A $1.88 Million Preview Week Puts Other Desert Cities Right Behind Hamilton
Julia Louis-Dreyfus has not officially opened on Broadway yet, and she already has the second-highest-grossing show in town.
Other Desert Cities took in $1,879,441 in its first week of previews for the week ending October 4, according to figures reported by Deadline. All seven performances at the Hudson Theatre were sold out.
That put the play at No. 2 for the week. Only Hamilton grossed more, at $2,704,838.
Previews are full performances held before opening night, while the creative team can still make changes. The average paid ticket for Other Desert Cities was $275.66. That was higher than Hamilton's $251.78 average for the same week.
The revival is scheduled to open October 18, according to Broadway.com. It is a limited engagement, meaning it has a set closing date, currently listed as January 17, 2027 after 16 weeks. The production marks Louis-Dreyfus' Broadway debut, as previously reported by Playbill.
Broadway had another new star entry the same week. Billy Crystal's solo show 860 grossed $854,574 for the week ending October 4. It played five previews at the Imperial Theatre at 83% seat capacity, a measure of how many seats were filled. Its opening night is set for October 21.
What makes this stand out is the pricing power of two shows still in previews. New productions often discount early performances. These two did not need to.
For the street as a whole, the 28 productions grossed $27,735,569 with total attendance of 226,390. The prior week, the week ending September 27, Broadway grossed $24,093,388 with attendance of 209,194 across 26 shows, according to the Broadway League.
