Chicago Sells Out As Reece Weaver Debuts On Broadway — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Reece Weaver, breakout star of Netflix's America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart on September 7, lifting Chicago to 100% capacity (from 88%) at the Ambassador Theatre and boosting weekly receipts by $184,882 to $997,133.
- Chicago had been seeing dwindling attendance since Whitney Leavitt (of Hulu's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives) left in May after record-setting crowds last winter and spring; Leavitt returns to Broadway in December for a limited run in Just in Time.
- Six grossed $594,596 for the week — a $17,040 bump — following its January 3 closing date announcement, with attendance climbing from 68% to 75% capacity.
- School Girls; Or The African Mean Girls Play, Jocelyn Bioh's new Manhattan Theatre Club production directed by Whitney White, debuted on the grosses roster at 98% capacity, with seven previews grossing $270,461 at the Friedman.
- Broadway held fairly steady across 26 productions for the week ending September 13, with total gross of $25,019,859 down about 5% from the prior week (and 17% from last season) and total attendance of 223,921 up 1% week-over-week.
- Hamilton led top earners at $2,541,403 with an average ticket price of $245.93 — more than double the overall $111.74 average — followed by The Lion King ($1,659,567), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ($1,541,014), MJ ($1,514,184), and Wicked ($1,202,747).
Why it matters: Chicago's 100% sellout suggests streaming-reality TV stars can still move Broadway needles post-Leavitt, but the broader picture is softer: season-to-date grosses of $514,316,840 are down about 6% year-over-year and last week trailed last season by 17%, showing Broadway is still rebuilding even as individual celebrity-casting gambits pay off.
Ask SkimNews
