After periods of stops and starts during the COVID-19 pandemic, Broadway is finally moving toward pre-pandemic totals in terms of total revenue and audience. Broadway plays and musicals grossed a combined $845.4 million with 6.73 million attendees during the 2021-22 season, rising to $1.58 billion and 12.3 million audience members during the 2022-23 season. The 2018-19 season, the last full season before the pandemic, brought in $1.83 billion with 14.8 million audience members.
“Audiences are back but they are not back to pre-pandemic levels yet and so we’re seeing a very odd amalgam of shows being incredibly successful and shows really struggling,” noted Drama League artistic director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks. He added that audiences are “flock[ing] to things that feel comfortable, that feel joyous, that feel expressive.”
Two shows made more than $100 million during the 2022 calendar year and 12 made at least $50 million. Here is a look at the six highest-grossing productions of the year.
The Music Man
The Music Man, which stars Hugh Jackman as con artist Harold Hill, opened on February 10, 2022, at the Winter Garden Theatre and closed on January 15, 2023. It ran for 389 performances during that time, including previews, and led all Broadway productions in 2022 with a total gross of $147.3 million. The average ticket sold for $259 while the most expensive seats went for $697.
In The Music Man, Jackman, as Hill, arrives in the fictional River City with plans to con the townspeople through a complex money-making scheme. However, he eventually falls for the town librarian Marian Paroo and comes to empathize with the citizens of River City. Sutton Foster, who was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, played Marian. Jackman was also nominated for a Tony Award for his role. Meredith Wilson wrote the book as well as the production’s music and lyrics. Featured songs include “Seventy-Six Trombones” and “Gary, Indiana.”
Hamilton
Hamilton, an original musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, has been one of the hottest tickets on Broadway since opening in August 2015. It was the second highest-grossing production in 2022 with $111.5 million in total ticket revenue through 415 performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Miranda created the innovative musical based on Ron Chernow’s biography of one of America’s Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton. Featuring a score that combines traditional Broadway elements with jazz, hip-hop, and R&B, the musical explores the life of Hamilton from orphan to political mastermind and George Washington’s right-hand man.
In 2016 Hamilton scored a record 16 Tony nominations and won 11 awards, including Best Musical, Best Choreography, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Daveed Diggs). It has run for more than 2,600 performances since opening in 2015.
The Lion King
Based on the popular 1994 Disney film of the same name, The Lion King opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre in November 1997 and remains one of the most popular shows on the Great White Way. It sold the second-most seats (703,840) and earned the third-highest total gross ($94.5 million) in 2022. Elton John and Tim Rice wrote the music and lyrics, respectively.
In 1998 director Julie Taymor became the first woman to win a Tony Award for directing a musical. The Lion King won five Tony Awards in total, including Best Musical.
Wicked
Another long-running musical, Wicked opened at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003 and has since run for more than 7,500 performances. It grossed $85.7 million through 413 performances in 2022 with an average ticket price of $124. Wicked also sold more seats (686,348) than any other play or musical in 2022.
Wicked won three Tony Awards, including Best Actress in a Musical (Idina Menzel), in 2004. The original musical is based on The Wizard of Oz but tells the story from a different perspective, exploring the unlikely friendship between the green-skinned witch and a popular, bubbly blonde girl. The musical features popular songs like “Defying Gravity” and “For Good.”
MJ The Musical
Set in 1992, when pop icon Michael Jackson was preparing for his Dangerous World Tour, MJ The Musical captures and highlights not only the signature sound and dance moves of Jackson but also his creative instincts and collaborative nature. It opened at the Neil Simon Theatre in February 2022 and has since run for more than 550 performances. The musical grossed $76.6 million through 406 performances in 2022 with an average ticket price of $141.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, an original play that opened at the Lyric Theatre in April 2018, tells the story of the famed wizard’s son Albus and his unlikely friendship with the son of Draco Malfoy. It takes place 19 years after the final Harry Potter film and features adult versions of Harry, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. The play made $73.7 million in 2022 with 593,105 seats sold for an average price of $124.