The box office on the Main Stem saw a collective boon during the third week of the 2024-2025 Broadway season. Gross, attendance and capacity all saw a bump over the week prior. During the week ending June 9, Broadway’s 35 productions brought in a total $36,011,651, 7% higher than the same number of shows playing the week ending June 2. Attendance increased 3.9%, tallying 291,082 admissions. The seats in theaters were filled to 88.9% capacity, representing 2.8 percentage points more than the previous week.
A gross and attendance increase was even more pronounced when looking at the same week during the 2023-2024 season. Broadway’s current $36 million earnings is 16.3% higher than the $31 million collected during the week ending June 11, 2023, while this week’s 291,000 attendance represents a 13.7% increase over the same time period. Capacity was up 2.9 percentage points as well.
Of the 35 productions playing, all but four saw an increase in gross compared to the week prior. “Merrily We Roll Along” had the largest increase in ducats. The revival took in an additional $613,416 (compared to the previous week when star Daniel Radcliffe had several scheduled absences), totalling $1,762,019. Both “Uncle Vanya” and “Back to the Future” saw an increase that buoyed their box office take to once again surpass $1 million. “Vanya” increased $276,825 to $1,011,205, while “Back to the Future” increased $143,875 to $1,100,487. “Mother Play” also had a sizable increase (up $157,434 to $685,650), however the production played eight performances this week compared to seven the week prior (when once performance was canceled).
“The Lion King” was the week’s top-earning show, taking in $2,090,664. With a box office total of $2,077,910, “Wicked” was a close second-place earner, while “Hamilton” ($1,905,404) was the third-highest earner. In its opening week when it played one preview and six official performances, the revival of Samm-Art Williams’ “Home” had the most meager take: $111,564. Of any show playing eight performances, “The Heart of Rock and Roll” had the slightest gross: $272,051.
In addition to the three top-earning shows and the aforementioned “Back to the Future,” “Merrily” and “Vanya,” ten additional productions surpassed $1 million in gross, including “Aladdin” ($1,353,019), “Cabaret” ($1,899,832), “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” ($1,123,558), “MJ” ($1,253,408), “The Great Gatsby” ($1,172,167), “The Wiz” ($1,372,094) and “Water for Elephants” ($1,019,986). “An Enemy of the People” ($1,047,796) which just announced recoupment, also hit the $1 million benchmark. Finally, “Hell’s Kitchen” ($1,638,208) and “The Outsiders” ($1,101,598) both grossed over $1 million while simultaneously marking their highest-grossing week of their respective runs.
In addition to “Hell’s Kitchen” and “The Outsiders,” two other shows had their highest-grossing week: “Stereophonic” ($872,337) and “Suffs” ($851,814).
Twenty-six productions welcomed more admissions than the previous week. Three of those productions saw a ticket tally increase of over one thousand, including “Back to the Future” (up 1,095 admissions to a total attendance of 10,699) and “Uncle Vanya” (up 1,932 to a total 8,146 admissions). “Appropriate” also saw an uptick in attendance, welcoming 1,052 more admissions than the week prior for a total attendance of 6,922, its best-attended week of its run. However, “Appropriate” had an increased capacity at the Belasco Theatre this week: 1,013 available seats. Previously, the Belasco had a capacity of 813 seats for every week since the Branden Jacobs-Jenkins-penned revival began its commercial transfer on March 25.
Two shows posted an average paid admission of over $200: “Merrily” ($228.00) and “Cabaret” ($222.28). “Hamilton” ($180.95) had the third-highest average paid admission. With an average $29.70 paid per admission to the theater, “Home” had the lowest average of the week.
Nineteen productions played to houses that were 90% full or more. Fourteen filled seats within the 90th percentile: “Aladdin,” “Back to the Future,” “Cabaret,” “Hamilton,” “Mother Play,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Stereophonic,” “Suffs,” “The Book of Mormon,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Lion King,” “The Wiz,” “Uncle Vanya” and “Wicked.” Four shows surpassed 100% capacity, thanks to standing room: “An Enemy of the People,” “Hadestown,” “Hell’s Kitchen” and “The Outsiders.” “Merrily” once again filled exactly every seat at the Hudson Theatre.
Season to date, the 2024-2025 Broadway season has earned $104,969,902, which is 10.3% higher than this point during the 2023-2024 season. Attendance is up 8%, with 858,581 admissions counted so far. Capacity-wise, seats have filled 88.8%, up 3 percentage points from last season.
