You know what I love about the end of Q3?

It means two things are coming . . . warmer temperatures and . . . The Tony Awards.

If the Broadway season were a drama, we’re be ramping up to the climax about now.  Intermission is over, the boy has lost the girl, and we’re getting ready for the 11 o’clock number.

And for people like you and me, how this drama ends depends on how the grosses and attendance wind up compared to last year.

So?  How we doin’?

Here’s where we are after 39 weeks of our current season:

GROSSES

• The first 39 weeks of our season have grossed a total of $1,028,580,194.
• Last season at the end of Q3 we had grossed $1,028,348,726.
• That’s just a .02% increase from last season at this time.

ATTENDANCE

• 9,799,882 people have seen Broadway shows so far this season.
• 9,712,328 people had seen Broadway shows at this point last year.
• That’s up .90% from last season.

PLAYING WEEKS

• There were 1,197 playing weeks so far this season.
• There were 1,203 playing weeks so far last season.
• That’s a DECREASE of .50%.

Ooooh, somehow we’ve managed to come out of the worst of the winter without giving up ground on last year.  Frankly, I’m shocked.  Especially when you consider that we lost two performances to that nasty a$$ blizzard from a few weeks ago (those two performances cost us millions of dollars – literally).

And now we enter the last quarter, which will have a bunch of new shows on the boards, which usually drives up the attendance and gross.

But will it?  Will we hold our ground and manage to squeak out an increase in both gross and attendance over last year?

I don’t know, guys.  It’s going to be tight.  But, in true dramatic fashion, I think we’re going to pull it out, and I’m predicting a modest increase for the season.

Man, this is like Game of Thrones . . . except without the drawn and quartering part.

See you in 13 weeks!

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