Broadway’s robust box office ducats rendered week 28 of the 2024-2025 season the highest-grossing and best-attended Thanksgiving week in recorded history. Gross for the week ending Dec. 1 totaled $46,046,759 for 38 productions, representing a 23.3% jump from the week prior (week ending Nov. 24, when 39 productions were offered). Attendance had a smaller jump, increasing 1.5% with 312,143 Main Stem admissions tallied. These figures also mark the highest-grossing and best-attended week of the season. Capacity, which examines how many available seats in theaters were filled, jumped 2.2%, with shows playing to houses that were 87.1% full.
This week’s $46 million gross is 33.4% higher than the $34.5 million taken in during Thanksgiving week last year (week ending Nov. 26, 2023, which was week 27 of 2023-2024, when 26 shows were playing). This week’s 312,000 admissions is up 36.5% from last year’s Thanksgiving admissions total.
These figures also mark the first time a week encompassing Thanksgiving has broken a Broadway box office record in six years. This week’s $46 million is 7% higher than the $43 million noted during the previous record-holder, the week ending Nov. 25, 2018 (when 36 productions were running). This week’s attendance proves 4.3% higher than the 299,235 admissions welcomed in 2018.
Beyond the overall industry box office achievements, several shows also broke records.
In the final week of its limited engagement, the Sutton Foster-led “Once Upon a Mattress” grossed $1,025,433, the top-earning week of its run. This is also the first time the revival grossed over $1 million.
The revival of “Elf,” starring Grey Henson, jumped $808,389 (or, 70.9% from the week prior), earning $1,947,923. This marks the second-highest gross for an eight-performance week in the 38-year history of the Marquis Theatre (with the largest eight-performance week record belonging to “Beetlejuice,” which earned $2,146,200 during the week ending Jan. 8, 2023).
The 2024 Tony Award-winning Best Musical “The Outsiders” once again broke the house record at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, taking in $1,840,606. Play-wise, “Oh, Mary!” also broke another house record at the Lyceum Theatre. The Cole Escola comedy grossed $1,286,616.
The only new entry to the slate of shows was Manhattan Theatre Club’s staging of Jonathan Spector’s “Eureka Day.” The comedy grossed $170,430 for six initial previews.
Thirty-one shows saw an increase in gross from the week prior. Of the shows that played the same number of performances week over week, “The Lion King” showed the most sizable bump. The long-running musical increased $876,805 for a total gross of $2,883,276.
“The Lion King” was one of three shows to surpass the $2 million benchmark. The other two productions to reach this measure were “Wicked” ($2,930,221), the week’s top-earning show, and “Hamilton” ($2,579,544), the third-highest grosser.
Beyond the three top-earners and the aforementioned “Elf,” “Oh, Mary!,” “Once Upon a Mattress” and “The Outsiders,” 16 shows grossed in excess of $1 million, including “& Juliet” ($1,368,204), “Aladdin” ($1,823,161), “Back to the Future” ($1,485,064), “Cabaret” ($1,242,004), “Death Becomes Her” ($1,249,647), “Hadestown” ($1,060,347), “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” ($1,569,872), “Hell’s Kitchen” ($1,574,622), “MJ” ($1,711,266), “Moulin Rouge!” ($1,295,746), “Romeo + Juliet” ($1,216,030), “Sunset Boulevard” ($1,821,373), “The Book of Mormon” ($1,194,921) and “The Great Gatsby” ($1,656,686), all of which played eight performances. Additionally, “Gypsy” grossed $1,622,652 across seven previews and “SIX” earned $1,168,036 for nine performances.
Attendance-wise, 25 shows saw an uptick in admissions. Of the shows that maintained a consistent number of performances from the week prior, “Chicago” had the highest attendance increase. In a week that included both Latin Grammy Award winner Sebastián Yatra’s Broadway debut as Billy Flynn and Bianca Marroquín’s return as Roxie Hart, the long-running revival increased 3,060 admissions to a total attendance of 8,029.
“Hamilton” ($247.25) had the week’s largest average paid admission. “The Lion King” ($221.18) and “The Outsiders” ($220.09) had the second- and third-largest, respectively, and were the only other shows to post an average paid admission greater than $200. Eighteen shows had an average paid admission between $100 and $150, while seven posted an average admission less than $100.
Capacity-wise, 22 productions filled their houses to 90% or greater. Playing to a venue within the 90th percentile included “& Juliet,” “Aladdin,” “Back to the Future,” “Cabaret,” “Chicago,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Elf,” “Gypsy,” “Hadestown,” “Hamilton,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Moulin Rouge!,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” “Stereophonic,” “Suffs,” “The Book of Mormon,” “The Great Gatsby” and “The Lion King.” As was the case last week, “Oh, Mary!” and “Wicked” played to a sold-out house every performance. Standing-room attendees allowed “Romeo + Juliet” and “The Outsiders” to reach a capacity greater than 100%.
The 2024-2025 maintains a strong margin over the 2023-2024 season. Aggregate gross to date comes to $906,440,409, which is 13.4% ahead of last season. Attendance is up 13.3%, with Broadway welcoming 7,346,891 so far this season. Contributing to these significant numbers is a to-date count of playing weeks (the total number of shows playing each week) of 869, which is up 10.6%. Capacity, at 90.2%, is up 2.2%.
