Broadway Scores Highest-Grossing Holiday Week Ever

A former senior vice president of sales with New York's Fishman and Tobin, Joel Goldstein now resides in Livingston, NJ, where he manages a children's apparel consulting business. Although he resides in NJ, Joel Goldstein regularly visits Manhattan to attend Broadway shows.

Despite having debuted on Broadway in August 2015, Hamilton continues to enjoy success at the box office and, during the last week of 2018, led a record-breaking week for Broadway. The Tony Award-winning play grossed more than $4 million for the week ending December 30, while 28 other shows grossed at least $1 million. A total of 378,910 seats were filled during the week for an overall revenue of $57.8 million, which marked the highest-grossing week in Broadway history.

Hamilton made its money through only eight performances thanks to an expensive average ticket price of $375. Following Hamilton, The Lion King, Wicked, and The Illusionists each made at least $3 million. The holiday season is always a popular time for Broadway but, in addition to New York's appeal as a tourist destination, the record-breaking week can be attributed to the resurgence of live plays and musicals as a form of entertainment; through 2018, Broadway grossed a record-breaking $1.8 billion.