Broadway Shows Shutting Down Left and Right. Why?

When you think of New York City, what comes to mind? The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, maybe even Central Park? These are all great landmarks, but one other amazing and eye-catching place is Broadway. Broadway is one of the most famous landmarks in New York, with some of the most notable shows and amazing performances. But one of the city’s greatest attractions has been taking some hard hits in the last couple of years.

The Phantom Of The Opera, Broadway’s longest running musical, has announced that it will close in February, after a long 35-year run. Dear Evan Hansen and Come From Away, closed down in June of last year. Both were amazing and acclaimed shows that sold out theaters when they opened in 2017.

The Music Man and BeetleJuice the Musical have also both closed down just this month, two very well-known musicals that also had very great runs.

COVID-19 greatly affected Broadway shows, as most closed down due to the virus. This hit many Broadway theaters hard, especially New York City’s famous theater.

With the cost and production of all these shows, it looked like it was going to be hard for Broadway to come back, but after COVID was officially called “over” by President Joe Biden, things were looking positive.

But this was just the opposite, as all productions went back to square one after reopening. Which meant that the old powerhouses of Broadway were now competing with new, bigger productions.
COVID may not be the only reason though, as cost and increase of crime in the city has driven people, especially tourists, away from Broadway shows.

According to forbes.com, in 2021 the number of tourists visiting New York was 1.7 million lower than expected. In 2022, it estimated that there will be 1.3 million less tourists coming to shows.

Despite the average cost for a ticket being $113.29, many shows failed to make profit with higher production costs and more advertisements being put in. It seems that people have just lost interest in putting in the extra money for the live shows.

Crime has also been very rampant in the city which is driving away tourists and Broadway patrons. According to forbes.com, crime has increased by 30.5% in July 2022, compared to July 2021. Additionally, murder rates in the city have increased by 34.3% in July 2022 compared to last year.

As you can see, high rates of COVID contraction, cost of productions, and rapid rise of crime in the city has pushed Broadway goers away from the theater. It’s honestly very upsetting that so many wonderful shows have or are about to close down. If Broadway wants to be as successful as it was in the past, it and New York City, have to find solutions to these catastrophic problems.