STAR OF THE STAGE: “Kinky Boots,” with Stark Sands and Billy Porter, was a rare hit. (Reuters)
Broadway is singing the box-office blues.
Attendance on the Great White Way has dipped for a second consecutive season — as a series of critical duds, Hurricane Sandy and outrageous ticket prices combined to keep fans away, a report has found.
New York stage productions sold 11.3 million tickets during the season that runs from May to May, marking a 6 percent dip from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Broadway League and reported in Crain’s New York Business.
Broadway had already been hurting from the 2011-12 season, in which in it suffered a 2 percent decline from the previous year.
Despite this season’s attendance shortfall, producers kept their wallets fat thanks to high ticket prices, with 51-week ticket revenue of $1.1 billion, Crain’s reported.
Prices this season were up 9 percent from the previous year, as the average Broadway ducat cost $101.
Much of the attendance decline came as Hurricane Sandy blew through New York in early November and 48 shows were canceled.
While those lost shows didn’t help, the biggest culprit appears to be the product itself.
Several fall shows barely made it past Christmas, shutting down over nasty reviews and low attendance.
Musical revival “Annie” was the only fall show, not including limited runs, that survived into this spring.
Other highly anticipated fall productions, such as “Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson” and “Chaplin,” had disappointingly short runs.
Broadway insiders put their spin on the dreary numbers, chalking them up to a statistical quirk because a few big hits came late in the season.
Blockbusters such as “Matilda,” “Motown” and “Kinky Boots” didn’t have a full season to pump up Broadway’s bottom line.
“This has been a very strange season because all the successful shows opened at the end,” industry lawyer Seth Gelblum, of Loeb & Loeb, told Crain’s. “The results are a fluke of timing.”
Gelblum downplayed the impact of rising ticket prices and cited hits like “The Book of Mormon” and “Wicked” as examples of popular productions that still draw top dollar.
Ken Davenport, producer of “Macbeth” and “Kinky Boots,” said he won’t press the panic button until attendance falls for at least three years running.