Broadway Grosses: Matilda Triumphs as Bertie Carvel and Lauren Ward Exit

Did audiences spend their long Labor Day weekend with a Broadway show? Crowds flocked to box office staples like The Lion King and The Book of Mormon during the extended weekend. For the first time since May, the revolting children of Matilda edged out the dynamic drag divas of Kinky Boots in packing the house—though both shows scored with well over 100% capacity. Chalk that up to original stars Bertie Carvel and Lauren Ward, who played their final performance in Matilda over the weekend. Meanwhile, Let It Be ended its Broadway run on September 1 at the bottom of the pack. As it turns out, “All You Need Is Love” isn’t exactly the case when it comes to the Broadway box office.

Here’s a look at who was on top—and who was not—for the week ending September 1:

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. The Lion King ($1,818,423)
2. The Book of Mormon ($1,745,146)
3. Wicked ($1,692,789)
4. Kinky Boots ($1,683,060)
5. Motown The Musical ($1,428,092)

UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. First Date ($464,602)
4. Rock of Ages ($388,406)
3. Let It Be ($385,586)
2. Forever Tango ($210,053)
1. Soul Doctor ($171,977)

FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. The Book of Mormon (102.63%)
2. Matilda (100.73%)
3. Kinky Boots (100.58%)
4. The Lion King (99.32%)
5. Pippin (98.56%)

UNDERDOGS (By Capacity)
5. Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark (68.83%)
4. Annie (65.89%)
3. Cinderella (64.71%)
2. Forever Tango (63.63%)
1. Let It Be (51.49%)

Data provided by the Broadway League.