Broadway Grosses: Holiday Weekend Makes Hit Shows Hotter

Here comes summer, and a sunny Memorial Day weekend brought lots of theatergoers to Broadway. With seven shows topping $1 million at the box office, it was a happy week for producers of tourist-friendly musicals and, of course, Fences, which barely missed the frontrunner list for grosses and topped the list for capacity. Further proof that the hits keep getting hotter: In spite of a $1 million+ gross, perennial winner Jersey Boys fell short of the frontrunners’ list, making way for new hits The Addams Family and Promises, Promises.

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending May 30:

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. Wicked ($1,570,390)
2. The Lion King ($1,415,009)
3. The Addams Family ($1,307,046)
4. Billy Elliot ($1,158,584)
5. Promises, Promises ($1,065,628)

UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. Next to Normal ($304,364)
4. God of Carnage ($282,547)
3. Everyday Rapture ($202,287)
2. Next Fall ($141,409)
1. Collected Stories ($134,885)

FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. Fences (101.6%)
2. The Lion King (100.01%)
3. Wicked (100%)
4. Billy Elliot (98.9%)
5. Jersey Boys (98.5%)

UNDERDOGS (By Capacity)
5. Come Fly Away (57.4%)
4. God of Carnage (55.6%)
3. Hair (52.9%)
2. Next Fall (49.3%)
1. Race (48.7%)

Data provided by the Broadway League.