Star-driven plays are officially dominating Broadway's box office. We already had Othello planting its flag as the perennial top grosser (thanks to its much-ballyhooed $900 tickets), and now we have Good Night, and Good Luck and Glengarry Glen Ross joining its ranks. Both played their first week of previews last week.
Good Night, and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, was the third highest-grossing show on the boards with a partial five-preview week and an eye-opening take of $2.36 million. Glengarry Glen Ross鈥攕tarring 2025 Oscar winner Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk, and Bill Burr鈥攌icked off its own run with $1.9 million, just barely missing making the top five.
Barring any major developments, it looks like we can expect Othello to be Broadway's top grosser for the entirety of its limited run. The pricey, Denzel Washington- Jake Gyllenhaal鈥搇ed Shakespeare revival brought in $2.82 million last week, with the rest of the top five spots taken by Wicked, Good Night, And Good Luck, Hamilton, and The Lion King鈥攁ll but the Disney musical made The $2 Million Club. In short, it looks like any concerns about audiences being split between the many shows with A-listers are unfounded.
It's not just the star-led shows, Broadway is really picking up overall. Cumulative grosses were up 32% compared to the previous week, thanks in no small part to theatregoers having five more shows to go to. Theatres were 95% full on average, and tickets sold for a very healthy average of $134.96, up more than $15 from the week prior ($900 ticket prices aside, there are many shows to choose from at lower price points).
In other words, spring is officially here. The best part is it just began, so we can and should expect this trend to continue upward as more shows get going. And judging from the capacity at non-star-led ventures like Operation Mincemeat and Buena Vista Social Club, many shows are already well on their way to becoming hits even before critics have had their say.
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Othello ($2.82 million)
- Wicked ($2.49 million)
- Good Night, And Good Luck ($2.36 million)
- Hamilton ($2 million)
- The Lion King
- Glengarry Glen Ross
- The Outsiders
- Aladdin
- The Great Gatsby
- MJ The Musical
- Cabaret
- Gypsy
- Death Becomes Her
- & Juliet
- Sunset Boulevard
- Hell's Kitchen
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
(17 of 31 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- The Outsiders (102.31%)
- Hamilton (100.95%)
- Glengarry Glen Ross (100.6%)
- Good Night, And Good Luck (100.53%)
- Hadestown (100.35%)
- & Juliet (100.26%)
- Maybe Happy Ending (100.15%)
- Wicked (100%)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (100%)
- Othello (100%)
- Operation Mincemeat (100%)
- Buena Vista Social Club
- The Great Gatsby
- BOOP! The Musical
- Aladdin
- The Lion King
- Death Becomes Her
- Oh, Mary!
- SIX: The Musical
- Purpose
- Smash
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- The Book of Mormon
- Cabaret
- Redwood
(25 of 31 currently running productions)
