Broadway Receipts Down in 2007-08

Despite critical hits such as "In the Heights" and "August: Osage County," Broadway's paid attendance and grosses both showed slight declines in the 2007-08 season, the Broadway League announced yesterday.

Paid attendance for the season, which ended May 25, dropped by 0.2%, to 12.27 million, and grosses declined to $937.5 million from $938.5 million in the 2006-07 season.

League officials attributed the numbers to the 19-day strike by the stagehands union, Local One, in December 2007. Officials estimated that the Broadway season would have set all-time records for both box-office grosses and attendance — at an estimated $975 million in grosses and 12.9 million tickets sold — had the strike not occurred.