Broadway Box Office: ‘Hamilton’ Hits $2.5M As Chris Jackson Returns, ‘School Girls’ Starts Previews

Hamilton was the highest grossing show of the week, bringing in $2.5 million, up more than $350,000 from the prior frame, thanks to the return of original cast member Chris Jackson.

The Lion King followed with $1.66 million, then Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with $1.54 million, MJ with $1.51 million and Wicked, re-entering the top five after a bumpy summer, with $1.2 million. Oh, Mary! followed just behind with $1.1 million for the final week starring Meg Stalter, before Bowen Yang takes over Monday.

School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play began previews on Broadway last week and played to 97 percent capacity at the non-profit Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The play, which is set to open Sept. 28, brought in $270,461 across seven performances.

Most shows saw a large drop in grosses last week, amid the end of summer and Rosh Hashanah, as well as the start of the Broadway Week promotion, which is meant to bring in crowds with discounted tickets in the fall. Overall industry grosses were down close to 5 percent, with attendance up 1.4 percent.

Chicago was one of the shows bucking the trend, with an uptick of $180,000 from the prior week, as Reece Weaver, who is featured in Netflix’s America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, made her Broadway debut Sept. 7. The show’s grosses reached close to $1 million and capacity jumped to 100 percent.