The official report from the Broadway League at the end of the 2018-2019 season couldn’t have been more upbeat.
“For the 2018-2019 season, total attendance reached 14,768,254 and Broadway shows yielded $1,829,312,140 in grosses, making it the best attended and highest grossing season in Broadway recorded history,” is how the Street’s trade group touted the good news and how most of the press bull-horned it.
Here is a somewhat more sobering take on the season: Eleven of the season’s 26 new commercial productions (eight more shows were produced by nonprofit companies, along with four “special events”) have closed, or will soon close, representing an investment just shy of $140 million.
