Broadway had a soft week. The Broadway League’s official report for the week ending Sunday, November 1, 2026 (the figures our 11/02 headline refers to) shows 33 productions grossing $29,572,284, a drop of roughly 12.9% from the $33,966,016 posted a week earlier, even though one more show was running. Halloween weekend, a pre-election lull and a run of comped opening-night and press performances all pulled in the same direction, and 26 of the 32 shows that were running the week before took in less than they had.

There were bright spots at the very top of the board. Other Desert Cities overtook Hamilton for No. 1 for the first time in its run, Billy Crystal’s 860 set a production record, and Much Ado About Nothing, starring Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell, sold out the Winter Garden in its first preview.

Broadway Box Office Snapshot: Week 23

These are the headline numbers for Week 23 of the 2026-2027 season, compiled from the Broadway League’s weekly report as published by Playbill, BroadwayWorld and Ken Davenport.

Attendance fell about 4.3% from 262,928, a milder decline than the dollars, which means the real damage came from price. The average ticket slid from $129.18 to $117.49, a drop of roughly 9%. Playbill’s analysis noted how much the $300-a-seat tickets at Other Desert Cities prop up the industry average, and the same logic works in reverse when a handful of premium-priced shows are joined by new productions selling preview seats at a discount. Ken Davenport puts industry capacity at 87.75% for the week, compared with roughly 93% the week before.

Against last season the picture is mixed. Week 23 of 2025-2026 grossed $33,880,998 across 35 shows, so this week’s total is 12.7% lower and attendance is down 9.3% from 277,506. Two fewer shows are running than a year ago, which accounts for part of the gap, and capacity is actually 2.66 points ahead of last year. The season-to-date numbers tell the same story in miniature: $726,010,709 in gross, down about 8.0% from $789,456,689 at this point last year, and 5,929,169 admissions, down about 3.2%.

Full Grosses Table: Every Show, Ranked by Gross

Here is the full breakdown for all 33 productions, ranked by gross. The change column compares each show with its own previous week, and shows still in previews are marked.

Source: Broadway League weekly grosses as published by Playbill, cross-checked against BroadwayWorld, Ken Davenport and Broadway News. Capacity is the percentage of available seats filled; figures at or above 100% reflect standing room and added seating. Much Ado About Nothing played a single preview performance in the reporting week.

Other Desert Cities Takes the No. 1 Spot

For the first time since previews began, Other Desert Cities topped the Broadway grosses. Jon Robin Baitz’s drama, led by Julia Louis-Dreyfus with Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery and Lily Rabe, grossed $2,347,158 at the Hudson Theatre, up $84,716 (about 3.7%) from a week earlier and a new high for the production. It beat Hamilton by just $29,683.

The recipe is the same as in recent weeks. The show sold 100% of its seats again, so the gain came almost entirely from price: the average ticket rose to $301.23, the highest on Broadway, with a top ticket of $799. That is the kind of number a 16-week limited engagement can command when demand outruns supply, and the show closes on January 17, 2027, which keeps urgency high. Playbill’s grosses analysis made the same point, crediting the gain mainly to higher ticket prices rather than any rise in attendance.

Hamilton and the Rest of the Top Ten

Hamilton slipped to second with $2,317,475 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, down $207,476 (about 8.2%) from its $2,524,951 the week before. It still played to 100.35% capacity, with an average ticket of $218.03 and a $599 top, and it accounted for roughly 7.8% of the entire industry’s gross.

The rest of the top five were Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ($1,629,103), MJ the Musical ($1,616,111) and The Lion King ($1,571,842). 860 ($1,353,611), Oh, Mary! ($1,309,171), A Few Good Men ($1,277,792), The Lost Boys ($1,110,151) and Paranormal Activity ($1,094,504) completed the top ten, which together earned about 52.8% of the week’s total. Eleven productions reached the $1 million club, a list that also includes Wicked ($1,064,328), and 15 of the 33 played to 90% capacity or better.

Much Ado About Nothing: A Sold-Out First Preview

The most striking single number in the League data belongs to the newest show on the board. Much Ado About Nothing, Jamie Lloyd’s party-fueled production starring Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell, played one preview performance at the Winter Garden Theatre in the reporting week and grossed $358,262 from a house of 1,503, filling 100% of the seats. The average ticket came in at $238.36 with a top ticket of $875. Opening night is November 19, and the engagement runs through January 10, 2027.

Playbill noted that a full eight-performance week at that rate would out-gross Other Desert Cities by more than $500,000, which our own arithmetic confirms at about $519,000. It added a sensible caution: first previews often carry special demand, so one night is not a trend. The first full week of numbers will show whether the show can hold a premium once the novelty fades.

Openings Week: 860 and A Few Good Men

Billy Crystal’s 860 sets a production record

Billy Crystal’s solo play at the Imperial Theatre was one of only six shows to gain on the week. It grossed $1,353,611, up $141,556 (about 11.7%), a production record, at 98.97% capacity with an average ticket of $152.59. That figure is all the more notable because the show played three heavily comped press performances around its October 21 opening, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The run has been extended by six weeks to February 14, 2027.

A Few Good Men opens to mixed reviews and a full house

Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama, directed by Michael Arden and starring Bradley Whitford and Tom Blyth, officially opened on Thursday, October 29. It grossed $1,277,792, down $93,655, with a fully comped opening night and several comped press performances accounting for the dip. Capacity held at 100% and the average ticket was $144.81. Press reaction was mixed, but the box office has not wavered, and the first week free of opening-night comps should show where the production settles. It runs through January 10, 2027.

The Imaginary Invalid in its first full week

Roundabout’s revival of Molière’s comedy, with Bill Irwin and Rachel Bloom, opened on October 22 and played eight regular performances for the first time. It grossed $363,031, down $56,642 (about 13.5%), but capacity improved by 7.76 points to 89.78% at an average ticket of $68.86, among the lowest in town. The production is scheduled to close on November 22.

A Broad Pullback: Who Gained and Who Fell

Only six shows grossed more than the week before: 860, Other Desert Cities, The Rocky Horror Show (+$79,088, in original cast member Rachel Dratch’s final week as the Narrator), The Fantasticks (+$50,697, in its first week with seven previews), Paranormal Activity (+$21,583) and Downstate (+$10,648). Twenty-six others fell, and the table below shows the five biggest gainers and the eight biggest decliners.

The largest dollar decline belonged to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, down $361,285 (about 18%) to $1,629,103. The show still played to 98.59% capacity, so the dip reflects lower prices more than empty seats.

Several other shows lost a third of their business or close to it. & Juliet fell $323,834 (about 35%) to $610,232 and 81.74% capacity, in the weeks after announcing its January 3 closing. The Outsiders dropped $318,570 (about 35%) to $605,946, with capacity of just 75.21%. Operation Mincemeat fell about 32% to $550,216, and Just in Time fell about 30% to $480,804. SIX: The Musical dropped about 30% to $443,545 at 60.00% capacity. The League data does not explain individual declines, and Ken Davenport credits the Halloween weekend and the pre-election lull for the general softness.

Among the biggest names, The Lion King lost $297,622 to $1,571,842, Schmigadoon! lost $284,460 to $760,089, The Great Gatsby lost $257,271 to $860,019, Chicago lost $229,258 to $787,225, Wicked lost $187,828 to $1,064,328 and Aladdin lost $184,312 to $883,171. Hamilton’s $207,476 decline looks mild by comparison.

Capacity and Ticket Prices: Where the Seats Are Still Full

Four productions sold at or above 100% of capacity: Hamilton (100.35%), A Few Good Men, Other Desert Cities and Much Ado About Nothing. Close behind were 860 (98.97%), Oh, Mary! (98.95%), Paranormal Activity (98.62%), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (98.59%), MJ the Musical (97.54%), The Rocky Horror Show (96.54%) and Hadestown (95.02%), the last of which was among the 15 shows in Playbill’s 90s Club.

The bottom of the table is thin. Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), in its final month, filled just 56.71% of its seats, and SIX filled 60.00%. The Outsiders (75.21%), Stranger Things: The First Shadow (76.99%) and The Great Gatsby (79.01%) were also below 80%, as were Chicago (80.05%) and Operation Mincemeat (80.06%) at the margin.

Only three productions averaged more than $200 a ticket: Other Desert Cities ($301.23), Much Ado About Nothing ($238.36) and Hamilton ($218.03), with Oh, Mary! close at $184.78. The cheapest seats were at Downstate ($52.30), The Imaginary Invalid ($68.86), Stranger Things ($71.29), Wanted ($74.31) and Aladdin ($76.52). Several of those are preview or post-opening discount prices, which are likely to rise.

The Year-Over-Year Trend: A Step Backward

This week’s numbers against the prior week and the same week a year ago:

Against the same week last year, gross is 12.7% lower and attendance 9.3% lower, with two fewer shows running, though capacity is 2.66 points ahead. Last year’s comparison week included Halloween weekend and 35 productions. The fairer test comes over the next few weeks, as Thanksgiving lifts everything and the new arrivals leave previews and move to full pricing.

Closing Watch: What Is Leaving Broadway

The closing calendar has grown considerably since our last report, and the next six weeks include three departures, with a big cluster following the holidays.

In the near term, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play ends its extended run on November 15, The Imaginary Invalid follows on November 22, and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) plays its last performance on November 29. The big names follow in the first week of January: & Juliet, SIX and Stranger Things: The First Shadow all close on January 3, 2027.

The most significant new announcement came on November 6, when Buena Vista Social Club set a January 17, 2027 closing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. There was good news too. The Rocky Horror Show has extended again and is now booking at Studio 54 through May 30, 2027, and Operation Mincemeat has extended through July 2027, 860 runs through February 14,. Dates for Downstate vary between sources, with most listings showing January 10.

Opening Soon: Broadway’s Next Six Weeks

The fall season is filling up fast, with nine openings between November 8 and December 6 and several more previews beginning in the weeks that follow.

The week began with Wanted, the new musical about outlaw twin sisters Mary and Martha Clarke, opening on November 8 at the James Earl Jones Theatre with Solea Pfeiffer, Liisi LaFontaine, Ledisi and Luke James. Broadway.com and BroadwayWorld describe it as a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Here There Are Blueberries, Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich’s Pulitzer finalist, opens on November 9 at the Barrymore.

Next come Downstate on November 15 and The Fantasticks on November 16, the latter reimagined as a contemporary gay love story. The holiday entries arrive on November 17 and 18: Blue Man Group: A New Holiday Surprise at the Lunt-Fontanne and It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at the Broadhurst.

Much Ado About Nothing opens November 19. Inter Alia, with Rosamund Pike in Suzie Miller’s solo play, begins previews November 10 at the Music Box and opens December 1. Galileo, starring Raúl Esparza, begins previews November 10 at the Shubert and opens December 6. Just outside the window, Dolly: A True Original Musical starts previews on December 7 at the St. James Theatre and opens January 19, Dolly Parton’s 81st birthday, and Clifford Odets’s Awake and Sing! opens at the Friedman on January 7.

What to Watch in the Coming Weeks

The reporting weeks ahead are crowded. Week 24 will be the first to carry full numbers for the November 8 and 9 openings, the first look at Much Ado About Nothing over a full eight-performance week. Beyond that, Thanksgiving week is historically one of Broadway’s strongest, and three of the shows closing soon (School Girls, The Imaginary Invalid and Two Strangers) will give farewell weeks a test.

The key question is whether this week’s 13% dip was a seasonal one-off or a sign that the middle of the market is under pressure. Eleven shows sat below 90% capacity and several musicals are in clear decline, but a heavy pipeline of star-led openings is arriving just as the holiday crowds do.

Frequently Asked Questions

What were the Broadway grosses for the week ending November 1, 2026?

The 33 running productions grossed $29,572,284, down about 12.9% from the previous week and 12.7% below the same week of the 2025-2026 season. Attendance was 251,700 and the average ticket price was $117.49.

What was the top-grossing Broadway show this week?

Other Desert Cities was No. 1 for the first time in its run, grossing $2,347,158 at the Hudson Theatre with an average ticket of $301.23. Hamilton was second at $2,317,475.

Why did Broadway grosses drop this week?

The decline was broad: only six shows grossed more than the week before. Ken Davenport attributes the pullback to Halloween weekend and the pre-election lull, and several new productions also played comped opening-night and press performances.

Which Broadway shows are closing in November 2026?

School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play closes November 15, The Imaginary Invalid on November 22, and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) on November 29.

What Broadway shows open between now and mid-December 2026?

Wanted (opened November 8), Here There Are Blueberries (November 9), Downstate (November 15), The Fantasticks (November 16), Blue Man Group: A New Holiday Surprise (November 17), It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (November 18), Much Ado About Nothing (November 19), Inter Alia (December 1) and Galileo (December 6). Dolly: A True Original Musical begins previews December 7.

Data note: The League’s week ended Sunday, November 1, 2026; the post title uses 11/02 to match the publication date. Figures are drawn from the Broadway League’s weekly report as published by Playbill, BroadwayWorld and Ken Davenport, with openings and closings checked against Playbill, Broadway.com, TDF and IBDB listings as of November 9, 2026. Dates are as announced by the productions at the time of writing and may change.