Chess brought in close to $1.9 million across just seven preview performances, positioning the show as one of the top weekly earners in the industry.
The Cold War chess musical, starring Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, played to close to 100 percent capacity at the Imperial Theatre and grossed $1.86 million, just narrowly coming in behind the mega-hit The Lion King. While reviews have yet to come out (the musical is scheduled to open Nov. 16), this could be quite the turnaround for a show that was an infamous flop when it originally premiered on Broadway in 1988. The average ticket price dropped down to $183.94 from the $208.02 it hit across its first four previews.
Just in Time, starring Jonathan Groff as singer Bobby Darin, had its highest grossing week yet, hitting $1.38 million across eight performances. The show played to 103 percent capacity at the Circle in the Square Theatre and the average ticket price increased to $241.22. The musical opened at the theater on April 23, 2025 and has been one of the best financially performing musicals of the past year.
Hamilton brought in $3.4 million last week, maintaining its spot as the highest weekly grossing show in the industry, followed by Wicked with $2 million, The Lion King with $1.87 million and Chess.
Among the new shows, The Queen of Versailles, starring Kristin Chenoweth, upped its tally to $962,332 from just under $900,000 the prior week, as the show jumped to seven performances from six. However, capacity at the St. James Theatre fell slightly to 89 percent from 91 percent. The musical is set to open Nov. 9.
Liberation, a new play about a feminist group in the 1970s, opens Tuesday at the James Earl Jones Theatre. The show brought in just under $246,000 last week, in a week that included some comped tickets for press, and played to 68 percent capacity, but will need to up its totals post opening.
Little Bear Ridge Road, starring Laurie Metcalf and produced by Scott Rudin, will be the next to open, Thursday, at the Golden Theatre. The new play is faring better with an 87 percent capacity last week, and a gross of $427,910.
