The season is ending on a buoyant note with big grosses driven by a theatre attendance record of more than 11 million. Theatre goers and stars treading the boards are very optimistic.

Record numbers of people have gone to the theatre this season

The musical Ragtime has been one of the year's top money earners. Brian Stokes Mitchell, an actor from the musical said: "I think this is one of the best seasons we have seen in a long time. . . in both plays and musicals there hasn't been a season like this in a long time that I can remember."

Ragtime was produced by a Livent, a corporate organisation, as was another big musical hit, The Lion King, which was staged by Disney.

The Lion King has been praised by the critics

The increased presence this year of outside corporate producers on Broadway, raised concerns that artistry would be lost to commercialism.

But those fears dissipated when the Lion King proved to be a critical triumph and not the sugary sweet production many have expected from Disney.

Natasha Richardson as Sally Bowles in Cabaret

It was directed by the well respected avant garde theatre artist Juliet Taymor who said: "I think Disney wanted to do something really different, I think they wanted to see if they could really make artistry and commerce come together."

Another big hit has been the British revival of the American musical Cabaret, starring Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson.

Tom Brook talks to Natasha Richardson

They each portray characters that inhabit a decadent 1920s nightclub as the dark clouds of Nazism approach.

Natasha Richardson said the success of the raunchy re-staging of the 30 year-old musical was down to the fact the story was "raw, immediate and human".

Paul Simon's The Capeman was critically panned

Although Broadway is the home of the musical this is the year that has seen the powerful re-emergence of the play - an art form that appeared to languish in recent times. This season Broadway has been inundated with some 20 plays, many of them imported from Britain and Ireland.

One of the most celebrated plays has been the Beauty Queen of Leenane, a dark Irish comedy about a disturbing mother-daughter relationship. Its finely wrought, well-observed characters have gone over well with critics and audiences.

Marie Mullen from The Beauty Queen of Leenane

But despite the current season being lucrative Broadway can still be treacherous, especially for newcomers. The American rock musician Paul Simon mounted a musical called The Capeman, which is estimated to have cost $11m. It was critically panned and closed within a few weeks. Investing on Broadway remains a gamble.

Jed Bernstein from the League of American Theatre Producers said: "Lest anyone forget that this is a very high risk investment ... this is not for the faint of heart."

Jed Bernstein says when productions flop 'it is horrible'

"We are working very hard to get Broadway back on the mainstream entertainment menu ... that's where it was in the 30s, 40s and 50s and I think that's the position it's returning to.

As Broadway moves to capture the mass market, some worry that creativity will be stifled. But this week the theatre community will be focusing on the bright side when it honours this season's best at next Sunday's Tony awards.