It was a strong start last week for Broadway's newest musical, Back to the Future. Hitting Broadway after a 2021 Olivier-winning West End debut, the musical joined the $1 Million Club in its first week of previews. Making that achievement more notable is the fact the new production began mid-week, playing just four previews in this data period and taking in $1,035,256 while playing to sold-out houses at the high-capacity Winter Garden Theatre. Investors will be looking for that box office performance to continue. If it does, we could be looking at a new top-five-grossing Broadway show before reviews even drop.
But as new shows come, others go. Broadway said goodbye to Fat Ham, Leopoldstadt, Prima Facie, and The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window July 2. Both Leopoldstadt and Prima Facie, not inconsequentially the best-performing plays at the 76th Annual Tony Awards last month, both played their final weeks to their highest grosses of their entire runs, both bringing in roughly $1.25 million. The loss of those productions should create a noticeable drop in cumulative grosses for Broadway next week, but with many new shows waiting in the wings, things will rebound soon enough.
Grosses fell slightly over all of the 33 running shows last week, though attendance was slightly up. Over the week, 272,766 people saw a Broadway show. As per usual, Wicked, Aladdin, and The Lion King topped the list of the most attended, even with none of that group selling out. Twenty of the 33 shows played to 90%-or higher capacity houses, showing that summer attendance is keeping seats filled.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- The Lion King ($2.49 million)
- Hamilton
- Wicked
- Sweeney Todd
- Aladdin
- MJ The Musical
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Funny Girl
- Leopoldstadt
- Prima Facie
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- & Juliet
- Parade
- Back to the Future
- The Book of Mormon
(15 of 33 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Hamilton (101.33%)
- Sweeney Todd (100.8%)
- Back to the Future (100%)
- Fat Ham
- Prima Facie
- Leopoldstadt
- Hadestown
- Wicked
- & Juliet
- Parade
- The Book of Mormon
- The Lion King
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Aladdin
- Shucked
- MJ The Musical
- Just for Us
- Kimberly Akimbp
- SIX: The Musical
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
(20 of 33 currently running productions)
