After a brief dip from the Thanksgiving highs, grosses are once again on an upward trajectory on Broadway, increasing last week by more than 3% compared to the week prior. And that happened even as average paid ticket prices fell slightly, by $0.34 to $145.83, making those gains almost exclusively from an increase in attendance! All Out: Comedy About Ambition was added to the boards late last week, which gave us an extra show for the final four performances of the week. But houses were fuller across the board, by an average of 91.28% across the 35 currently running shows.
In other words: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
The biggest gains of the week went to Stranger Things: The First Shadow at the Marquis, which brought in the highest gross yet of its run last week with $1.6 million. That's almost a quarter of a million dollars higher than its second-highest gross from Thanksgiving week. The play, a prequel of the Netflix series, has performed pretty consistently since it began last March, hovering around the $1 million to $1-and-a-half million mark. With a big musical-scale large cast and special effects-heavy production, producers will be looking to keep this higher benchmark past the holidays.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stayed atop the list of top grossers with nearly $3 million at the Lyric, no doubt thanks to Tom Felton currently reprising his film role of Draco Malfoy in the stage play. But that still didn't make the production the hottest ticket on Broadway last week. Hamilton was at standing room only (100.68% full over the eight-performance week) at an average of $263 while Just In Time (which was 103.28% full) had an average ticket price of $257.85. In third place was Harry Potter's average of $230. The top five was filled out by Art and The Lion King.
This week, The Queen of Versailles and Little Bear Ridge Road are closing early on December 21. It indicates that January, which always Broadway's lowest-grossing period, may prove tricky for many shows. We are also losing top grossers Art and Waiting for Godot by the first Sunday of 2026. But that doesn't mean we're in trouble. All Out made more than $400,000 in only its first two performances last week. The show is the spiritual follow-up to last season's All In, which also featured a rotating roster of comedy stars reading short stories by Simon Rich. All Out's performance last week shows why producers were quick to bring the scheme back this year. If that show can keep it up as we get into 2026, we will have another hit on our hands.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ($2.99 million)
- Hamilton ($2.8 million)
- Wicked ($2.76 million)
- The Lion King ($2.37 million)
- Mamma Mia!
- Chess
- Stranger Things: The First Shadow
- Art
- Just In Time
- MJ The Musical
- Death Becomes Her
- Ragtime
- Aladdin
- The Great Gatsby
- Waiting for Godot
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Oh, Mary!
- The Outsiders
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- The Book of Mormon
- Buena Vista Social Club
- Hell's Kitchen
(22 of 35 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- Just In Time (103.28%)
- Hamilton (100.68%)
- All Out: Comedy About Ambition (100%)
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (100%)
- Oh, Mary! (100%)
- Ragtime (100%)
- Wicked (100%)
- Art
- Waiting for Godot
- Hadestown
- Stranger Things: The First Shadow
- Maybe Happy Ending
- Mamma Mia!
- The Book of Mormon
- The Lion King
- Chess
- The Outsiders
- The Great Gatsby
- Death Becomes Her
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Aladdin
- Buena Vista Social Club
- & Juliet
(23 of 35 currently running productions)
