It wasn’t that long ago that the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a lot of uncertainty in regard to the future of Broadway. Broadway theaters earned a record $1.83 billion during the 2018-19 season, but all 41 venues closed on March 12, 2020 and didn’t resume operations until September 2021. Following the 18-month closure and the shortened 2021-22 season, Broadway grossed $1.54 billion and $1.58 billion in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. However, due to a variety of factors, New York’s theater industry soared to new heights in the 2024-25 season, grossing a record $1.89 billion.
“There is so much to celebrate about the 2024-2025 season,” said Jason Laks, president of The Broadway League. “Looking back, it was never a given that audiences would return to their seats or that every theatre’s lights would come back up. It has taken the hard work and imagination of thousands and thousands of dreamers and doers to bring the magic of Broadway back.”
The 2024-25 Broadway season, which featured 77 productions playing more than 13,400 performances, registered a 19.3 percent increase in overall attendance and a 23 percent rise in revenue. Here’s a closer look at Broadway’s record-breaking season and the factors that contributed to its post-pandemic recovery.
Productions That Opened This Season
While long-running musicals like The Lion King, Chicago (revival), and Wicked contributed to Broadway’s record-breaking season, the 43 productions that debuted this year also played a significant role. Of the debuts, 21 were musicals, 21 were plays, and 32 were originals.
Good Night, and Good Luck, a stage adaptation of the George Clooney-led film about journalist Edward R. Murrow’s memorable interview with Senator Joseph McCarthy, was one of the most successful original plays to open this season. It opened April 3 and had made nearly $44 million as of June 1, one week before its expected closing date. The show garnered mainstream media attention, as it marked Clooney’s Broadway debut and regularly broke the weekly gross record for an original play. Playing at the Winter Garden Theatre, it earned $3.95 million and $4.24 million during its final two weeks.
Othello, Glengarry Glen Ross, Purpose, John Proctor is the Villain, and Oh, Mary! were among the other plays that performed well at the box office. The Tony-nominated musicals Death Becomes Her, Dead Outlaw, and Maybe Happy Ending also fared well, as did original musicals like Just in Time and Buena Vista Social Club.
Big-Name Hollywood Stars
Clooney wasn’t the only prominent Hollywood star to appear on Broadway in the 2024-25 season. Oscar and Emmy winner Kieran Culkin starred in the revival of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Glengarry Glen Ross alongside Bob Odenkirk and stand-up comedian Bill Burr. Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal performed in a modern take on Shakespeare’s Othello, while Nicole Scherzinger (Sunset Blvd.), Sarah Snook (The Picture of Dorian Gray), Nick Jonas (The Last Five Years), and Sadie Sink (John Proctor is the Villain) were among the other celebrities on Broadway in 2024-25.
Wicked, which has been playing at the Gershwin Theatre since 2003 and is one of the longest-running musicals in Broadway history, also experienced a boost via the film adaptation and the star power of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who played Glinda and Elphaba. The movie surpassed Mamma Mia! as the top-grossing film inspired by a Broadway musical by the end of 2024 and had grossed more than $755 million worldwide by May 27, 2025. The musical, meanwhile, set the all-time weekly record with a gross of $5.03 million for the week ending December 29.
High Ticket Prices
High ticket prices, particularly for Othello, also played a major role in Broadway’s record-breaking season. Ticket prices were up 3 percent from 2023-24 and 4 percent from 2018-19, in part due to demand but also to keep up with rising costs, according to Laks. Tickets for Othello at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, which had a limited 15-week run, ranged from $216 to $921. The average ticket price during its final week of the season was $398.79, and it still played to 100 percent capacity. It made nearly $40 million in the 13 weeks in which it played during the 2024-25 season.
Glengarry Glen Ross, which also featured big stars and had a limited run at the Palace Theatre, had an average ticket price of $239.98 with top tickets going for $799 during the final week of the season. These and other plays contributed greatly to the rise in ticket prices; average paid admission for plays in 2024-25 was $141.03, up from $108.09 last season and $116.12 in 2018-19.
Attendance Record Is Still Intact
Despite breaking the record for highest gross and having several plays and musicals set weekly records, Broadway’s annual attendance record is still intact. Broadway had a total attendance of 14.7 million in 2024-25, with 91.2 percent of seats filled across all venues. Seating capacity was up from 2018-19, but a record 14.8 million people attended Broadway productions that year.