Theater News

The Lion King Pulls In $4.3 Million, Highest-Grossing Week in Broadway History

The long-running Disney musical beat out ”The Music Man” to top the Broadway grosses in the week ending on January 1.

Stephen Carlile plays Scar in the Broadway production of Disney's The Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre.
Stephen Carlile plays Scar in the Broadway production of Disney's The Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre.
(© Deen van Meer)

Last week, Disney's The Lion King grossed $4,315,264 in ticket sales, which is the most any Broadway show has ever made from a single week of performances. The average paid admission was $284.89 and the show played to 99.23 percent capacity at the Minskoff Theatre. This is according to numbers released by the Broadway League, which reports the Broadway grosses every week.

The holidays are often a boom time at the box office, as tourists and locals celebrate the season by taking family trips to Broadway. The final week of 2022 (the numbers cover the period of December 26-January 1) seems to have been especially prosperous, with 21 shows each grossing over $1 million.

The revival of The Music Man starring Hugh Jackman, which has regularly led the grosses in 2022, made $3,971,530.80, with an average paid admission of $285.80. Coming in third place was Wicked, which grossed $3,152,679.00.

Disney's Aladdin also did well, grossing $2,849,723.39. And Broadway's longest-running show, The Phantom of the Opera, pulled in $2,788,017.30. Phantom has seen a surge at the box office since announcing a closing date. That final performance has been pushed back in response to increased demand.

Theatergoers can expect the average ticket price to significantly decrease in the coming months, as January and February see far fewer tourists in Times Square. This makes the early part of the year a perfect time to snag a deal to a Broadway show.

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The Music Man

Closed: January 15, 2023