(June 7, 2005) New York, June 1, 2005) The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc. announced results for the 2004-05 Broadway theater season, beginning May 31, 2004, and ending, May 29, 2005.

For this 52-week period, paid attendance to Broadway was 11.53 million. Box office grosses were $768.6 million, the 2nd highest season ever in grosses, and 4th highest in paid attendance. For this season, attendance and grosses were virtually flat from last year. (Last season, however, was an anomalous 53-week season, versus a 52-week season this year). (1) The first 52 weeks of the 2003-04 season grossed $755.3 million, with 11.36 million in paid attendance.

Average Weekly Grosses

Average weekly gross increased from $14.5 million to $14.8 million, a 1.6% percent increase. The 2004-05 season totaled 1494 playing weeks, up from 1451 in 2003-04 (even with a 53 week year in 2004), a 3% percent increase*

Notes:

The theatre season is based on a June-May year. Because the calendar year is made up of 52 weeks plus a day, every 7 years we add an additional week to the theatre season.
The sum total of all shows multiplied by the number of weeks each show played, are considered to be one of the best indicators of activity in a given Broadway season.
A Hot Streak for Spring

The last 13 weeks comprising the spring portion of the season grossed $222.1 million, the highest in history, with 3.34 million in paid attendance; this compared to the $201.9 million gross, and 3.13 million paid attendance for the same period last season -- a 10% increase in gross and 6.8% increase for attendance.

Thirty-nine plays and musicals opened during the 2004-05 season. Not since the 1982-83 season have there been more Tony ® eligible productions.

The play category, which included 14 new plays and 9 revivals, had its second-highest grossing year ever, $120 million, proving that there is indeed an audience for non-musical fare.

Tourism

Domestic visitors to Broadway theatres reached record highs of 5.8 million (49.7% of the total audience), for the 2003-04 season. International tourism is also up 1.2 million in attendance (11% of the Broadway audience). This is now back to the pre-9/11 levels.

“This season was marked by incredibly strong performances by big-name celebrities, as well as Broadway stalwart talent, a host of new plays and musicals, and some wonderful revivals of classic works. Not only did the season come in the 2nd highest in grosses and the 4th highest in paid attendance, but plays had one of their best year ever,” commented Jed Bernstein, President of The League of American Theatres. “Broadway has many reasons to celebrate!”

Highlights of Season

Celebrities on Broadway

Celebrities rarely seen on the Great White Way, appeared on Broadway this season. The star-studded list included:

Alan Alda, Christina Applegate, Hank Azaria, Delta Burke, Mario Cantone, Billy Crudup, Tim Curry, Billy Crystal, Dame Edna, Edie Falco, Harvey Fierstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Goulet, James Earl Jones, Jeff Goldblum, David Hyde Pierce, Nathan Lane, Jessica Lange, Laura Linney, John Lithgow, Mary-Louise Parker, Andrea Martin, Marsha Mason, Phylicia Rashad, John C. Reilly, Natasha Richardson, Liev Shrieber, Christian Slater, Kathleen Turner, and Denzel Washington.

New Musicals

This season marked the greatest number of Tony eligible musicals and plays since the 1982-83 season including The Light in the Piazza , Monty Python's Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Brooklyn The Musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dracula The Musical, Little Women: The Musical, The Frogs, All Shook Up, and Good Vibrations.

Musical Revivals

Sweet Charity, La Cage Aux Folles, Forever Tango and Pacific Overtures were the new musical revivals represented on Broadway this season.

Play Revivals

Revivals of the classics and modern plays included Tennessee Williams ' A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Natasha Richardson and John C. Reilly , The Glass Menagerie, starring Jessica Lange and Christian Slater; and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , with Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin. Denzel Williams starred in a new production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Additional revivals included After The Fall, Glengarry Glen Ross, On Golden Pond, ‘night Mother and The Rivals.

New Plays

New plays included Democracy, Sight Unseen, The Good Body, Gem of The Ocean, Brooklyn Boy, Doubt , Pillowman, Reckless, Twelve Angry Men, and Steel Magnolias.

One-Person Shows

This was a tremendous season of one-person shows, bringing big name talent to Broadway: Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Jackie Mason, Mario Cantone and Dame Edna.

Thirty-nine plays and musicals opened during the 2004-05 season. A complete list of shows opening this season can be found on the following page:

2004-2005 SEASON

‘night Mother P
700 Sundays S
A Streetcar Named Desire P
After the Fall P
All Shook Up M
Brooklyn Boy P
Brooklyn The Musical M
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang M
Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance! S
Democracy P
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels M
Doubt P
Dracula The Musical M
Forever Tango M
Gem of the Ocean P
Glengarry Glen Ross P
Good Vibrations M
Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed; One Jew Talking S
Julius Caesar P
La Cage Aux Folles M
Laugh Whore S
Little Women The Musical M
Monty Python's Spamalot M
On Golden Pond P
Pacific Overtures M
Reckless P
Sight Unseen* P
Steel Magnolias P
Sweet Charity M
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee M
The Frogs M
The Glass Menagerie P
The Good Body S
The Light in the Piazza M
The Pillowman P
The Rivals P
Twelve Angry Men P
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? P
Whoopi 20th Anniversary Show S

Children and Art**
Escape: 6 Ways to Get Away**
Hair**
Linda Eder: The Holiday Concert**
Love/Life**
Passion**
The 24 Hour Plays 2004**

M=Musical
P=Play
S=Special Theatrical Entertainment
* = Official opening date May 25, 2004 but Tony eligible
** = Concert/Benefit/Misc. Event