Broadway wilted a bit in last week’s summer heat, with 23 of 30 shows taking a hit at the box office, some significantly.
No doubt playing a part in Broadway’s overall decline last week was the July 4th holiday – all productions but one canceled performances on that day (no competing with those fireworks), which was a Friday this year. Other performances were added to keep eight-performance schedules, but losing that lucrative Friday evening no doubt took some bites.
The average ticket price for all 30 shows during the week ending July 6 was $116.62, down about $15 from the previous week.
Three shows that saw especially big drops have more than the weather or the holiday to blame though. Gypsy, with star Audra McDonald on vacation, was down a big $701,698 from the previous week to $293,903. Only 58% of the Majestic’s seats were occupied, with the average ticket price falling to $39.97 from the previous week’s $117.81.
Also missing its star for four weekend performances (two Saturday, two Sunday) was Call Me Izzy, with Jean Smart out due to a knee injury. Playing to just 46% of capacity at Studio 54, the solo play dropped $272,118 to $233,730. No word on when Smart will return; understudy Johanna Day will fill in this week. Call Me Izzy‘s limited engagement runs through August 17.
And Death Becomes Her was down $253,330 to $1,102,043 with one of its two stars – Megan Hilty – out since June 11 due to a vocal injury. She’ll return July 9 on a reduced schedule. Still, the popular musical was at a healthy attendance/capacity ratio of 96% last week, though average ticket price was off more than $20 to $96.02.
Purpose was the production that played Friday, with an early start time of 7 p.m. The weekly gross was a strong $643,848, with attendance at the Hayes at 99% of capacity.
Boop! The Musical played a previously scheduled seven-performance week, dropping $17,963 to $557,638. Attendance at the Broadhurst was 93% of capacity. The show closes July 13.
Sell-outs for the week included Hadestown, Hamilton, John Proctor is the Villain, Just in Time, Maybe Happy Ending, The Outsiders and Wicked. Coming close with at least 97% of seats filled were & Juliet, Buena Vista Social Club, Operation Mincemeat, Purpose, Sunset Blvd. and The Lion King.
The top five earners for the week were: Wicked ($2,257,921), Hamilton ($2,110,770), The Lion King ($2,054,328), Sunset Blvd. ($1,940,269 up $88,782 for star Tom Francis’ final week), and Aladdin ($1,378,964).
In all, the 30 shows (down from 35 the previous week) grossed $30,529,370, a drop of 22%. Attendance was down 12% to 261,793.
Season to date, Broadway, in the 6th week of the 2025-26 season, has grossed $242,956,468, up about 13% over last year at this time, with total attendance of 1,866,011 up 10%.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office visit the League’s website.