26 Weeks down.  26 to go.

The 2011-12 Broadway season is half over and already people are wondering . . . will we shatter another sales record?

Well, so far, so good.

The first 26 weeks of this Broadway season have grossed $534,026,464, a whopping 5.6% (!) increase over last season at this same time.

So why aren’t I whooping over this whopping?

Because, once again, even though the cash registers are more full than ever, attendance is down 1.3%.  And this ain’t the first time we’ve had this problem.

Now I could spin this and say that more bucks with less bodies demonstrates how smart we are getting at managing our inventory and increasing prices depending upon demand.  The NY Times just did an article about this very subject, which you can read here.  And it’s true, we are getting better.  And the mega hits are turning into MEGA hits.  I mean, Phantom did over $1mm last week . . . after 23 years!  (That’s a lot to be thankful for), but less bodies for the rest of Broadway is a problemo, my friends.

And now that we’ve semi-mastered pricing, it’s time we focus on getting more bodies to pay regular price.

1.3% isn’t a huge differential though . . . there are still 26 weeks to go.  Will we make up the difference?

I’ll be back to update you in 13 weeks to see where we’re headed.

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FUN STUFF

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