The previous record holder was Christmas week (Dec. 23-29) 2002, which totaled $21,350,633.
The high numbers were accompanied by broken box office records at no less than eight theatres. The lucky shows and houses were Mamma Mia! (at the Winter Garden), Beauty and the Beast (Lunt-Fontanne), Avenue Q (Golden), Twelve Angry Men (American Airlines), Fiddler on the Roof (Minskoff), Hairspray (Neil Simon), Movin' Out (Richard Rodgers) and Rent (Nederlander).
Nine of the 31 shows on the boards grossed over $1,000,000, another Broadway record, and 15 shows sold out or were near 100% capacity for the week.
The latter four offered a nine-show week. The lengthened schedule taken on by a total of ten shows during New Year's week is one reason for the box office jump.
While other theatres didn't break records, almost every attraction saw more cash in the till, including struggling shows such as Dracula, which experienced a 131% gain, and 'Night Mother, which climbed 104.4%. Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays continued to perform well, collected $815,786 over a seven-show week.