So what exactly makes or breaks a Broadway production? Does having a Tony-winning lead actress or lead actor generally drive up a show’s gross revenue? Which Tony’s are the most rewarding? Get the answers to these questions and so many others in this infographic that explores what a Tony award is worth to a Broadway production.

1. As soon as the Tony Award nominations are announced, nominees happily welcome a huge
surge of public interest. The theater industry’s business thrives on good rapport and a key
award can catapult a show to record breaking sales. From how winning a Tony affects gross
revenue, raises ticket prices and boosts admission rates to what this all actually means in
terms of what a Tony Award can do for a show, this infographic explores the value of
winning a Tony.
TONY AWARD
CATEGORY
SHOW AVG TICKET PRICE GROSS REVENUEATTENDANCE %
38.86% 20.34% 15.37%
ADMISSION
PRICES
GROSS
REVENUE
SEATS
SOLD
Best Musical
*7/10
*5/10
*4/10
*2/10
*2/10
Best Direction
of a Musical
28.46% 17.93% 10.84%
Best
Choreography
30.27% 22.91% 5.95%
31.17% 22.66% 10.60%
Best Revival
of a Musical
25.29% 24.36% 3.67%
Best Actor
in a Musical
31.87% 22.75% 7.44%
Best Play
18% 17.44% 0.52%
Best Actress
in a Play
21.84% 13.93% 6.88%
Best Actor
in a Play
26.55% 13.31% 16.17%
Best Actress
in a Musical
Average ticket price, occupancy percentage and scaled gross revenue from 20 weeks prior
the Tony Awards, compared to 20 weeks post the awards ceremony for the last ten years’
Tony Award Best Musical and Best Play winners.
Percentage change in average ticket prices, percentage change in occupancy, and
percentage change in gross revenue one week prior to nomination announcements and one
week post the award ceremony, averaged for the last ten years’ Tony Award winners in their
respective categories.
A Gentleman's Guide
to Love & Murder
Hamilton
Spring Awakening
$14,557,09395.89%
$10,445,55179.85%
$75.01 $87.04
In the Heights
$17,407,90990.35%
$11,252,79883.63%
$69.11 $89.60
Billy Elliott: The Musical
$27,904,18299.87%
$22,218,82392.10%
$106.11 $122.90
Memphis
$17,046,62884.46%
$11,634,97175.38%
$65.62 $85.81
The Book of Mormon
$24,819,660100.69%
$21,207,991102.44%
$121.38 $144.52
Once
$20,101,55098.92%
$14,091,19292.09%
$90.39 $120.04
Kinky Boots
$31,886,308100.55%
$23,912,31298.95%
$106.07 $139.19
$17,780,347100.06%
$17,780,34782.36%
$148.76$122.45
Fun Home
$14,855,243101.32%
$11,279,93798.42%
$96.80 $123.83
$41,964,70797.03%
$35,009,40087.90%
$164.89 $192.77
There was a 33% jump in scaled gross revenue for ‘Best Musical’ Award winners of the past
ten years. Since most of these musicals were already popular and regularly filled seat
capacity at 87.9%, the biggest factor leading to a jump in revenue was a result of
increased average ticket prices after receiving the award.
Surprisingly, The Book of Mormon & Hamilton, two of the last decade’s biggest hits,
showed the least impact after winning ‘Best Musical’ in terms of percentage change in
gross revenue. Neither show surpassed a 20% rise in revenue as compared to a 76% jump
seen by A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder after the 2014 Tony Awards.
In the last 6 years, ‘Best Musical’ winners have raked in attendance rates of greater than
100% occupancy.
Average ticket prices (20 weeks post winning ‘Best Musical’) for Tony winning shows from
2007-11 compared to 2012-16 winners increased from $106 to $144.
•
•
•
•
SHOW AVG TICKET PRICE GROSS REVENUEATTENDANCE %
The History Boys
$14,509,85498.51%
$10,445,55197.62%
*Data for the 2006 ‘Best Play’ winner, The History Boys, has been included in the above analysis since 3 of the shows (The Coast of Utopia,
August: Osage County and All the Way) closed shortly before or after the award ceremony.
**To avoid skewed data, the figure above represents percentages non inclusive of August: Osage County and The Humans, as the two
plays transferred to vastly different sized theaters directly after the Tony Awards. August: Osage County shifted from Imperial Theatre to
the much smaller Music Box Theatre. Despite a smaller seating capacity, the revenue earned remained almost constant. After transferring
from Helen Hayes Theatre to the larger Schoenfeld Theatre, seating capacity allotted for an increase in generated revenue The Humans.
***All the Way closed three weeks post the Tony Awards after a limited run; however, its sequel, The Great Society, premiered the same
week.
Average paid admission does not reflect the face value of tickets. The figure is calculated by dividing the week's total (actual) gross by
attendance. For shows that did not complete 20 weeks before or after winning the Tony Award, the actual revenue numbers have been
scaled to 20 weeks. For the purposes of this analysis, preview weeks have not been counted as actual running weeks.
Average paid admission does not reflect the face value of tickets. The figure is calculated by dividing the week's total (actual) gross by
attendance. For shows that did not complete 20 weeks before or after winning the Tony Award, the actual revenue numbers have been
scaled to 20 weeks. For the purposes of this analysis, preview weeks have not been counted as actual running weeks.
*In the last ten years, 8 out of 10 winners for ‘Best Book of a Musical’ also won ‘Best Musical’. 5 out of 10 winners for ‘Best Revival of a Play’
were in previews during the examined timeframe. To ensure data not be skewed, these awards have not been included in the above
analysis.
Average ticket price for a particular category is calculated by dividing the total Gross Revenue for the shows over 10 years by total
attendance. Percentage change is calculated by comparing the average ticket price for weeks after the award with weeks before the
nomination. Average occupancy is calculated by dividing the sum of total seats sold by the sum of total seating capacity for the shows
in their category over 10 years.
SOURCES
https://www.broadwayleague.com/
$70.36 $80.47
August: Osage County
$9,955,031
94.78%
$9,653,683
98.02%
$70.84 $83.04
God of Carnage
$18,195,012
$15,470,930
$91.51 $111.30
Production closed 2 weeks after winning its Tony
Production closed 2 weeks before winning its Tony
N/A
N/A
Closed 4 weeks after winning, giving way to its sequel, The Great Society
Red
War Horse
$19,161,26597.60%
$17,479,011100.01%
$102.19 $114.78
Clybourne Park
$8,254,25474.70%
$8,000,65777.65%
$67.71 $72.62
Vanya and Sonia and
Masha and Spike $12,554,22591.26%
$8,824,60783.06%
$84.37 $109.24
All the Way
The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-Time $16,107,43991.94%
$14,994,77389.92%
$102.38 $107.57
The Humans
$11,359,337
$8,277,240
$96.61 $95.37
While ‘Best Musical’ winners saw an averaged 33% increase in gross revenue, ‘Best Play’
winners only averaged an 18% increase. This is likely due to the fact that the average
admission price for plays only increased by about $10, contrary to musicals increasing
ticket prices by an average of $40.
While all ‘Best Musical’ Tony-winning shows continued on to complete 20 weeks post the
award ceremony, only four out of the ten Tony-winning plays did so, the other six closing
just weeks after the Tonys.
‘Best Play’ winning productions (with the exception of August: Osage County and The
Humans) saw only a 2% increase in occupancy - 8 percentage points less than ‘Best
Musical’ award winners.
While Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike had the biggest jump of 42% in gross revenue
post winning ‘Best Play’, War Horse continued to rake in the highest actual gross revenue,
clocking an average of 960K per week, for the 20-week period post the award ceremony.
To put this figure into context, this year’s 2017 ‘Best Play’ winner, Oslo, has been earning
around 640K per week through its 8-week run post previews.
•
•
•
•
In terms of the immediate impact of winning a Tony Award, the benefits were 5
percentage points higher for musicals than plays.
Alternatively, when we examine the immediate impact calculated by comparing a show’s
performance 20 weeks before to 20 weeks after winning a Tony Award, the impact is more
apparent for plays. This is perhaps due to the shorter, limited running time for plays.
Musicals, on the other hand, generally have a much longer run time.
The impact of winning ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role’ boosted a
show’s overall gross revenue more than winning the same award for a male lead. While
26.5% vs 25% doesn’t seem like much of a margin, 4 out of 10 musicals with a winning
leading male lead also won ‘Best Musical’ - this would have certainly driven revenue for
the productions. No musicals with a winning female lead also took home the award for
‘Best Musical’, meaning that one award alone was able to significantly drive up revenue.
For both plays and musicals, more often than not, the winner of ‘Best Musical/Play’ also
takes home the ‘Best Direction’ award. In the last ten years, this was true for 7 out of 10
musicals, and 6 out 10 plays. There was a similar trend for the ‘Best Book of a Musical’
award, with 8 out of 10 winners also bagging the award for ‘Best Musical’.
•
•
•
•
Number of Tonys won Data before Data after Gross revenue scaled to 20 weeks from N week’s data*N
Number of Tonys won Data before Data after Gross revenue scaled to 20 weeks from N week’s data*N
BEST MUSICAL TONY AWARD
*10
*9
*8
*6
18.04% increase
in gross revenue
11.22% increase in
average ticket price
2% increase
in attendance
BEST PLAY TONY AWARD
33.41% increase
in gross revenue
21.74% increase in
average ticket price
10% increase
in attendance
Musicals Plays
A HARD LOOK AT A TONY’S IMPACT ON WINNING PRODUCTIONS
Compiled by Headout using Broadway League’s detailed numbers on weekly grosses and ticket sales
THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF WINNING OTHER PROMINENT TONY AWARDS
*6
*17
*19
*10
*6
*13
*11
*12
*14
*7
The Coast of Utopia
Number of years the respective Tony Award winner in the particular
category also took home the award for Best Musical or Best Play
*N/10