“Broadway is healthy and vibrant,” declared Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League just recently.

It is, indeed. According to end-of-season figures, ticket sales hit an 11.4 percent upturn this season, which has just closed at a high note as the highest-grossing and most-attended Memorial Day weekend on record. Pre-Memorial Day, box-office revenues were already robust, with most if not all 40 theaters along Manhattan enjoying brisk sales.

That cannot be said two years ago, though. The situation then was far from rosy. Ticket sales were flat and audiences were waning, and as a result, some of the productions had to be cut prematurely. It also did not help that Hurricane Sandy devastated New York and nearby states.

So what propelled the resurgence? Based on ticket sales, star power and reruns of classics did. The musical “If/Then” enjoyed solid sales, quite unsurprisingly because it stars Idina Menzel, fresh from the success of Disney’s animated movie “Frozen”. Classics like the twin-bill production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and Richard III,” and Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” with Daniel Craig in the lead, attracted big crowds, too.

It was not the first time Broadway went through a tough time. One of the troughs in New York’s theater industry during the last two decades happened post 9/11. Shows had to bow out prematurely as tourists and residents feared for their safety and opted not to go out. If not for big promotional efforts from the city and state governments of New York, it would have taken longer before it could bounce back.

Such is life, and against all odds, Broadway has stayed and will stay resilient. As St. Martin put it during the struggling 2013 Broadway season, “Each season has unique factors that contribute to the overall story,” and as the story of Broadway unfolds, a bright spot or two will emerge.

A theater reviewer and an aspiring playwright, Sheldon Mitchell is a fan of Broadway musical greats like “Oklahoma!” Subscribe to his blog for more information and insights on Broadway.