Hot on the heels of a new report showing that NYC tourism is officially back, Broadway is reaping the benefits. Last week saw the highest-grossing Christmas week on Broadway since 2018, handily beating even the last pre-pandemic figure from 2019. The 33 currently running shows brought in a whopping $55.8 million with 306,180 theatregoers paying an average ticket price of $182.32. Merry Christmas to Broadway!
Chief amongst the winners there was Wicked, which was the highest-grossing show of the week with more than $5 million. Yes, you read that correctly. And that performance doesn't make it just top of the list of Broadway's top grossers last week. That figure makes the show the first in Broadway history to bring in $5 million in one week, beating Lion King's previous record take of $4.3 million earlier this year by a substantial amount, around $700,000. Even with a rapturously received movie adaptation available in movie theatres (for as little as $16), 17,334 people packed into the Gershwin Theatre last week to see Wicked on stage at a gravity-defying average ticket price of $290.61. This movie has already moved Wicked back up to the top of the charts, but a historic week like that has to have producers absolutely thrillified.
Expensive tickets were the name of the game across the board. After Wicked's top average, Broadway saw an average The Lion King ticket at $279, Hamilton at $273, and The Outsiders at $239. And remember, those are averages, meaning lots of people paid lots more for their tickets. And that work allowed many shows to set new box office records, including Chicago, The Great Gatsby, The Outsiders, and Six.
As for the top earners, Wicked was followed by The Lion King with $4.2 million, Hamilton with $2.9 million, Aladdin with $2.8 million, and The Great Gatsby with $2.6 million.
But it wasn't just the big, splashy shows that raked it in. Maybe Happy Ending, which has been steadily picking up steam after making a slow start in October, made The $1 Million Club for the first time in its run last week, bringing in $1.02 million at an average ticket price of $130. It's looking more and more like this little show that could will get its own maybe happy ending, at least for its investors.
In short: Last week was a banner week for all of Broadway—all but four shows saw increases in excess of six figures compared to the week prior. Only Gypsy, which was forced to cancel seven performances due to cast sicknesses, saw grosses fall.
It should be mentioned that many shows had an extra performance last week; & Juliet, Aladdin, MJ The Musical, The Book of Mormon, The Great Gatsby, The Lion King, and Wicked played nine performances instead of the usual eight. But these figures far outweigh the impact of that extra performances—especially because Gypsy's cancellations and the December 22 closing of The Hills of California actually meant that Broadway on the whole had 10 less performances for audiences to see compared to the week prior.
This Christmas week beat the same week last year by nearly 23%, and the season to date is now beating the same period last year by more than 16%. Suffice it to say, Broadway's fortunes are on the rise and we're more than happy to see it!
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Wicked ($5.04 million)
- The Lion King ($4.2 million)
- Hamilton ($2.93 million)
- Aladdin ($2.81 million)
- The Great Gatsby ($2.62 million)
- MJ The Musical ($2.6 million)
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ($2.39 million)
- Elf ($2.3 million)
- The Outsiders ($2.02 million)
- Back to the Future ($2 million)
- Sunset Boulevard
- The Book of Mormon
- Hell's Kitchen
- & Juliet
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Death Becomes Her
- Cabaret
- All In: Comedy About Love
- SIX: The Musical
- Chicago
- Oh, Mary!
- Hadestown
- Suffs
- Romeo and Juliet
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Stereophonic
(26 of 33 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Romeo and Juliet (103.1%)
- The Outsiders (102.53%)
- Suffs (101.94%)
- Gypsy (101.89%)
- Back to the Future (101.46%)
- Hamilton (101.46%)
- Hadestown (101.29%)
- The Book of Mormon (101.13%)
- SIX: The Musical (100.5%)
- & Juliet (100.36%)
- MJ The Musical (100.33%)
- Oh, Mary! (100%)
- Stereophonic (100%)
- Wicked (100%)
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Hell's Kitchen
- All In: Comedy About Love
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Chicago
- The Great Gatsby
- Swept Away
- Death Becomes Her
- The Lion King
- Aladdin
- Cabaret
- Sunset Boulevard
- Elf
- Cult of Love
(29 of 33 currently running productions)
