High-Priced Tickets Help Make for a Record Year at the Broadway Box Office Broadway musicals and plays had another record-setting season at the box office, grossing a total of $1.139 billion from 40 new productions and other long-running shows during the 2011-12 theater season, according to data released by the Broadway League on Tuesday. Audience attendance was 12.33 million, roughly the same as in the 2010-11 season, according to the League, a trade association of theater owners and producers. Revenues increased at a faster rate than theater-going because several Broadway producers have raised the prices of so-called premium tickets, which includes seats in the best location and those that are sold at the last minute; some producers have also increased the number of premium tickets. Last week, for instance, the musical "The Book of Mormon" broke the Eugene O'Neill Theater's box office record for the 34th time in part because "Mormon" premium tickets cost up to $477 apiece, the highest fee charged on Broadway. The revival of "Death of a Salesman" broke the record at the Barrymore Theater for the seventh time last week; its top premium ticket price is $475, an unusually high price for a play. "Salesman" holds seven performances a week instead of the usual eight for most shows, making its record even more notable. Year-to-year comparisons in Broadway grosses and attendance are complicated for the 2011-12 season because, last year, the League calculated its data based on a 53-week year; this is done every seven years to account for variances in the calendar year, as well as to end each theater season in the last days of May. The new record of $1.139 billion in grosses for 2011-12 (which was a 52-week season) stands in comparison to $1.08 billion for the 53-week season in 2010-11; for comparison purposes, the league also calculated the figure of $1.06 billion for an adjusted 52-week season in 2010-11. As for theater-going, 12.53 million people attended Broadway shows during the 53-week season in 2010-11; that number was 12.3 million when adjusted for a 52-week season. An earlier version of this post misstated the length of the 2010-11 Broadway season. It was 53 weeks, not 53 years.