The Pulse · No. 05 · Week ending October 25, 2026
Broadway grossed $34.0M across 32 shows, $2,200 more than last week, and the flat number hides a trade. Two first weeks (Downstate, The Fantasticks) and two shows adding performances (A Few Good Men, Wanted) brought $817K more to the table; the 28 shows at the same performance count brought $815K less, and 25 of them sold fewer seats. The calendar paid for the week. With 9,207 more seats on sale, capacity fell to 93.1% from 94.8%, and revenue per available seat fell $4 to $120.23.
Also this week in Unpacked: the weekly order of payments, and why investors stand last in it.
The week
Total gross
$34.0M
WoW 0% (−2% same-show)
YoY −8%
Attendance
262,928
WoW +1%
YoY −5%
Avg. paid ticket
$129.18
WoW −1%
YoY −3%
Capacity · 32 shows
93.1%
from 94.8% last week
32 shows last year
Per available seat
$120.23
= $129.18 × 93.1%
WoW −3% (from $124.28)
Season to date · week 22
$696.4M
YoY −7.8% (attendance −2.9%)
676 playing weeks vs 683
The 30 shows that ran both weeks grossed 2% less than the week before, 22 of them down; the two first weeks ($519K between them) close the gap to the flat header. Harry Potter flatters even that: its $764K jump was price, not people (a $154 average from $97, attendance up 2.5%), and without it the 27 shows at the same performance count grossed 5% less, on 3% fewer seats sold at an average 2% lower. Nothing closed. The street's per-seat figure fell for a second week from the holiday peak: $134.84, $124.28, $120.23.
The number
Average paid ticket · week ending 10/25/26
Harry Potter re-priced to $154. The two first weeks came in at $110 and $62.
Other Desert Cities
$290
Hamilton
$236
Oh, Mary!
$214
MJ
$158
Harry Potter
$154
Broadway average
$129
The Fantasticks
$110
Wicked
$96
Wanted
$80
Downstate
$62
Cream: above the street average. Red: the average. Muted: below. Eleven of the 32 shows price above the average; this is a selection around it.
The board
Every show on the week's table. Vs. street is the show's week-over-week change against the same-show street change (−2%), in points: a show at −2% moved with the market, not against it. Per seat is gross ÷ every seat the show could have sold.
| Show | Gross | WoW | Vs. street | Per seat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The street · 32 shows | $33.97M | 0% | — | $120 |
| Hamilton | $2.52M | −9% | −8 | $238 |
| Other Desert Cities † | $2.26M | +24% | +26 | $290 |
| Harry Potter | $1.99M | +62% | +64 | $153 |
| The Lion King | $1.87M | −7% | −6 | $138 |
| MJ | $1.74M | −1% | 0 | $156 |
| Oh, Mary! | $1.52M | −1% | +1 | $213 |
| A Few Good Men † | $1.37M | +10% | +12 | $155 |
| The Lost Boys † | $1.29M | 0% | +1 | $106 |
| Wicked | $1.25M | −12% | −11 | $87 |
| 860 (7 perfs) | $1.21M | −4% | −3 | $148 |
| The Great Gatsby | $1.12M | −3% | −2 | $94 |
| Paranormal Activity † | $1.07M | +2% | +4 | $114 |
| Aladdin | $1.07M | −11% | −9 | $77 |
| Schmigadoon! | $1.04M | +1% | +2 | $113 |
| Chicago | $1.02M | −13% | −12 | $118 |
| Hadestown | $976K | −7% | −6 | $133 |
| & Juliet | $934K | +2% | +3 | $114 |
| The Outsiders | $925K | −8% | −6 | $113 |
| The Book of Mormon | $919K | −2% | 0 | $108 |
| Buena Vista Social Club † | $891K | +1% | +3 | $106 |
| The Rocky Horror Show | $891K | −15% | −13 | $112 |
| Operation Mincemeat † | $803K | −2% | 0 | $127 |
| Maybe Happy Ending † | $753K | −4% | −3 | $97 |
| Just in Time † | $684K | −34% | −32 | $124 |
| Stranger Things | $641K | −16% | −14 | $56 |
| SIX | $629K | −20% | −19 | $76 |
| Wanted | $624K | +38% | +40 | $74 |
| Two Strangers † | $590K | −8% | −6 | $70 |
| The Imaginary Invalid | $420K | −2% | 0 | $71 |
| School Girls | $412K | −6% | −5 | $80 |
| Downstate (6 perfs) | $264K | new | — | $58 |
| The Fantasticks (4 perfs) | $255K | new | — | $110 |
† OFFSCRIPT is an investor or producer. Gross in millions to two decimals, in thousands to the thousand; changes computed from the unrounded figures. New: no prior week.
The read for investors
01
Without Harry Potter, the running shows lost 5%, on price and people together.
The 28 shows at the same performance count grossed 2.5% less than last week. Take out Harry Potter's $764K jump and the other 27 grossed 5.1% less: 2.9% fewer seats sold at an average 2.2% lower, with 19 of the 27 taking a lower average and 25 selling fewer seats. The capacity came off the lower-priced half: the 19 shows under the $129 street average went from 92.5% full to 89.7%.
02
The seats added to the street earned $74 each.
Two first weeks and two shows adding performances put 11,090 more seats on sale and grossed $817K on them, $74 per available seat against the street's $120. That is why the header held while per seat fell: the calendar replaced the gross the running shows gave back, at a lower yield than the seats it joined.
03
Against last year, the gap is still seats, for a third week.
Revenue per available seat was $120.23, against $119.43 the same week last year on Playbill's table, with the same 32 shows and 8.7% fewer seats on sale (282,497 vs 309,566). The gross is 8% below last year and attendance 5%; capacity is 93.1% against 89.6%. The street is smaller than a year ago, not softer.
04
The season gap did not move, and the Halloween week decides whether it does.
Week 22 left the season at −7.8% ($696.4M vs $755.6M), the week itself running 8.1% below last year's; per playing week the gap is 6.9%. Narrowing it at week 23 needs more than $31.2M, and last year's Halloween week fell 8.4% on the week before it; the same fall from this week's $34.0M is $31.1M.
Hidden mechanic of the week
A preview week is priced to fill, not to earn.
Downstate, six previews
$62
average paid ticket, 94.8% full
Yield ratio
27¢
on a $225 top ticket
Downstate began previews at the Booth on October 22 and sold 4,290 of 4,524 seats in six previews, 94.8% of the house, at an average of $61.64, less than half the $129 street average and 27 cents on its $225 top ticket against the street's 36. The Fantasticks, four previews at the 579-seat Hayes, sold every seat at $110.
Neither number is a verdict. Before the reviews, a show prices to fill the house and let the word of mouth start, while the theatre and the payroll cost what they will cost after opening; a preview week is a budgeted expense of the launch, not a trading week. The test is what the average does once the reviews land (Downstate opens November 15, The Fantasticks November 16): the average rising while capacity holds is the ladder being pulled up, the average rising while capacity falls is the previews' price finding its buyers gone.
Last week we said
01
The street's per-seat figure: below $124.28 again, above $115. Wrong if it holds above $124.28 or falls under $115.
Hit: $120.23.
Revenue per available seat fell 3% on the week, on capacity of 93.1% at a $129.18 average, inside the range we set.
02
860's opening week: capacity above 95% and the average above $150, from 98.4% and $157.09 the week before the reviews.
Half right, so a miss: the house filled, the price did not hold.
Capacity 107.1% at seven performances, 1,256 sold a performance from 1,153, and the top ticket up to $375 from $325; but the average fell to $137.87 from $157.09 and the gross 4% to $1.21M. The call needed both.
03
The season gap at week 22: −7.9% or wider.
Miss, by two hundredths of a point.
The gap is −7.83% from −7.81%: the week ran 8.1% below last year's $36,970,592, which widened it, but not to −7.9%. The direction was right; the number was not reached.
04
Boldest read: "The price came off the top of the ladder, not the bottom." Score on this week's tiers, split at last week's $131.05 average.
Holds a second week: the top tier's averages fell again, 10 of 11.
The 11 shows that averaged above $131.05 last week took their averages down 4.5% ($176.47 to $168.58) on attendance up 0.6%. The 19 below took theirs up 2.9%, and all of that is Harry Potter: without it the other 18 fell 1.5%.
05
Unpacked 04: the dark count, 15, 13, 12 and 11 houses in the four weeks to October 18. The fall openings should bring it down.
Down to nine.
Thirty-two of the 41 houses had performances this week, two more than last week, with Downstate at the Booth and The Fantasticks at the Hayes.
06
Unpacked 04: the long-runners' share, 55% to 45% over the same four weeks. If the new shows sell, the share keeps falling.
Fell again, to 44%.
The 11 shows open three years or more took $14.92M of the $33.97M, from 45.0% last week; their gross fell 2.3% on the week, and 8.0% without Harry Potter, against the street's same-show −1.5%.
07
Unpacked 04: Mari's purchase of ATG, agreed August 11, subject to regulatory approval.
Still open.
Searches on October 27 found only the August 11 agreement, under which the two companies operate separately until completion; no closing reported.
On watch
01
The Halloween week takes the street under $120 a seat.
Per available seat has fallen two weeks running from the holiday peak, and the week ending November 1 carries Halloween on a Saturday, A Few Good Men's opening on October 29 and a full week of previews at the Booth and the Hayes. We call it below $120.23 and above $110. Wrong if it holds at $120.23 or better, or falls under $110.
02
Harry Potter holds above $1.8M at a $140 average.
This week's $1.99M at $154.27 followed a $1.23M week at $97.45 and a $2.22M week at $173; the swing is price, with attendance moving less than 3% either week. Our inference is that the $97 week was the exception. Wrong if the average falls back under $120.
03
The season gap widens to −7.9%.
Narrowing at week 23 needs the week ending November 1 to beat $31.2M (last year's Halloween week, $33.88M, less the season gap to date). Last year that week fell 8.4% on the one before; the same fall from $34.0M is $31.1M. We call it wider. Wrong if the week lands above $31.2M.
Investing Unpacked · No. 05 · Inside the paperwork
Investors pay first. They get paid last.
The weekly order of payments: who stands ahead of the investors when a show settles up, what the royalty pool changed, what the fees cost, and what to ask for before you sign.
Disclosure
OFFSCRIPT is a producer or investor in nine of the 32 shows in this week's table: Buena Vista Social Club, Just in Time, Two Strangers, Operation Mincemeat, The Lost Boys, Maybe Happy Ending, Paranormal Activity, Other Desert Cities and A Few Good Men. Observations on other productions are inferences from published League data, not reported facts.
Source: The Broadway League, via BroadwayWorld and Playbill; season-to-date figures from the League's weekly release. Figures are gross box office for the week ending October 25, 2026. How every number here is computed: our methodology.
The Pulse is published every Tuesday. This issue on Instagram: the narrated reel. Every issue: @offscript.theatricals.