Wicked stage show sees box office surge on Broadway

Wicked has seen a mammoth Thanksgiving haul on Broadway, with its box office takings surging to just under $3 million for the week.

Though Broadway often sees big takings over the Thanksgiving window, Wicked managed to top big bankers Hamilton and The Lion King to claim the spot as the highest grossing show across the holiday. Wicked has never struggled at the Broadway box office, but this $2.93 million figure is $400,000 above the previous week’s figure – it will be interesting to see how the show performs over the festive weeks.

In fact, Broadway was in very rude health, with the Great White Way experiencing its highest grossing and best attended Thanksgiving week in history. Considering the market’s shaky return post-Covid, this number is very heartening for US producers.

The Lion King came in second with $2.88 million – that show may also reap the rewards of the new Mufasa musical film, due to be released in a few weeks’ time.

Newfound buzz and excitement for Wicked may also be explained by the overwhelming success of Jon M Chu’s film adaptation, which continues to ride high with solid takings at the movie box office. You could also argue that the stage show has newfound allure for non-theatre fans, especially those who may want to see how the story plays out (the Wicked film only covers the first half of the stage production). Either way, it highlights the symbiotic relationship between stage and screen – when one succeeds, so does the other.

As has long been the case, West End and UK touring productions have not disclosed any box office takings.