At a time when the theater world is struggling to regain its audiences and to find its footing after reopening following the long pandemic hiatus, a total of fifteen Broadway productions will be closing between now and February 12, in addition to those that already ended their runs in December. But two popular shows – one play and one musical – are continuing to break both house and Broadway records.
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the first Harry Potter work ever to be presented on stage. To date, the play by Thorne, directed by Tiffany, has sold over five million tickets worldwide, and holds a record 60 major honors, with nine Laurence Olivier Awards and six Tony Awards, both including Best New Play.
In March of 2020, the highly acclaimed show had the distinction of being named the Guinness World Record holder for the highest-grossing non-musical play in Broadway history, now having grossed over $250 million since opening in 2018. The Broadway production has once again broken the house record at the Lyric Theatre, grossing $2,671,191 for the eight-performance week ending on January 1, 2023. It’s also the highest weekly gross for a play in Broadway history, a record the production first set with a gross of $2,525,850 for the week ending December 30, 2018.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child plays an open-ended engagement at the Lyric Theatre, 214 West 43rd Street, NYC. For tickets (priced from $59-329, plus fees), call (855) 551-9777, or go online. Masks are no longer required but are recommended.
Celebrating more than a quarter-century on the NYC stage, with no end in sight, Chicago also continues to Broadway break box office records. For the holiday performance week ending January 1, 2023, the show grossed weekly ticket sales of $1,299,4004.24, beating a pre-pandemic shutdown gross of $1,260,248.30 for the week ending December 30, 2017. It also set a new single performance gross record for the evening of Wednesday, December 28, 2022, at $159,106.20.
With a legendary book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, lyrics by Ebb, and music by John Kander (who has the distinction of having had a show running on Broadway every season for the last 50 years), Chicago – the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording – is now the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. Since the current revival opened in 1996, Chicago has grossed over $700 million on Broadway, and has been seen by more than 32 million people and played over 32,500 performances worldwide in 36 countries and in more than 500 cities, with a total gross of over $1.6 billion.
Chicago plays an open-ended engagement at the Ambassador Theatre, 219 West 49th Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $84.50-215.50, including fees), go online. Masks are optional but recommended.
