Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/25/25

Death Becomes Her's laissez-faire strategy on the bootlegs seems to be paying off pretty damn well for them.

I really couldn't be happier to see Buena Vista Social Club hitting over $1.2 million. I think they're shaping up to be the biggest surprise hit of the season.

I think it’s increasingly safe to say that Death Becomes Her is not a star-driven show. It may be memes, or allowing bootlegs to run wild, or just that it’s a big comedy with good word of mouth, but whatever they are doing is working.

The producers have made the calculation that it’s more important for the stars to make promotional appearances, and it looks like they’re right.

Maybe Happy Ending, Buena Vista Social Club, and Just in Time continue to perform very well.

I feel bad for RWHC. I’m not really sure what else they can do to get people to see the show.

Mr. Wormwood said: "SmokeyLady said: "Do you think DBH would have hit the 100% mark if their leading ladies would be showing up? I do know a few people that exchanged their tickets last week. So I am just wondering. Or does it not matter? Do they not matter?"

Was that the reason it was at 99.61% capacity instead of 100%+? Possibly

Does it matter? No, considering it was still at 99.61% and had its highest grossing week yet"

And they need to continue having weeks like this for that $31.5 million investment. I still think that it will be a hard number to make after the summer months. 

Outsiders should be on the brink of recouping if they haven’t already.

And as shocking as it may be, if Gatsby holds on with strong numbers through the summer (and I think they just might) they could also probably reach recoupment by the fall or end of the year given the high running costs.

Some excellent jumps as we head back into "it's officially summer" territory, and the return of tourists. Very happy for the continued success of Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, and Maybe Happy Ending.

Still...Boop!, Real Women, Dead Outlaw, and Cabaret are all really struggling. The first two won't make it out of June. I'm sure Smash is hoping they absorb some of Boop's audience once they close, but I'm not sure it'll be enough to keep them open too much longer. And even with a $132k jump, Cabaret is still lighting roughly 200k on fire. Six more weeks of this until (hopefully) producers have convinced some A-Lister to join in as Sally and/or the Emcee. We'll see.

SmokeyLady said: "Huss417 said: "Mr. Wormwood said: "SmokeyLady said: "Do you think DBH would have hit the 100% mark if their leading ladies would be showing up? I do know a few people that exchanged their tickets last week. So I am just wondering. Or does it not matter? Do they not matter?"

Was that the reason it was at 99.61% capacity instead of 100%+? Possibly

Does it matter? No, considering it was still at 99.61% and had its highest grossing week yet"

And they need to continue having weeks like this for that $31.5 million investment. I still think that it will be a hard number to make after the summer months."

Universal pictures has deep pockets. I think there is a bigger picture in mind. Wicked; its first few months heading into the Tonys was heavily discounted and not the hot ticket it eventually became. I think there are some of thesame pockets involved."

I don't think you can compare Wicked to Death Becomes Her. Wicked is also in that barn of a theatre. I also think the audiences for both are somewhat different. I'm not wishing DBH ill will just looking at it as a very expensive show to recoup on Broadway.

It wasn't meant as a comparison between the two shows.  Just the kind of producers both shows have and as to how their business decisions might be made.  How the show would do after summer was questioned and I think there is a bigger picture involved.

I've been seeing ads for RWHC alongside with Singer (sewing machine) and a jeans brand. I'm guessing the show has gotten some partnerships/sponsorships to keep it afloat? Not sure how that works.

SmokeyLady said: "Huss417 said: "Mr. Wormwood said: "SmokeyLady said: "Do you think DBH would have hit the 100% mark if their leading ladies would be showing up? I do know a few people that exchanged their tickets last week. So I am just wondering. Or does it not matter? Do they not matter?"

Was that the reason it was at 99.61% capacity instead of 100%+? Possibly

Does it matter? No, considering it was still at 99.61% and had its highest grossing week yet"

And they need to continue having weeks like this for that $31.5 million investment. I still think that it will be a hard number to make after the summer months."

Universal pictures has deep pockets. I think there is a bigger picture in mind. Wicked; its first few months heading into the Tonys was heavily discounted and not the hot ticket it eventually became. I think there are some of thesame pockets involved."

Similarly to Wicked.. I'm sure the producers are trying to focus on making Death Becomes Her the star, in the way that Wicked is the star, so they probably aren't as concerned with Hilty/Simard missing shows as a show like Gypsy which is much more star driven.

Yes, Chenoweth and Menzel both received noms (with Menzel winning, obviously), but even after Idina's win they focused on selling the SHOW as the star, not whoever was playing Glinda and Elphaba. I think Death Becomes Her is going to try and follow that model as closely as possible.. and obviously DBH isn't the same iconic IP as Wicked/Wizard of Oz with broad family appeal, but if they can bring in talented Broadway stars as Helen/Madeline replacements and star cast Viola with Pop Stars and Drag Queens, there should be no reason, IMO, that they shouldn't get a 4-5 year Broadway run, and a 5-6 year North American Tour out of it.