II. He was stationed on an aircraft carrier, where he put on vaudeville sketches for the sailors (including shipmate Bob Fosse).
More...
https://www.neh.gov/article/joe-papp-and-transformation-american-theater
Papp’s rise from the rough-and-tumble Brooklyn streets to free Shakespeare in a church basement to the largest nonprofit theater in America is told in Joe Papp in Five Acts, a new American Masters documentary airing on PBS on June 3, directed and produced by Holder and Thorsen. Because Papp left a vast archive of festival documents, memorabilia, video and audio tapes of productions, television interviews, and reminiscences from the 1950s until his death in 1991, Holder and Thorsen had a treasure trove of material to let Papp and others tell his story without added narration.
“At the height of his success with A Chorus Line, where he’s flush with cash, he thought that one theater in America should have a documented history. And, of course, that should be his theater,” says Holder. “So, Papp hired four full-time archivists. When he died, he left behind the single largest archive the New York Public Library ever received.” Holder and Thorsen also filmed actors, directors, and playwrights who Papp helped launch, including James Earl Jones, Martin Sheen, Meryl Streep, Roscoe Lee Browne, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Walken, George C. Wolfe, David Rabe, David Hare, Ntozake Shange, Liz Swados, and many others.
“He was a complicated guy, he was difficult, he was autocratic,” says Holder. “But they really knew who he was. Nobody placed him on a pedestal. They . . . described him as flesh and blood, and yet, they loved him. To me, that is the highest tribute you could pay to somebody is to really see them for who they are and still love them despite their flaws, and to recognize what they had achieved.”
After high school, with no money for college, Papp joined the Navy during World War II. He was stationed on an aircraft carrier, where he put on vaudeville sketches for the sailors (including shipmate Bob Fosse).
More...
https://www.neh.gov/article/joe-papp-and-transformation-american-theater
***
In the 2022-23 season — Broadway’s first full season since the pandemic began — the industry almost bounced back to pre-COVID levels.
The total gross for the season reached nearly $1.6 billion, which is a marked improvement from the previous two seasons but still below the pre-pandemic total of $1.8 billion in 2018-19, according to new data from the Broadway League. Attendance reached 12.3 million, above the previous two years’ totals but also below the 14.8 million in 2018-19, which was the highest-grossing and best attended season ever.
Total capacity reached 88.4 percent, largely in line with pre-pandemic levels. This past season was the first without major disruptions from COVID-19 — in contrast to the 2021-22 season, which began later than the usual May opening, with the first show starting in August, followed by a staggered rollout of shows throughout the fall as the industry got back on its feet after all theaters had been closed. However, because of a surge in COVID-19 cases related to the omicron variant, many productions were forced to cancel performances or close prematurely in December and January. Sixteen of the season’s 42 weeks saw performance cancellations, and the season grossed just over $845 million, with attendance at 6.7 million.
The 2019-20 season was infamously cut short by the closure of all Broadway theaters on March 12, 2020, and grossed $1.4 billion, with attendance at 11.1 million. Theaters were still closed during what would have been the 2020-21 season.
The 2022-23 season saw the entrance of several high-grossing shows, such as the revival of Sweeney Todd, starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, as well as the closure of The Phantom of the Opera, which brought in an eye-popping $3.7 million in its last week of performances after 35 years on Broadway. Other big earners have included such stalwarts as Hamilton and The Lion King, along with brands like MJ: The Musical. Original shows continue to lag, as many audience members gravitate toward known intellectual property rather than new material since the pandemic.
More...
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/broadway-box-office-2022-2023-1235503660/
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