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

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.