Broadway concluded 2017 with a collective gross of $50,354,112 in the week ending December 31—up slightly less than $1 million from the year before. The milestone figure can be attributed in part to most shows adding a performance in the final week of the year and a climbing ticket price, which averaged out at $159.
Get an in-depth look at this past week's grosses here.
The week brought Broadway's 2017 box office total to $1.637 billion, marking the highest-grossing year in Broadway history (beating the previous year's $1.367 billion). 2017 saw 73 Broadway productions playing a total of 12,726 performances, which was on par with 2016.
Though the 2017 numbers included a 53rd week (with the first week ending January 1), which contributes in part to the record figure, 2017 had already surpassed the total gross of 2016 in the week ending November 3—thanks to the star power of such headliners as Bette Midler and Bruce Springsteen and the juggernaut effects of Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen.
Most currently running shows—23 of 32—grossed seven figures in the final week, with three surpassing $3 million. Twenty-one shows surpassed their gross potential. Leading the pack was Hamilton with its best week yet at $3,854,874 (in only eight performance and an average paid admission of $358), with Wicked and The Lion King following.
Read: 8 WAYS TO ACTUALLY GET TICKETS TO HAMILTON
The only show to gross less this past week than in Christmas week was Springsteen on Broadway, though it was down by less than $500 and remained in the frontrunners.
Several shows rang in the new year with shattered house records, including Chicago, which celebrated the highest gross of its 21-year run and a box office record at the Ambassador Theatre, as well as Wicked, The Lion King, Aladdin, Come From Away, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Waitress.
While they didn’t break house records, two hot musicals from the 2017–2018 season also saw banner weeks: Spongebob SquarePants, which broke into the millionaire’s club with $1,456,848, and the revival of Once on This Island, which brought the Circle in the Square Theatre box office its highest gross from a musical with $827,890.
