Broadway Box Office: ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ Becomes First Play to Surpass $4M

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Last week, the play “Good Night and Good Luck,” featuring George Clooney, raked in an impressive $4,000,348.10 on Broadway, making it the first production to earn over $4 million within a week.

Once more, the performance surpassed its previous record, becoming the highest-grossing play ever on Broadway. This remarkable achievement was made possible by the show’s recognition with five Tony Award nominations, among which George Clooney received one.

Weekly ticket prices for the ongoing production are steadily rising, peaking at $319.36 last week, although it’s still lower than the $367.42 charged for “Othello,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington. This show has the highest average ticket price in the industry, despite not receiving recognition from the Tony Awards. Nevertheless, it generated over $3 million last week, making it the second highest grossing production in the industry. The performance continued to sell out every single show.

Last week, I was part of an impressive trio as I watched the box office race. Guess which show came in third with a whopping $2.3 million? Yep, that was Glengarry Glen Ross. Wicked and The Lion King were hot on its heels, each raking in $2.2 million and $1.9 million respectively. It’s always thrilling to see such strong performances!

Although May 1 marked the Tony nominations, with impressive numbers for shows like “Maybe Happy Ending, Buena Vista Social Club“, and “Death Becomes Her“, several other productions experienced decreased earnings last week as the industry adjusted to the conclusion of the Spring Break season. Given that the nominations occurred on a Thursday, it’s important to note that these shows haven’t yet had a full week to feel the effects.

Perhaps Happy Ending, featuring Darren Criss, was one of only a few productions to experience a rise in earnings last week. The earnings grew approximately $10,000 from the previous week, reaching $903,408, and the seating capacity expanded to 97%. Buena Vista Social Club witnessed an increase in earnings nearly reaching $33,000, totaling $1.07 million, and the seating capacity climbed to 95%. Just In Time, starring Jonathan Groff, experienced the most significant boost, with earnings climbing $213,494 from the previous week to reach $1.1 million. This growth in earnings occurred during the week following its debut, as the performance had its first full week of regular shows which likely included fewer complimentary tickets.

In summary, the total earnings from various industries dropped by about 8% compared to the previous week, while attendance decreased by approximately 3.5%. However, so far this season, revenue has increased by a significant 19.8% compared to the same period last year.

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2025-05-06 21:54