Broadway Box Office: Labor Day Momentum Boosts Sales For All Shows

Broadway gained momentum heading into Labor Day weekend, with cumulative grosses for the industry up 11 percent and all shows posting gains compared to the prior week.

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The Outsiders returned to its streak of breaking the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre house record, now for an 8th time with $1.52 million for the week ended Sept. 1, up close to $100,000 from the prior week. The best musical Tony winner continues to play above 100 percent capacity and saw its average ticket price rise to a new high of $185.

The musical has been a new entrant into the top five weekly grossing productions in the industry, taking the fifth spot last week. Wicked reigned with $2.2 million, followed by The Lion King with $1.97 million, Hamilton with $1.86 million and Hell’s Kitchen with $1.54 million.

MJ The Musical, which began running on Broadway in 2022 , saw the biggest week-to-week jump in the industry, with grosses up $243,918 week-over-week to reach $1.4 million. The biomusical played to close to 96 percent capacity.

Hamilton and Wicked saw the next biggest jumps in grosses, with Hamilton up $217,594, and Wicked up $203,776. The Book of Mormon, which has been on Broadway since 2011 and remained a fairly popular show, saw its grosses jump $185,639 to reach $935,569.

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Overall attendance was up 8 percent compared to this week last season.

The momentum, which typically happens around the Labor Day holiday, carries Broadway out of the late summer doldrums and into the fall season, which is poised to welcome several new shows populated by some bold names.

The Roommate , starring Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone, began previews at the Booth Theatre on Aug. 29. The play, which is scheduled to open Sept. 12, brought in $315,873 across its first four previews and played to over 100 percent capacity.

Next up are Jez Butterworth’s The Hills of California, McNeal, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Yellow Face , starring Daniel Dae Kim, opening Sept. 29, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 respectively.

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