Musicals Now Cost $25 Million and Broadway Can’t Keep Up

Broadway’s lights are shining brightly, but behind the scenes, producers are feeling the squeeze.

Rising costs have made it harder than ever for shows to break even.

“It’s just so difficult for producers to get their money back,” said Kinky Boots and Waitress producer Jim Kierstead.

“These shows are now upwards of $25 million. Ten years ago, you could have a musical on Broadway that was probably in the $13 million range,” he told CNN.

Ticket prices fail to match soaring budgets

While budgets keep climbing, ticket prices haven’t kept pace.

The average ticket now costs $126, up from $103 in 2015.

However, that actually works out as a fall of about 10% when adjusted for inflation.

Fortunately for us theatre fans, producers understand that raising prices isn’t a solution.

“There’s only so high you can raise them because you’re really pricing people out of the market,” Kierstead added.

Even as audiences return in record numbers, many productions are struggling to stay in the black.

A report from the New York Times recently revealed that only three new musicals have managed to break even since the pandemic.

Two of them, MJ and & Juliet, are jukebox musicals, with Six being the only original musical to turn a profit

Long running hits keep Broadway afloat

But while new musicals are struggling, Broadway’s long-runners are raking it in.

Wicked, which opened in 2003, has become the first Broadway show in history to take more than $5 million in a week thanks to the success of its two-part film adaptation.

Then there’s Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Hamilton, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary on the Great White Way with the return of original cast member Leslie Odom Jr.

Premium ticket prices hit a record of $1,525 for some shows of the limited run, with total weekly grosses edging $4.9 million.

Only the strongest brands now seem able to weather the rising costs.