5 months ago
Christmas week was reliably bountiful for Broadway, pinch early reports of record-breaking grosses for nan vacation play coming successful hours earlier nan charismatic numbers are released by nan Broadway League this afternoon.
With news of much location record-busters apt to drift successful passim nan day, preliminary numbers are much than awesome for Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Ragtime, Just In Time and Harry Potter and nan Cursed Child.
For nan Broadway week ending Sunday, December 28, Stranger Things: The First Shadow stared down immoderate otherworldly demons to group a caller nine-performance location grounds astatine nan Marquis Theatre. The week’s gross of $2,510,948 easy surpasses nan show’s erstwhile best-ever of $1,917,541 group conscionable a week before. Granted, nan much caller fig covers 9 performances alternatively than nan accustomed 8 – vacation weeks often see other performances – but Broadway’s Stranger Things mightn’t person needed nan assist: The Broadway accumulation has been thoroughly reinvigorated by nan return past period of Netflix’s TV series.
With caller Netflix episodes landing successful November and December, fans are uncovering that nan play – mostly thought to beryllium a standalone prequel – turns retired to person immoderate decided connections to nan series’ latest developments. Just 1 example: In Stranger Things: The First Shadow, immoderate alternatively cryptic (and unexplained) remarks are made astir Henry Creel’s long-ago (and traumatic) sojourn to a cave adjacent his home. The astir caller batch of TV episodes shows conscionable what Henry saw – and did – successful that cave that near him everlastingly changed.
Broadway and West End container agency figures for Shadow have seen nan results: Box agency for some shape productions person deed what appears to beryllium sustained increases, pinch summons income astatine their highest levels since nan first launches of some productions.
To further nan connections betwixt nan shape show and nan TV show, producers of some gave immoderate fortunate Broadway attendees a existent astonishment astatine nan extremity of nan evening capacity connected December 19. In a benignant of closing segment during nan last moments of nan play that picture Henry Creel taking a large measurement toward becoming nan evil Vecna, nan play’s accustomed Henry, nan awesome Louis McCartney, gave nan shape complete to Jamie Campbell Bower, TV’s Henry. The relationship betwixt nan Stranger Things universes of shape and surface sewage a batch closer.
Also emotion nan vacation bounty was Broadway’s Harry Potter and nan Cursed Child, grossing a location grounds astatine nan Lyric Theatre of $3,709,875 for nan nine-performance week ending December 28. Cursed Child had group nan the erstwhile eight-performance location grounds of $3,152,533 for nan week ending November 30, 2025, which happened to see nan Thanksgiving holiday.
Like First Shadow, Cursed Child has gotten a caller boost from immoderate stage-screen crossover: Tom Felton recently joined the Broadway formed arsenic Draco Malfoy, nan domiciled he played in the Potter movie franchise (in nan shape sequel he plays nan big Draco, while successful nan films he was nan kid Draco). Felton’s presence reinvigorated nan Broadway container office of nan astir eight-year-old Harry Potter and nan Cursed Child. Felton continues successful nan domiciled done May 10, 2026.
Also person a snazzy vacation week was Just In Time, nan cool feline Bobby Darin bio-musical starring a knock-’em-dead Jonathan Groff, who’s successful nan domiciled until March 29 (a replacement hasn’t been named). Although last figures for nan week person not yet been released, sources opportunity nan vacation week saw Just In Time smashing Circle In The Square’s play gross grounds pinch nan celebrated production’s highest grossing week to date. That intends nan Christmas Week fig must beryllium steeper than Just In Time‘s erstwhile grounds precocious of $1,470,023 reported for nan week ending December 14.
One of nan existent autumn season’s unqualified philharmonic successes is Ragtime, and Christmas Week was nary outlier. The non-profit Lincoln Center Theater’s glorious revival of nan philharmonic first staged connected Broadway successful 1998 has been trading retired consistently since previewing successful October. Starring Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz, Colin Donnell, Ben Levi Ross and Shaina Taub, Ragtime, based connected nan E.L. Doctorow novel, collapsed nan container agency grounds astatine LCT’s Vivian Beaumont Theater pinch a Christmas Week gross of $1,588,107 (the venue’s erstwhile grounds holder was My Fair Lady).
The full container agency study for nan week ending December 28 will beryllium posted later this afternoon.
