The Current State of Broadway in 2025 — Page 2

TheatreFan4 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "On the contrary, it seems to bethe only business model thatisworking. In CABARET's case, they just couldn't reel anyone in with Redmayne's box office draw after he left the cast."

I feel like when Eddie was in it this new Cabaret was still a novelty, everyone who wanted to see that novelty did so. I don't particularly think Eddie Redmayne himself is a big draw. Most of his roles aren't in films that generate large revenue or have mass market appeal. If this production didn't require such a massive renovation maybe it would have had a shot but a production that has so little on stage and yet costs so much was always going to be an uphill battle."

Some of you have such a tenuous hold on reality and facts, it's certainly something. Novelty sure as hell didn't help Here Lies Love get the kind of grosses Cabaret had. Also wasn't like the understudy dates sold terribly, or that there was big drop in ticket prices instantly post his departure.

In fact you can see the effect of celebrity very clearly in this production as with each successive less famous cast, the grosses have also trended down.

Updated On: 9/1/25 at 04:21 AM

malcs98 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: “On the contrary, it seems to be the only business model that is working. In CABARET's case, they just couldn't reel anyone in with Redmayne's box office draw after he left the cast.”


I mean how many stars do we know are coming to Broadway this season or in the immediate future, I know we have confirmed this season confirmedAlex Winter & Keanu Reeves, James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobby Cannavale, Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle, Cedric The Entertainer, and Taraji P. Henson, just to name a few but are there any other names rumored?"

Dog Day Afternoon with Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bacharach is coming in the spring?

Sammy232 said: "malcs98 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: “On the contrary, it seems to be the only business model that is working. In CABARET's case, they just couldn't reel anyone in with Redmayne's box office draw after he left the cast.”


I mean how many stars do we know are coming to Broadway this season or in the immediate future, I know we have confirmed this season confirmedAlex Winter & Keanu Reeves, James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobby Cannavale, Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle, Cedric The Entertainer, and Taraji P. Henson, just to name a few but are there any other names rumored?"

Dog Day Afternoon with Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bacharach is coming in the spring?

"

Yup, almost forgot to include them

"Broadway's last true season"?! GIRL!

The grosses were abysmal its true. But they always have been for this week after Labor Day. Tourists just aren't in the city much since its back to school and they already did their "last big summer travel" over Labor Day weekend. This is especially true for families (see: the huge drop for a family show like Aladdin). This year appears a bit worse than normal because grosses for the previous week were higher this year than last year, and we have seen a slight decrease in tourism overall. But it is ALWAYS one of the worst sales weeks of the year. It always will be.

It is not the end of Broadway by a long shot. It creates around 100,000 jobs a year and draws an overall larger crowd number than all of NYC's major sports teams. The city and state are invested in the theater industry for this reason. I do think we will see less new musicals this season (I'm expecting only 8-10 when all is said and done) due to the usual pool of investors tightening their purse strings. Things ebb and flow though, they always have, and some seasons will be more full than others. But we should see a healthy number of plays during the season. It's also only September. At this time last year, a majority of the March and April bows had yet to officially announce. We don't know how it will all shake out yet.

It is likely a season that heavily favors plays. It is likely a season that relies heavily on major stars. It is likely a season that has only a few new musicals, many of which are likely to be smaller scale productions. But it is far from Broadway's last season.

I am curious if you feel the results of the upcoming election will play a role in the state of Broadway next season?

malcs98 said: "Kad said: "We have had substantially worse seasons- remember, in 1995, there were only two eligible musicals up for Best Musical and a total of only 26 eligible shows across all categories. But things are exceptionally unsettled right now thanks to the Trump administration's actions. I assume we'll see a leaner season in comparison to the last two, something more akin to the lackluster 09-10 recession season."

Not only that, it kinda feels like some producers like Scott Rudin are choosing shows that will appeal to Trump’s base"

Seriously? Your hatred for the man is so bad that you will blame Broadway’s failing shows on him and his base?

Look inside people… your hatred of half of the country and your President is the reason why.