Although tourism has begun to recover, theater-goers are slow to return at pre-pandemic numbers due to a weakened economy and recent inflation. In 2020, New York City’s tourism dropped by 67% when compared to 2019, according to the Office of the New York State Comptroller. The Broadway League estimates that 63% of those audience members are out-of-town tourists, suggesting that New York’s Broadway shows heavily depend on the tourism industry to stay alive. This requires them to sell over 70% of their tickets to merely break even. To stay on Broadway, shows must either make a profit or be projected to make a profit in the near future. Cash is the leading actor in New York, not artistic pursuits.

2 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.īroadway is ultimately an industry driven by business, not art. “Dear Evan Hansen” closed at the Music Box Theatre in September, and “Come From Away” concluded its run earlier this week on Oct. Within six months of their return from the pandemic hiatus, both shows announced closing dates before the end of the year. Until the pandemic, both shows played to sold-out houses for nearly four years, with their monthly attendance averages never falling below 99%. These challenges are not unique, they represent a pattern of financial difficulties for New York theaters and productions since the spring of 2020.Ĭonsider “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Come From Away,” two Tony Award-winning musicals that opened in the 2016-2017 theater season. Last month, the New York Post reported that the show has lost over $1 million per month since returning from the COVID-19 shutdown. The weekly grosses and attendance data for “The Phantom of the Opera” have indicated financial trouble for the last year. Regardless, the show’s closing is not a complete surprise. “There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and “The Phantom of the Opera,” read an online Broadway forum this past June. Until the announcement of the show’s closing, many fans assumed “The Phantom of the Opera” had become a permanent fixture of the Great White Way, leading theater-goers to ask: How did we get here? 18, 2023.īy the time of its closing, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical will have played nearly 14,000 performances over the span of 35 years.

“The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show in Broadway history, shocked theater-goers last month by announcing it would play its final performance at the Majestic Theatre on Feb.

Phantom of the opera broadway