Broadway‘s hit musical revival Sunset Blvd. stayed strong last week amidst the controversy surrounding star Nicole Scherzinger’s social media post interpreted (or rather misinterpreted) by many as an endorsement of Donald Trump.
The latest Broadway grosses (for the week ending November 10) indicate that Sunset Blvd. was up $134,498 over the previous week. With attendance at the St. James Theatre at 97% of capacity (compared to 95% the previous week), the show’s total gross was a very strong $1,857,562.
In fact, the weekly gross for Sunset Blvd. was the Broadway roster’s third-highest for the week, behind only the usual favorites The Lion King ($1.9M) and perennial top grosser Wicked ($2.5M).
Scherzinger, in case you somehow missed it, set off a backlash last week after posting a response to MAGA comedian and accused sexual assaulter Russell Brand, with Scherzinger asking where she, too, could get a red ball cap inscribed with “Make Jesus First Again.” (Sunset‘s Norma Desmond subsequently issued a statement reading, in part, “Many presumptions are being drawn, which do not reflect who I am, what I stand for, or who I voted for. Many of the marginalized communities feeling hurt and concerned by the results of the presidential election are people I care about most. I stand with them, as I always have throughout my life and career.”)
The presidential election and its outcome might also have helped the excellent Suffs, Shaina Taub’s rousing musical about the suffragist movement that gave women the right to vote. The musical, which closes January 5, jumped $185,728 over the previous week, grossing $959,042 and filling 98% of seats at the Music Box.
Elsewhere on Broadway last week, a raft of recent arrivals continued their previews, with various results. A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, which opened last night to mixed-to-favorable reviews, took in a decent $612,038 in its final week of previews at Studio 54, filling 92% of seats.
Maybe Happy Ending, which opened this afternoon to excellent notices, grossed $297,967 in its final full week of previews at the Belasco, with attendance at 84% of capacity. Look to see some significant improvement in those figures now that reviews are spreading the word about this delightful original show.
Two other previewing shows did fine business last week: Elf, the musical adaptation of the 2003 film comedy, enjoyed the first two previews of its holiday engagement through January 4, with 94% of seats at the Marquis occupied, drawing a gross of $276,096. Opening night is November 17.
Also posting lively figures was Death Becomes Her, in previews at the Lunt-Fontanne. With a pre-scheduled six-preview week, the musical scored a whopping $939,554, filling 98% of seats. Opening night is November 21.
Swept Away, the musical with a score by the alt-folk group The Avett Brothers, took in $434,153 for seven previews at the Longacre, with attendance at 83% of capacity. Opening night is November 19.
Bringing up the rear for the newcomers was Tammy Faye, the Elton John-Jake Shears musical that’s off to a not-exactly-answered-prayers start. With just 58% of seats filled at the Palace – the lowest attendance percentage of the 37 Broadway shows – the musical about TV evangelists Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker grossed only $384,345. Opening night is November 14.
Sell-outs for the week were McNeal, Oh, Mary! and Wicked, with both Romeo + Juliet and The Outsiders SRO at 102% of their respective capacities. The SRO shows grossed $1,060,444 and $1,408,500, respectively.
At 90% of capacity or more were & Juliet, A Wonderful World, Aladdin, Back To The Future, Death Becomes Her, Elf, Hadestown, Hamilton, Hell’s Kitchen, MJ, Moulin Rouge!, Stereophonic, Suffs, Sunset Blvd., The Book of Mormon and The Lion King.
In all, the 37 Broadway productions grossed $36,467,871, up about 11% from the previous week and 25% over last season at this time. Attendance was 306,329, up 7% from the previous week and 30% year-to-year.
Season to date, Broadway, in the 25th week of the 2024-25 season, has grossed $787,939,831, up about 11% over last year at this time, with total attendance of 6,422,949, also up about 11%.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.