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With the star-driven megahits Good Night, And Good Luck (George Clooney) and Othello (Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal) having exited the stage, Broadway saw a drop of nearly 15% at the box office last week.
The 38 shows on the boards grossed a total $39,204,872, down from about $46M from the previous week. Total attendance last week – the week ending June 15 – was 313,343, down about 5% from the previous week but up about 8% compared to last year at this time.
Perhaps most interesting were the fortunes of shows basking in the Tony glow, or not. Oh, Mary! – which did not win Best Play, contrary to many predictions from the so-called experts – saw the show written by and starring Cole Escola (who did win the Tony, for Best Leading Actor/Play, along with Sam Pinkleton for Direction) broke yet another house record at the Lyceum, grossing $1,354,841. That’s the show’s best number since the Christmas holidays, when Oh, Mary! took in $1,348,939.
While some of Oh, Mary!‘s jump can no doubt be attributed to the Tony wins – and Escola’s funny and charming acceptance speech – it might also well reflect last-chancers rushing to get in before Escola’s final performance as Mary Todd Lincoln this Saturday, June 21 (the show is dark on Sundays; Tituss Burgess returns to the role on Monday, June 23 for a 6-week engagement).
Sunset Blvd., starring Tony-winner Nicole Scherzinger, was up a stunning $404,548 to
$1,665,762, filling 91% of seats at the St. James. The production won the Best Revival/Musical Tony.
Another Tony-box office winner was Best Play Purpose (starring Tony winner Kara Young),which took home the Tony Award for best play and one for featured actress Kara Young, was up by $101,332 over the previous week, grossing a personal-best $636,381
Other shows that sold out last week included the critical darling John Proctor Is The Villain, taking in a big $850,666 at the Booth; Just In Time, starring Jonathan Groff (who gave a no-holds-barred Tony performance), jumping by more than $23,000 over the previous week to $1,271,350; and Best Musical winner Maybe Happy Ending, bouncing upwards by $76,687 to a production high of $1,236,230.
And then there’s Hamilton, the long-running stalwart that staged a 10-year reunion performance on the Tonys, with all the original cast members. The performance definitely impressed, with the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical up by more than $76,000 last week, hitting a total gross of $2,062,452. Ticket prices also went up, jumping from $189 on average to $194.
Hamilton, by the way and along with Maybe Happy Ending and Oh, Mary!, were among the productions that saw the highest increase in demand on the secondary market. According to StubHub, Hamilton saw a 200% uptake following the Tony performance.
Another Tony-winner, The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring Sarah Snook who took home the Best Performance by a Leading Actress/Play trophy, was up a big $140,594 to $1,508,381, selling out at the Music Box (the show had planned seven-performance week).
Shows that didn’t sell out, but had more than decent attendance of 90% or more, included & Juliet, Aladdin, Death Becomes Her, Glengarry Glen Ross, Hadestown, Moulin Rouge!, Operation Mincemeat, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Purpose, Sunset Blvd., The Book of Mormon, The Great Gatsby and The Lion King.
On the other end of the spectrum, the spring’s new shows needing some help were Boop! The Musical, struggling with attendance at 79% of the Broadhurst’s capacity; Dead Outlaw at 69% at the Longacre; Floyd Collins, 80% at the Vivian Beaumont (the Beaumont is a subscription-based non-prof); Gypsy (which saw star Audra McDonald loose a hotly contested race to Sunset Blvd.‘s Nicole Scherzinger) was at 76% at the Majestic, Smash at 68% at the Imperial (for a 7-performance week); and The Last Five Years, at 74% at the Hudson.
Somewhere in-between was Stranger Things: The First Shadow, filling about 84% of seats at the Marquis for a gross of $1,016,176, and Steven Sondheim’s Old Friends, 88% of capacity at the Friedman.
One show, Real Women Have Curves, gave up the ghost: Today, the musical announced a closing date of June 29. Last week, the musical filled only 63% of available seats at the James Earl Jones, grossing just $365,252 with an average ticket price of $68.63.
Newcomer Call Me Izzy, starring Jean Smart, opened at Studio 54 on June 12, filling only 70% of seats that week for 7 performances, grossing $464,524. Critics loved it, but maybe reviews were a double-edged sword: The play and Smart’s performance were acclaimed, but the subject matter revealed by the reviews – it’s an often grueling tale of domestic violence – might put off some potential ticket-buyers. That’s a shame because it’s a very good play, an outstanding performance and shouldn’t be missed.
Season to date, Broadway, in the 3rd week of the 2025-26 season, has grossed $129,942,867, up about 24% over last year at this time, with total attendance of 976,758 up 14%.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office visit the League’s website.