Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas' Reunion in Chicago Sends Box Office Soaring, and More From Last Week's Broadway Grosses | Playbill
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Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas' Reunion in Chicago Sends Box Office Soaring, and More From Last Week's Broadway Grosses

A Dancing With the Stars couple and Megan Thee Stallion is reinvigorating grosses for long-runners.

April 14, 2026 By Logan Culwell-Block

(Graphic by Vi Dang)

Reality TV stars Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas reunited on Broadway in the long-running Chicago last week, and the fans were paying top dollar to see them! Leavitt (The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) returned to her starring role as Roxie Hart after a brief hiatus, newly joined by her former Dancing With the Stars dancing partner Ballas as lawyer Billy Flynn. This led to a nearly 30% increase in ticket sales at the Ambassador, besting even the highs set by Leavitt during her first stint in the show earlier this year. No wonder they brought her back for an encore!

Cumulatively, grosses saw modest increases last week, with the 40 currently running shows bringing in a total of $43.58 million, about 0.8% higher than the week before. With much of the season's newest titles either in previews and/or comping much of their houses to get critics and award nominators in, that's pretty remarkable. That also means it is likely that grosses will creep even higher in the weeks ahead as shows open and stop having to invite as many non-paying audience members. This season so far continues to beat last season—which itself set records—by more than 6.5%. With six weeks of the fiscal season left, it's feeling increasingly likely that we will set another new record at this season's end. We love to see it.

Things were otherwise business as usual last week, with usual suspects Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hamilton, The Lion King, and Wicked taking the top four spots of the week—and all but Wicked in The $2 Million Club, no less.

But the final of last week's top five is a face we're less used to seeing at the top of the list: Moulin Rouge! The Musical. The casting of pop sensation Megan Thee Stallion as Zidler in the screen-to-stage musical has re-invigorated ticket sales, so much so that the show even postponed its previously announced closing date earlier this week. Last week's total of $1.71 million is the highest we've seen; she's the production's largest draw since New Year's holiday week 2024. Perhaps she's Broadway's girl, now!

Take a look at the full report here.

The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):

(18 of 40 currently running productions)

The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):

(31 of 40 currently running productions)

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