Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 3/1/26- Page 2

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 3/4/26 at 9:40pm

I don't think the DBH numbers have much, if anything, to do with Hilty being gone. This show was never going to be a "run for half decade or more" show. It's based on a campy niche movie. It's not broadly appealing IP like The Outsiders and Moulin Rouge and others and didn't capture the zeitgeist like Hadestown, Dear Evan Hansen, Six and others. The fact that it has done as well as it has for nearly a year and a half is pretty impressive.

On another note, I remain amazed at how well Hadestown has turned into a stunt casting show. I never thought it could keep popping back up in the grosses Chicago-style but it might be even better than Chicago now at getting the right type of stunt casting (obviously Chicago is doing well at the moment with that too but has had some lapses).

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 12:23am

ColorTheHours048 said: "Agree with the other takes that Betsy Wolfe is simply not up to snuff compared to Megan Hilty, but I think the show is ultimately more difficult to stunt cast than some folks perceive it to be. Both leads are a hell of a sing, you’re running around like a crazy person, and you’re also dealing with quick costume and prosthetic changes from beginning to end. The only roles you could feasibly stunt cast are Viola and maybe Ernest. Mad and Hel aren’t exactly “slot in a random celebrity” parts; they’re not Roxie and Velma. You need someone up to the task."

Agreed. And that’s an aggravating factor here. A lot of the possible female casting ideas have already booked other shows. (To my mind - Shoshana Bean, Jessica Vosk, Deborah Cox, Ana Gasteyer, Marla Mindelle). They likely want to avoid the pitfall of the “well, this was who we got” casting move when they brought Sutton and Aaron into SWEENEY. 

I would KILL for Sherie to do this, but she seems like she’s not interested in an 8-show week that’s a very heavy lift. (LSOH demanded far less energy of her than DBH would)