Broadway Grosses Analysis: Best Musical Winner The Outsiders Achieves Top 5 Status
The musical has been on a steady rise since this year’s Tony Awards, and all lines are pointing up.
Graphic by Vi Dang
2024 Best Musical Tony winner The Outsiders has been staying golden all summer, riding a gradual upwardly pointed wave until last week, when it finally arrived in Broadway’s top five.  The musical beat this season’s other big hit, Hell’s Kitchen, for the fifth spot, with mainstays Wicked, The Lion King, Hamilton, and Cabaret filling in the first four.
But interestingly, last week was not Outsiders‘ best-performing week. The show brought in $1.43 million, just shy of its current record from earlier this month of $1.5 million. That may be because, cumulatively, box office fell by nearly 10% over the 24 currently running shows, mostly due to a precipitous drop in average ticket price ($119.92, down from $124.82 the week prior). There was one less show than the week previous, and Kids’ Night on Broadway sent legions of kids to shows for free last week, and those likely explain the dip.
Also making a steady rise? Oh, Mary!, which again played to its highest-yet gross last week: $1.08 million. The performance put it within striking distance of making its own debut in Broadway’s top 10, bringing in just $755 less than The Great Gatsby, which filled the 10th spot last week. As we tend to see, some pricey tickets are helping keep the somewhat modestly produced show a major success story. Last week, the show played to sold-out houses paying an average of $151.17, the fourth highest on the boards. Its top ticket price of $329, one of Broadway’s highest currently, no doubt helps a lot there. And keep in mind it’s achieving those numbers while in one of Broadway’s smaller houses—the Lyceum fits just 895 people per performance.
On the other end of that spectrum, family shows continue to dominate the most attended shows on Broadway, led by Wicked, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Those three shows accounted for nearly 20% of all Broadway theatregoers last week. Hooray for Broadway families!
Take a look at the full report here.
The $1 Million Club (shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):
- Wicked
- The Lion King
- Hamilton
- Cabaret
- The Outsiders
- Hell’s Kitchen
- MJ the Musical
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- Aladdin
- The Great Gatsby
- Oh, Mary!
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
(12 of 24 currently running productions)
The 90s Club (shows that played to 90% or higher of their seats filled over the entire week):
- The Outsiders (102.36%)
- Oh, Mary! (100%)
- Stereophonic (100%)
- Hadestown
- Once Upon a Mattress
- Wicked
- Cabaret
- Hell’s Kitchen
- Moulin Rouge! The Musical
- & Juliet
- The Lion King
- Aladdin
- The Great Gatsby
- Hamilton
(14 of 24 currently running productions)
