Broadway‘s Stranger Things: The First Shadow saw a jump in attendance and grosses last week, no doubt spurred by the hoopla generated by last month’s highly rated arrival of the TV series’ Season 5. For the week ending December 14, the Broadway prequel filled about 99% of seats at the Marquis, up from 89% the previous week.
The Broadway production, starring Louis McCartney as Henry Creel, grossed $1,610,132, up $275,085 from the previous week. That number marks the show’s highest gross since beginning performances March 28. (Broadway’s Wicked has enjoyed a similar jump in box office since the first of two movie installments debuted last year.)
Overall, Broadway’s 2025-2026 season is on track to match or even surpass the record-setting $1.89 billion in total season-end grosses set by the 2024-2025 season, with this year’s season-to-date grosses for the week ending December 14 jumping to $1,045,915,735, about 10% above last year at this time.
The current season broke the $1 billion threshold the week before last (the week ending December 7).
In all, the 35 shows currently on Broadway grossed $43,941,878 last week, about 5% greater than last season at this time. Total attendance for the current season is 7,908,788, about 3% greater year-to-year. Average ticket price this season is $132.25, about 7% more than last year’s $123.87.
Helping to plump this year’s season-to-date figure were last week’s top earners: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, still riding high with the recent casting of film franchise star Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy and grossing $2,986,734; Hamilton, taking in $2,804,662; Wicked, $2,763,955; The Lion King, $2,370,958; Mamma Mia!, $1,914,060; Chess, $1,887,488; Stranger Things: The First Shadow, $1,610,132; Art, $1,543,419; Just in Time, $1,470,023 and Aladdin, $1,328,174.
Sell-outs for the week included the first two previews of Simon Rich’s All Out: Comedy About Ambition, Art, Hamilton, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Just in Time, Oh, Mary!, Ragtime, Waiting for Godot and Wicked. Falling just short of sell out, with at least 95% of seats filled, were Chess, Hadestown, Mamma Mia!, Maybe Happy Ending, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, The Great Gatsby, The Lion King, The Book of Mormon and The Outsiders.
All Out, a follow-up of sorts to last season’s All In: Comedy About Love, follows the same format: A rotating cast — including Ike Barinholtz, Jim Gaffigan, Abbi Jacobson, Jon Stewart, Ben Schwartz, Mike Birbiglia, Heidi Gardner — reads short stories written by Rich. (Critics have not been invited to review the production.)
Underperforming were Beetlejuice, filling just 58% of seats for a gross of $663,040; Liberation, 62% $429,694; Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), 76%, $634,437; The Queen of Versailles, 77%, $792,190; and Chicago, 77%, $707,054.
Opening was Marjorie Prime starring June Squibb and Cynthia Nixon, filling 87% of seats at the Hayes for a gross of $292,843. Recent arrival Little Bear Ridge Road was at 74% of capacity at the Booth,
grossing $433,794, and Oedipus, at Studio 54, was at 90% and $849,755. Waiting For Godot hit $1,285,710.
Season to date, Broadway, in the 29th week of the 2025-26 season, has grossed $1,045,915,735, up about 10% over last year at this time, with total attendance of 7,908,788 up 3%.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For more box office information visit the League’s website.