Broadway musicals are getting more upscale - tickets at a Tony award-winner now cost a tony $60.
"Jerome Robbins' Broadway" boosted its ticket prices Thursday, jumping $5 from a $55 top for its best orchestra and choice mezzanine seats.Until February, when "Jerome Robbins' Broadway" opened, the top ticket price, was $50. But such long running hits as "Les Miserables," "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Me and My Girl," quietly followed "Jerome Robbins' Broadway," raising their prices from $50 to $55 over the last few weeks.
Many of the big incoming musicals for this season including "3 Penny Opera" with rock singer Sting, Tommy Tune's "Grand Hotel," and "Annie 2" will have a $55 top.
"Jerome Robbins' Broadway" cost an estimated $8.7 million to produce. Because of its large cast - more than 50 dancers and singers - it operating expenses are $420,000 a week, the highest on Broadway. It has been grossing around $530,000 each week, but will have to play more than 70 weeks at capacity to earn back that high production cost.
A $55 top ticket price also has been announced for "The Merchant of Venice," starring Dustin Hoffman, the highest price ever for a non-musical. It begins a 12-week run in New York on Dec. 4.
"Orpheus Descending," the hit revival of the Tennessee Williams play starring Vanessa Redgrave, raises its ticket price from $42.50 to $45, beginning with performances of Nov. 21. Most other plays on Broadway are charging $40 or $42.50 for their best seats.