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Gypsy, the much-anticipated musical revival starring Audra McDonald, was at standing room only during its first week of previews at the Majestic Theatre, grossing $770,349 for only three performances. At that rate, the production is sure to rank among the top grossing shows on Broadway in the coming weeks.
With an average ticket price of $160.19, Gypsy was at 100.8% of the venue’s capacity for the Broadway week ending November 24. Directed by George C. Wolfe, the revival of the Arthur Laurents-Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim classic officially opens December 19, with McDonald, Danny Burstein and Joy Woods leading the cast.
At the opposite end of the Broadway grosses spectrum last week was Tammy Faye, the critically panned Elton John-Jake Shears musical about televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. Posting a December 8 closing notice shortly after opening at the Palace on November 14, Tammy Faye took in just $317,913 last week, filling only 41% of the venue’s seats.
Also struggling was Left On Tenth, the Delia Ephron romantic comedy starring Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher. Grossing $456,322, the play filled only 51% of seats at the James Earl Jones. The limited engagement ends February 2.
Opening to rave reviews at the Lunt-Fontanne, Death Becomes Her starring Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard pulled in a hefty $1,059,374 (and that’s with heavily comped press and opening night performances). Attendance was at 97% of capacity.
Another opener was the well-reviewed Swept Away, with music by the Avett Brothers, grossing $409,355, with the Longacre at a surprisingly modest 72% of capacity. Also deserving of a better turnout was Maybe Happy Ending, filling 79% of seats at the Belasco for a gross of $591,413.
Getting into a more lucrative holiday spirit was Elf, the musical adaptation of the 2003 film. With Grey Henson in the title role, Elf grossed $1,139,534, with 95% of seats at the Marquis occupied.
Closing out their engagements were McNeal, starring Robert Downey Jr. in his Broadway debut, and Yellow Face, the David Henry Hwang comedy starring Daniel Dae Kim. Each production sold out its final week, with McNeal grossing $1,438,345 and Roundabout’s Yellow Face taking $507,361.
Beginning previews was Cult of Love, Leslye Headland’s holiday comedy with a cast that includes Zachary Quinto, Mare Winningham, Shailene Woodley and David Rasche. The Second Stage production at the Hayes played seven previews, grossing $223,306 and filling 84% of seats. Opening night is December 12.
Productions grossing $1 million or more for the week were Aladdin, Death Becomes Her, Elf, Hamilton, Hell’s Kitchen, McNeal, MJ, Oh, Mary!, Sunset Blvd., The Great Gatsby, The Lion King ($2,006,471), The Outsiders, and, topping the chart once again, Wicked ($2,560,160). Shows selling out the week were Gypsy, McNeal, Oh, Mary!, Romeo + Juliet, The Outsiders, Wicked and Yellow Face.
In all, the 39 shows on Broadway grossed a total $37,349,024, a jump of about 6% over the previous week and 8% over this time last year. Attendance was at 307,431, about even with the previous week and a big 34% greater than this week last year, which included the Thanksgiving holiday.
Season to date, Broadway, in the 27th week of the 2024-25 season, has grossed $860,393,650, up about 12% over last year at this time, with total attendance of 7,034,748 also up about 12%.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For complete box office listings, visit the League’s website.
