Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 4/12/26- Page 2

[Kad]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 5:28pm

Honestly, I am not sure this is a year in which a Best Musical win will move the needle substantially for any show.   

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 5:47pm

Beaches has been comping since it began.  This week The Lost Boys have been comping similarly and last night was an industry night with free tickets to fill it out.  The offers are coming for those two pretty extensively - whereas I've seen far less for the other new musicals.

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 5:52pm

Kad said: "Honestly, I am not sure this is a year in which a Best Musical win will move the needle substantially for any show. "

I agree, most will definitely flop hard. Wonder what the future of musicals on Broadway looks like.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 6:25pm

blaxx said: "Kad said: "Honestly, I am not sure this is a year in which a Best Musical win will move the needle substantially for any show. "

I agree, most will definitely flop hard. Wonder what the future of musicals on Broadway looks like."

Pretty lightweight and bleak, if judging by recent industry conferences and conventions. 

It won’t surprise me if, sometime in the next few years, all we have are 6-10 long-runners and 2-3 “mid-tier” musicals, as the rest of Broadway’s theaters either host plays or sit empty. 

This would also affect the national tour market in a major way. Would Muny revivals ever consider going on tour?

[Observation]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 7:10pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "blaxx said: "Kad said: "Honestly, I am not sure this is a year in which a Best Musical win will move the needle substantially for any show. "

I agree, most will definitely flop hard. Wonder what the future of musicals on Broadway looks like."

Pretty lightweight and bleak, if judging by recent industry conferences and conventions.

It won’t surprise me if, sometime in the next few years, all we have are 6-10 long-runners and 2-3 “mid-tier” musicals, as the rest of Broadway’s theaters either host plays or sit empty.

This would also affect the national tour market in a major way. WouldMuny revivals ever consider going on tour?"

Bleak is a great word for it. Times are tough. 

[mikem]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 7:38pm

Even taking into account comps for Titanique for opening week, the new musicals' grosses are horrible.  The 7 Broadway shows with the lowest average ticket price are the 5 new musicals and two shows playing at the non-profits (The Balusters and Becky Shaw), and for the non-profits, subscription ticket prices sharply decrease the average ticket price.  The new musicals have no such excuse.  The new musicals' average ticket price ranges from $60.89 to $85.77.  Those average ticket prices are not compatible with a long run. 

And I agree with those who are saying that it's not clear anything is going to move the needle substantially for the new musicals.  Winning Best Musical isn't going to be enough. I would say it's almost certain that none of this season's new musicals will recoup, which isn't going to encourage investors to put money in new musicals for next season or any future season.

Yeah, this is bad.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 7:43pm

DaveyG said: "Death Becomes Her can't last much longer at this rate. I assume the creatives are waiving their royalties which still isn't enough to put them in the black for the week."

When the creatives "waive their royalties," is it just on a delayed basis, so that they do they eventually get paid when the accounting is done? Or are the people who did the writing really expected to have their work performed for free? The latter seems like a rather horrifying prospect to me, and I can't believe anyone (other than an independently wealthy creator like ALW) would agree to that.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 8:37pm

WldKingdomHM said: "Beaches is done for.
Chicago should just give Whitney $$ at this point and have her extend"

They're trying to get Whitney to return over the summer.

[SmokeyLady]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 8:55pm

Jarethan said: "uncageg said: "I wonder if "Beaches" may experience a slight uptick when the snowbirds return from Florida. Kind of their demographic. I think they start returning Between May and June.Just a thought."

The people in Florida don't want to see it any more than the people who are already in NYC. I am one of them. I have heard from several friends -- all of whom were comped -- just how awful it is. They also cited terrible chemistry among the leads, which I don't remember being mentioned here. Unlike MayAudra..., I do not feel sorry for Beaches. When it was announced, everyone thought it was idiocy, the show is apparently worse than feared (I have not seen it and will not see it). Even if the Shuberts gave them some incredible deal, they must have known that it wasnot a good show. What were they thinking!!!Although it clearly went up a lot, I am surprised that Chess' grosses were not higher. Even though Lea's exit date has been announced and is only 2 month away, people are going to wait till the last minute, and a lot of them will not be able to get tickets. So short-sighted.

I am guessing that BV is winding down and is another musical that will not return its investment. This is just so awful.

On a positive note, I just read that Chicago had its highest grossing week ever last week. I guess that, as long as they can work out some decent stunt casting every sooften, they will be able to continue to subidize the money losing weeks, of which I assume there are a lot, and just go on and on.

At this rate, I can just imagine some date in the future when -- for a short period of time -- the longest runs are going to be, in order: Chicago, Lion King, Wicked and Phantom. As one of the people who argued51years ago, when it was getting completely lost in the ACL glow, that Chicago was a much better musical than ACL, I feel vindicated even if I know that quality and length of run rarely have anything to do with each other."

I have felt vindicated since the revival opened.  And the success of the movie was frosting on the cake.  And I am all for the constant stunt casting.  Obviously someone wants to see these people.  

[bear882]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 9:40pm

Kad said: "Honestly, I am not sure this is a year in which a Best Musical win will move the needle substantially for any show. "

This feels like a ‘Something has to win’ sort of year. Several of the new musicals are limited runs anyway and the rest probably won’t last long regardless. I hope I am wrong, as that is grim.

[justntime330]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 9:53pm

kdogg36 said: "When the creatives "waive their royalties," is it just on a delayed basis, so that they do they eventually get paid when the accounting is done? Or are the people who did the writing really expected to have their work performed for free? The latter seems like a rather horrifying prospect to me, and I can't believe anyone (other than an independently wealthy creator like ALW) would agree to that."

I believe the rule is: if the writers waive their royalties, then everyone on the title page automatically waives as well and it saves approximately 60k per week in running costs. The writers are not unionized so they are under great pressure to waive. Many shows have run for months with the authors and other creatives receiving no money at all. Zero.

Rick Elice explains it very eloquently in this video:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUk-HDqgKsF/?igsh=NTllbTNibHFjc2hz

 

Updated On: 4/14/26 at 09:53 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 10:06pm

I would say it's almost certain that none of this season's new musicals will recoup, which isn't going to encourage investors to put money in new musicals for next season or any future season.

Completely agree, many investors have already pulled way back and long term this is a very bad situation for musicals and Broadway in general.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 10:33pm

I hope that in a number of years from now we can look back on this situation as a temporary blip, a theatre-industry recalibration of sorts, but the new musical in general seems to be at death's door.

[malcs98]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 10:35pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "I hope that in a number of years from now we can look back on this situationas a temporary blip, a theatre-industryrecalibration of sorts, but the new musical in general seems to be at death's door."

Well if the new musical on Broadway is death’s door than Broadway as a whole is on death’s door…and there’s no way to stop it…I fear we are looking at a point where a lot of Broadway theaters are left empty of months and possibly years on end. 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 11:35pm

justntime330 said: "I believe the rule is: if the writers waive their royalties, then everyone on the title page automatically waives as well and it saves approximately 60k per week in running costs. The writers are not unionized so they are under great pressure to waive. Many shows have run for months with the authors and other creatives receiving no money at all. Zero.

Rick Elice explains it very eloquently in this video:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUk-HDqgKsF/?igsh=NTllbTNibHFjc2hz"

I watched that video and it is shocking. The authors should get paid before anyone else, including the cast. What can we do to fix this?

 

[Mary_Poppins]

Posted: 4/14/26 at 11:55pm

kdogg36 said: "

I watched that video and it is shocking. The authors should get paid before anyone else, including the cast. What can we do to fix this?

You mean, ALW should be paid for the 1000th staging of his stuff before the people who actually work on it and need to pay their bills?

"

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 12:04am

I don't think anyone said that? The actors are all getting paid. But they wouldn't have the material and the job if it wasn't for the authors... 

Also, I think it's a sign of the times if something like Sunset Blvd can't recoup, but then there's shows like Maybe Happy Endings that are still big, and theatrical and hopefully will recoup. I think this season just hasn't really provided anything that most of us want to see. I usually do a yearly NYC trip but besides some plays there is not much I want to see.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 12:11am

Mary_Poppins said: "ALW should be paid for the 1000th staging of his stuff before the people who actually work on it and need to pay their bills?"

The actors deserve to get paid, and they always get paid. The people who wrote the material they're performing also deserve to get paid. Do you really disagree with this?

[Mary_Poppins]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 12:49am

No,  kdogg36 clearly said: "The authors should get paid before anyone else, including the cast".

Emphasis mine. Now that I pointed out the problem with that the tune is very different:

"I don't think anyone said that?"

"The actors deserve to get paid, and they always get paid"

Also: "they wouldn't have the material and the job if it wasn't for the authors"

True, but this works the other way round as well.

You seem to be thinking of a situation where a penniless author after years of struggle is finally seeing their first work getting staged by saturated, stinking rich famous  actors. Realistically, it's just as likely that for example a successful West End musical which has been running for years - and thus already having made a lot of money for the authors - is transferred to Broadway in an attempt to make more money by doing little more than signing some paper work. And the actors are not exactly tier one and they do not have continuous employment over the years. 

And what do you even mean by "cast"? Does that include ensemble actors who struggle to find jobs and may well be spat out by the system at 40?

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 1:32am

malcs98 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "I hope that in a number of years from now we can look back on this situationas a temporary blip, a theatre-industryrecalibration of sorts, but the new musical in general seems to be at death's door."

Well if the new musical on Broadway is death’s door than Broadway as a whole is on death’s door…and there’s no way to stop it…I fear we are looking at a point where a lot of Broadway theatersare left empty of months and possibly years on end."

Or lots of plays dominating the scene, taking over the space musicals used to rule over. 

[binau]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 2:39am

Correct me if I’m wrong but there seems to be a perception that a lot of the costs are theatre rental…if theatres remain empty maybe the costs will come down? (Or the real estate will be sold for more lucrative investments). 

This business model just doesn’t work and is not sustainable. I think there is a very real chance the musical capital of the world will shift from New York to London. Broadway will become more niche for star driven plays, tourist commercial shows and the occasional artistic musical people are willing to take a risk on. We could already be there now, but I think we need a few more years to be sure. 
 

 

[bear882]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 3:28am

A few random thoughts…

- The Broadway new musical problem seems like a serious issue. It’s not just one weak season (admittedly following a season with too many musicals). But the rarity of shows that recoup isn’t unique to this season and has turned into an extraordinary event. A relative of mine moved to New York City, loves theater, and has been to London on show trips every year. 

- That doesn’t mean the New York City theater scene is dead. There are plenty of terrific plays, both star vehicles and sometimes not. They were the highlights of my trip last month. 

- I am curious about the costs of some of these plays. It was easy last season to identify the hits. While most of the starry plays are selling well, I am less certain how profitable they will be given their short runs.

- Hadestown has turned into a long-running show that seems impervious to wholesale cast changes.

- Lea Michele is a bankable Broadway star and I don’t see how Chess survives her departure unless she’s coming back after the summer.

Updated On: 4/15/26 at 03:28 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 8:14am

Although this season is very grim, it’s following a season that was pretty darn successful. And although this season is extremely thin, it’s nothing compared to some of the seasons in the mid-80s or especially the mid-90s. We’ve gotten used to the seasons of the 2000s-10s, which may very well be looked back on as a second Broadway Golden Age. 

[DaveyG]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 8:20am

kdogg36 said: "justntime330 said: "I believe the rule is: if the writers waive their royalties, then everyone on the title page automatically waives as well and it saves approximately 60k per week in running costs. The writers are not unionized so they are under great pressure to waive. Many shows have run for months with the authors and other creatives receiving no money at all. Zero.

Rick Elice explains it very eloquently in this video:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUk-HDqgKsF/?igsh=NTllbTNibHFjc2hz"

I watched that video and it is shocking. The authors should get paid before anyone else, including the cast. What can we do to fix this?

The authors have the right to say no to waiving their weekly guarantee (which is usually $2,000 for music, $2,000 for lyrics, and $2,000 for book) which is already less than anyone onstage or in the orchestra pit. But if they say no, then the producers have to go to each individual creative and ask to waive and it gets messy. So there's great pressure to waive, like Rick Elice described in the video. Worth a watch. 

Writers can get paid well if the show is a genuine hit on Broadway with lots of profit to share and/or robust licensing of a title. Otherwise, they simply don't get paid very much at all. 

 

Updated On: 4/15/26 at 08:20 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/15/26 at 8:48am

Kad - we may very well be heading back to the mid-'90s in terms of lighter Broadway seasons. The only question is how light the coming seasons will be. 

And Binau - IMO, London will eventually just become another New York. South Korea will be the musical hub of the world, and it's already shifting there now.