Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Death of a Salesman ended their Broadway runs on very high notes, posting the biggest grosses of their engagements.
Jellicle, closing five months earlier than planned and prompting considerable discussion (and lamentation) within the industry about production costs and the dim odds of scoring a big musical hit these days, grossed $1,828,306 for its final week at the Broadhurst, a jump of $422,597 over the previous week (which, at the time, was its best-ever number). The show was standing room only, with an average ticket price of $193.92, a strong number if still noticeably lower than the $239.61 average for Salesman, the $211.37 for Hamilton or the $220.10 for Ragtime. (Overall average ticket price on Broadway was $130.95.)
Death of a Salesman, starring Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf, sold out the Winter Garden yet again, and grossed a whopping $2,509,387. That’s an increase of $286,937 and by far the biggest gross of its big-grossing run.
Also up considerably was Every Brilliant Thing, taking in a strong $886,815 for its final week, a jump of $229,364 over the previous week. The show, starring Tracee Ellis Ross, was a virtual sell-out at 99.6% of capacity at the Hudson. The final gross was the best showing for Ross’ tenure, though short of the $1 million+ grosses that were routine during the runs starring Daniel Radcliffe and Mariska Hargitay. The show peaked at $2,296,473 with Radcliffe’s final week at the end of May.
Despite the big upturns for the closers, most Broadway productions saw at least some dips last week, perhaps due to the competition with the three departing shows, or maybe just some summer wilting. The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! took the most significant drops, with the former sliding $161,077 to $1,354,926 and the latter down $118,950 to $1,034,918. Dips notwithstanding, decent numbers for the August dog days.
In addition to Jellicle, Salesman and Brilliant Thing, the week’s sell-outs were Hadestown, Hamilton, Oh, Mary! and Ragtime. Coming in just short of sell-out, with at least 95% of seats filled, were Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Just in Time, MJ, Operation Mincemeat, Schmidagoon!, The Lion King and The Outsiders.
In addition to Salesman, two productions grossed in excess of $2 million: Hamilton ($2,268,037) and The Lion King ($2,241,283).
At 80% of capacity or less were Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), 69%, for a gross of $527,150; Titanique, 79%, $759,367; Stranger Things: The First Shadow, 77%, $854,835; Six, 71%, $576,816; and
Chicago, 78%, $742,764.
In all, Broadway’s 29 productions grossed $33,716,025, about even with the previous week’s total and up 9% from last season at this time. Total attendance was 257,464, down 2% from the previous week and up 2% year-to-year.
In the 11th week of the 2026-27 season, Broadway has grossed $385,441,582, down about 4% from last year at this time, with total attendance of 3,121,255 holding steady.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For more box office information visit the League’s website.