Grosses on Broadway fell last week by almost 8%, but that's nothing to fret over—last week was the Main Stem's highest grossing non-holiday week in Broadway history, and 8% lower than that is still gangbusters. With just three weeks to go to the end of the season, it looks like we are on track to beat last season's grosses by as much as 20%. After a long road of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, things are finally looking pretty sparkly again.
And it's no surprise that productions led by A-listers are continuing to help drive that success. Now perennial top grosser Good Night, and Good Luck at the Winter Garden, starring George Clooney, remained on top but broke its own record to bring in nearly $4 million, or $3,940,941 to be exact. That's at an eye-popping average ticket price of $314.60. And that's nothing compared to what tickets are going for over at number-two top grosser Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. Theatregoers paid an average of $374.17 to see that title, bringing in a total of $3,122,045.
The disparity in those ticket prices and grosses further prove how powerful a large theatre can be when a show is a big hit. Typically, the highest attended shows are family offerings that don't necessarily have the highest ticket prices on Broadway, making the list of top attended shows look pretty different from the top grossers. But Wicked's renaissance (thank you, Hollywood!) and Good Night, and Good Luck's outsized success in the Winter Garden have challenged that. Wicked is reliably the most-attended show on Broadway—15,408 tickets were sold last week. Good Night, and Good Luck took the number-four spot on that list last week, selling 12,527.
The rest of the top five top grossers was filled out by usual suspects Wicked, The Lion King, and the also star-driven Glengarry Glen Ross, all bringing in grosses in excess of $2 million. And the other in the top five most attended, by the way, were Aladdin, The Lion King, and Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Last week's numbers leave us in a great spot as we get ready for Tony nominations to drop May 1. They have a shot at impacting grosses as soon as next week, with upwards of four performances available for most productions after nominations are out. Looking ahead and especially when we know who the winners are June 8, and we could expect to see an already well-performing Broadway fly even higher.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Good Night and Good Luck ($3.94 million)
- Othello ($3.12 million)
- Wicked ($2.58 million)
- The Lion King ($2.32 million)
- Glengarry Glen Ross ($2.30 million)
- Hamilton
- Aladdin
- MJ The Musical
- The Outsiders
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Gypsy
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Hell's Kitchen
- Death Becomes Her
- The Great Gatsby
- Stranger Things: The First Shadow
- Oh, Mary!
- Buena Vista Social Club
- & Juliet
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
(20 of 40 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Just in Time (106.18%)
- Good Night, and Good Luck (101.88%)
- The Outsiders (101.81%)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (100.67%)
- Hamilton (100.09%)
- Wicked (100%)
- Othello (100%)
- Oh, Mary!
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- Aladdin
- & Juliet
- The Lion King
- Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
- Pirates! The Penzance Musical
- Hadestown
- John Proctor is the Villain
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Operation Mincemeat
- The Great Gatsby
- Stranger Things: The First Shadow
- MJ The Musical
- Buena Vista Social Club
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Hell's Kitchen
- The Book of Mormon
- The Last Five Years
- Death Becomes Her
- Dead Outlaw
(28 of 40 currently running productions)
