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Broadway took a hit in the box office over the Labor Day holiday weekend last week, with most of the shows on the boards reporting declines in weekly grosses. In all, the 27 productions on Broadway grossed a total $25,137,042, about 18% less than the previous week, when 28 shows were running.
The $25M figure is off about 11% from last year at this time. Total paid attendance last week was 215,095, down 9% from the previous week and 4% year-to-year.
A handful of productions bucked the overall downward trend, some just barely. Wicked was up $104 to $2,005,301, the second-highest gross of the week after Hamilton‘s $2,150,026.
Art, the revival of Yasmina Reza’s play starring Bobby Cannavale, James Corden and Neil Patrick Harris, played its first full week of previews at the Music Box, jumping $585,176 to a big $1,253,680. The venue’s seats were 97% filled. Opening night is September 16.
Just as impressively, John Proctor Is the Villain ended its engagement at the Booth, soaring to its best gross in months: $1,054,847, up $216,487 over the previous week and hitting the $1 million mark for the first time since original star Sadie Sink‘s final week back in July. Even aside from those peaks, Proctor has been one of the strongest plays of the Broadway season. Chiara Aurelia has played the lead since Sink’s exit.
RELATED: Sadie Sink Talks ‘John Proctor Is The Villain’, ‘Stranger Things’ And Joining The Marvel Universe – The Deadline Q&A
Other shows to post gains last week were the ever-mighty Hadestown, up $15,928 to $737,132, and Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride, up $3,047 to a still-shaky $140,622. Only 31% of seats at the Nederlander were occupied.
While five shows were sellouts — Hamilton, John Proctor Is the Villain, Just In Time, Oh, Mary!, and Wicked — more shows than not saw atypically scattershot attendance. Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, which just posted an early closing notice in part because star Billy Porter is out with sepsis, was at just 68% of capacity, grossing its lowest-ever weekly take (by a lot) of $380,052. Chicago‘s attendance was just 53% at the Ambassador ($447,531), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was 71% ($783,300), Hell’s Kitchen (65%, $624,147), Six: The Musical (55%, $408,380), Stranger Things: The First Shadow (65%, $598,688) and The Great Gatsby (58%, $623,585).
Even strong shows that typically sell out, or come close, saw more than a few empty seats last week. Attendance at Buena Vista Social Club was at 88% of capacity, Mamma Mia! at 95%, Operation Mincemeat at 83% and The Outsiders at 82%. Look to see those shows post gains next week.
Season to date in the 15th week of the 2025-26 season, Broadway has grossed $516,458,393, up about 7% over last year at this time, with total attendance of 4,057,680 up 6%.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For more box office information visit the League’s website.
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