Unit 1 - The Start of Broadway — Broadway Refocused (2024)

FAQs

What percentage of Broadway shows make money? ›

That's rare. Only about 25% of Broadway shows are profitable. But the ones that are -- like "Hamilton" -- typically make A LOT of money. That's why investors keep going back.

Even in the pre-pandemic “boom times,” only 20% to 30% of Broadway shows fully paid back their investors (see “No Business Like Show Business” here). This percentage varies somewhat depending on the category of show (all shows, just musicals, just plays, etc.).

It's a rigorous selection process. You've got to be in top 10% to get hired and cast in a show. What many people don't realize is that getting hired for a Broadway show isn't just about raw talent.

Before it becoming a movie in 1978, "Grease" premiered on Broadway in 1972. Oscar-winning films like "Chicago" and "West Side Story" also originated from the "The Great White Way."

The Lion King sits at the top, with a Broadway gross of $1.9 billion. Dates refer to original Broadway productions, with notes added for future productions that outran the Broadway run. † Background shading indicates shows running in the week commencing 10 May 2024 in Broadway theatres.

Hamilton has had the most expensive top ticket of all time.

Overall, it has been described as Broadway's most expensive show of all time, with an average ticket price of $236.10. Hamilton received a record-setting 16 Tony award nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical.

The musical adaptation of Carrie is perhaps the most infamous failure in Broadway history. The show was such a failure that books have been written about just how terrible Carrie was. The musical was adapted from Steven King's hom*onymous novel, and the classic horror film that followed.

Off-Broadway actors working for a theater with an annual budget over $4.25 million can be paid anywhere from $689 to $1,526 per week, based on the number of seats in their theater. So, an actor performing in a 400-seat theater will make more than an actor performing in a 99-seat theater.

How much do Broadway actors usually earn? Generally, the average Broadway salary for non-celebrity actors is between $45,000 and $220,000 per year, depending on the run of the show or their contract length in an ongoing production. The current Equity weekly minimum salary for Broadway actors is $2,439 per week.

On Broadway, overall attendance is still down about 17 percent: 9.3 million seats have been filled in the current season as of March 3, down from 11.1 million at the same point in 2020. Box office grosses are down, too: Broadway shows have grossed $1.2 billion so far this season, 14 percent below the level in early ...

Is 30 too old for Broadway? ›

Let's get this out of the way: No, you are not too old to start your acting career. Whatever age you are now, there are opportunities for you to perform onstage and onscreen. But that doesn't mean they will come easily.

Hours/Travel

Usually work evenings and weekends. Often work long hours. Once a show opens, stage actors usually work about 30 hours a week. Travel when shows are “on the road.”

“Shuffle Along,” the first major African American hit musical, premieres on Broadway. Deeply in debt and relegated to a shabby theater, the musical Shuffle Along debuts at the Sixty-Third Street Music Hall on May 23, 1921.

The Phantom of the Opera

The longest-running show in Broadway history officially opened on January 26, 1988 and is still playing at the Majestic The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical won 7 1988 Tony Awards® including Best Musical.

The Music Man (1962)

Set in early 1900s Indiana, The Music Man is a classic Broadway musical that was adapted into a movie in 1962.

An estimated 20 to 30 percent of Broadway shows including musicals, dramas and comedies fail to turn a profit, according to Tim Donahue and Jim Patterson in their 2010 book “Stage Money: The Business of the Professional Theater.”

Once a show has recouped, the net profits are usually split 50/50 between the producers (both the lead producers and co-producers) and the investors. Investors also usually share in the ancillary income from the show (merchandise, licensed productions, etc.)

But these are the exceptions. Of the 80 percent of shows that don't make their money back, most fold up with little notice. Then there are lavishly produced flops whose failure makes the news. That's particularly true when they feature big names.

On Broadway, ~80% of producers and investors struggle to recoup their investments, a number that has stayed consistent since at least the 1960s.