The 2022 end-of-year holidays drove Broadway to its best week since Dec. 29, 2019, when the box office earned $55,765,408.
For the week ending Jan. 1, 2023, the 33 shows running on Broadway grossed $51,912,862, a staggering 49% increase from the previous week. Capacity across the 33 productions was at 92%, an increase of 10%.
For reference, during this same holiday week last year — which is week 32 of the Broadway season — grosses were at $26,306,652. In 2020, the holiday week grosses hit $43,095,641.
“The Lion King” has set a new record for the highest-grossing week in Broadway history. The Disney musical brought in $4,315,264 during its nine-performance week and played to 99% capacity. The other two top-grossing productions last week were “The Music Man” and “Wicked,” both of which earned more than $3 million through nine performances.
Twenty-one productions grossed more than $1 million last week. Eighteen shows played to 95% capacity or greater, while five productions played to less than 70% capacity.
During the holiday week, 20 of the 33 productions played nine performances. Every single production, with the exception of one, saw gross increases, while all but two saw attendance increases.
“The Piano Lesson” broke the $1 million mark for the first time and grossed $1,140,437 during its nine-performance week — an increase of 78% from the previous week.
Meanwhile, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” broke the house record at the Lyric Theatre and grossed $2,671,191 through eight performances, a 34% increase from the prior week. The play also once again broke the record for the highest weekly gross for a play in Broadway history, which it initially set for during the week ending Dec. 30, 2018 when it earned $2,525,850. The production played to 101% capacity.
“Beetlejuice,” which has entered its final week on Broadway, shattered records two weeks in a row at the Marquis Theatre. Last week, the musical grossed $2,462,667 to break the nine-performance-week record at the theater. That was an increase of 77% from the previous week, during which the production broke the seven-performance record by earning $1,392,442. The show played to 101% capacity in its penultimate week.
Meanwhile, “MJ” has broken the house record at the Neil Simon Theatre for the tenth time. The musical grossed $2,223,069, a 21% increase over the previous week, and played to 100% capacity. During its eight performance week, the production also played to 100% capacity.
The new musical “& Juliet” also broke a house record at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The production grossed $1,639,788 during its nine-performance week, an increase of 7% from the prior week. Previously, the house record was held by “ Beautiful — The Carole King Musical,” which grossed $1,546,950 for the nine-performance week ending Dec. 28, 2014. The musical played to 100% capacity.
“Six” has broken its own box office record as well as the house record at the newly renamed Lena Horne Theatre. The musical grossed $1,649,206 — a 29% increase from last week — and played to over 100% capacity through eight performances, besting its previous box office record of $1,357,276. The previous house record of $1,626,478 was set by “Waitress” for the week ending Jan. 28, 2018.
“Funny Girl” also set a new house record at the August Wilson Theatre. The revival grossed $2,405,901 over a nine-performance week, and played to 93% capacity. The musical previously set the record when it earned $2,005,697 for the eight-performance week ending Dec. 18, 2022.
Also shattering a house record last week was “Aladdin.” The Disney musical grossed $2,849,723 through nine performances and played to 100% capacity. Its previous highest-grossing period was the week ending Dec. 30, 2018 when the musical earned $2,584,549.
The long-running revival of “Chicago” also broke records during its nine-performance holiday week. The production earned $1,299,404 and played to 101% capacity. The musical’s previous highest-grossing week was pre-pandemic when it earned $1,260,248 for the week ending Dec. 30, 2017.
“A Christmas Carol” played its final performance on Jan. 1.
For a complete look at this week’s Broadway grosses, visit Broadway Business.
An earlier version of this report featured a full Broadway gross of $51,912,226 for the week ending Jan. 1, 2023. On Jan. 4, a revised figure of $51,912,862 was provided by the Broadway League. Our story reflects this update.
Correction: A previous version of this report misstated a record broken by the current revival of “The Piano Lesson.”
