Broadway Grosses: Week Ending 5/3/26- Page 2

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 3:43pm

Call_me_jorge said: "TotallyEffed said: "I'd imagine it's extremely difficult to cast the two leads in Death Becomes Her."

Bingo, I find the Chicago comparison unfair. Not only are the roles more difficult to cast, but I’d imagine just the cost of putting in a replacement is much higher. The DBH costumes are much more intricate than the single piece a Velma or Roxie has to wear."

 

There's no comparison whatsoever. One is a well-oiled machine that has been on Broadway for decades that costs very little to run. They throw a Housewife in and squeeze some more life out of it. Clearly the girl they most recently put in the show did some great business for them.

Death Becomes Her requires a vocal and physical prowess few performers possess, especially ones willing to replace and who also have some kind of selling power at the box office.

[Huss417]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 3:48pm

Theatrefanboy1 said: "Looking at the grosses this week my initial thoughts are:

Curious to see what will happen ones like Two Strangers and Titanique who have low operating costs and have been bumping along, with these nominations."

I think I have read elsewhere that Titanique's operating costs are close to 900K a week. 

[JT2030]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 3:53pm

Re, long-running shows --- I believe I got an Instagram ad for Chicago promoting a Buy One Ticket / Get Another for $29 just for the month of May. All of the issues an earlier poster brought up I agree with + with the exception of Oh, Mary!, all theatre-related press is going to be focused on the Tony nominees. It's going to be a very rough few weeks for the long-runners.

And there's been a very steady and notable decline in Chess grosses --- last week it barely surpassed Cats / didn't beat it in how many people saw it. Probably too far out to speculate, but unless JoJo adds a major energy jolt this summer, it seems possible it'd close around Labor Day (opening up a very prime Shubert house.)

Updated On: 5/5/26 at 03:53 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:06pm

JoJo didn't set the box office on fire at Moulin Rouge, and thinking about August when both Aaron and Nicholas will be out at the same time? I mean, granted Aaron will be right down the street but.....that will be rough to come back from.

[witchoftheeast2]

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

Sutton Ross said: "JoJo didn't set the box office on fire at Moulin Rouge, and thinking aboutAugust when both Aaron and Nicholas will be out at the same time? I mean, granted Aaron will be right down the street but.....that will be rough to come back from."

Excuse me? Where is Aaron going and when was this confirmed?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:15pm

Huss417 said: "I think I have read elsewhere that Titanique's operating costs are close to 900K a week."

Closer to $1 million. So a cursory look at the grosses indicates the Broadway run has already lost about $1.6 mil — an I’d be surprised if their contingency is much higher than $2 mil.

So that means a priority loan sometime between now and the Tonys, unless the advance is really stellar and it gets a huge nomination bump.

Updated On: 5/5/26 at 04:15 PM

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:15pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Pretty much every show right now has the right to be worried, including the long-runners. People just aren't seeing anything for the shows themselves anymore.

Major hordes of the theatergoing audience 1) is dying out / died out during COVID, 2) have adopted new, permanent routines staying at home as it is considered "safer" and less costly than travelling to NY(especially domestic folk from the East Coast), and 3) simply plan to avoid the US at all costs, no matter who is in charge.

It's a rough world right now and it will be tough economically for a LONG time.In my experience, it's becoming easier and easier to predict which shows (if any) sell each season, a telling sign of this broken theatre industry."

Mr. Doom and Gloom is back! Do you ever get tired of the wrong doomsday prophecies?

[HaveAGoodShow]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:19pm

Serious suggestion:

Turn "Death Becomes Her" into an event. Reopen it with Kristin and Idina. Seven shows a week. It prints money.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:21pm

Simply insane for Chicago. My goodness. When they stunt cast well, they really stunt cast well. Same for Oh Mary.

I am betting Beaches closes by the end of May and Death Becomes Her by the end of June. Everything else will probably last through the summer if they are not limited runs.

It's always interesting to see reviews catch up with grosses. Like Dog Day is starting to look softer while Salesman is showing more strength. 

The Lost Boys is showing hints of momentum. It certainly will help that it can trumpet the "most Tony noms" line.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:25pm

What's the purpose of closing a show if there's nothing in line to replace it?

It's not like there's a white-hot pipeline at the moment full of titles that can replace flagging productions. 

Updated On: 5/5/26 at 04:25 PM

[pablitonizer]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:32pm

I know Michelle was out last week but It feels like DBH’s producers are just waiting to shut it down and be done with it. Since Megan left, grosses have become a nightmare—they didn’t even plan for a replacement duo or bring in a big pop star to replace Michelle and attract a new audience. 

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:34pm

HaveAGoodShow said: "Serious suggestion:

Turn "Death Becomes Her" into an event. Reopen it with Kristin and Idina. Seven shows a week. It prints money."

You're assuming they would *want* to do it. That's the problem. There are many that *can* do it, but those that can are generally unlikely to want to.

And don't forget Kristin passed on her offer for DBH after developing it for years to do QOV. I doubt there's good will there.

[HaveAGoodShow]

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

Good point.

That said, after a few misfires, this could be a smart reset: a show that plays to their strengths and reminds people why they connected with them in the first place.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/5/26 at 4:51pm

HaveAGoodShow said: "Serious suggestion:

Turn "Death Becomes Her" into an event. Reopen it with Kristin and Idina. Seven shows a week. It prints money."

It's so funny how people don't understand the concept that has been known forever: Idina does not replace. She will never replace. And Kristin turned it down ages ago and probably isn't exactly keen on being in a Broadway show for a long time. Jennifer and Megan had such difficulty with injuries which brought on a lot of attendance issues last year, so these parts are incredibly difficult to cast, and most actresses don't want to risk that.

I guess that's why they haven't announced anyone's departure date or replacement, it seems like it will just close. And considering the extremely low energy on stage when I saw the show recently, it makes a lot of sense.