'Chicago' Sells Out With Arrival Of Ex-Cowboys Cheerleader Reece Weaver – Broadway Box Office
Deadline
β’Tue, 15 Sep 2026 19:18:04 +0000
π° What Happened
Deadline's Broadway box office report for the week ending 13 September 2026 showed Chicago selling out in the first week of Reece Weaver's run as Roxie Hart, her Broadway debut. Attendance rose to 100 per cent of capacity at the Ambassador Theatre from 88 per cent the previous week, and receipts increased by $184,882 to $997,133. Weaver, who broke out on the Netflix series America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, began a six-week limited engagement on 7 September that runs through 18 October, the same date Natasha Yvette Williams joined as Mama Morton and Red Concepcion as Amos Hart. The article compares her opening week with Whitney Leavitt, the Hulu reality star who drew record crowds to the same production last winter and spring before leaving in May and who returns in December for a limited run in Just in Time. Across 26 Broadway productions, total gross was $25,019,859, down about five per cent week on week and 17 per cent from the same point last season, with attendance of 223,921 up one per cent on the week and down seven per cent year on year, while the Broadway Week two-for-one promotion likely cut into grosses; new to the roster was Manhattan Theatre Club's School Girls; Or The African Mean Girls Play, which played to 98 per cent capacity across seven previews for $270,461, other sell-outs were Just in Time and Paranormal Activity, and the top earners were Hamilton, The Lion King, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, MJ and Wicked.
π The Backstory
Chicago has been running in revival form since 1996 and has long relied on rotating celebrity casting in the lead roles of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly to keep the long-running production fresh and to draw repeat visitors. Reality television personalities have proven to be surprisingly effective box office draws, as Leavitt's run demonstrated, because their fanbases transfer directly into ticket sales and social media attention. The Broadway Week two-for-one promotion is an industry-wide effort to fill seats in a softer period of the calendar, and it explains why grosses can fall while attendance holds steady. Broadway has been navigating a slower recovery, with season-to-date grosses and attendance both behind last year's pace, and the figures come from The Broadway League.
π― Why It Matters
The numbers show that a single well-promoted casting decision can lift a long-running show from 88 to 100 per cent capacity, which is why producers keep chasing recognisable names from television and social media. For the wider industry, the season-to-date picture is more sobering, with grosses down about six per cent and attendance down one per cent year on year, and the two-for-one promotion trading revenue for fuller houses. Ticket buyers are the group most directly affected, both by rising average prices, including Hamilton's $245.93 average against an overall $111.74, and by the growing presence of celebrity-led limited runs. Weaver's six-week engagement, the December return of Leavitt, and the coming weeks of box office data will show whether the pattern holds or was an opening-week spike.
Deadline's Broadway box office report for the week ending 13 September 2026 showed Chicago selling out in the first week of Reece Weaver's run as Roxie Hart, her Broadway debut. Attendance rose to 100 per cent of capacity at the Ambassador Theatre from 88 per cent the previous week, and receipts increased by $184,882 to $997,133. Weaver, who broke out on the Netflix series America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, began a six-week limited engagement on 7 September that runs through 18 October, the same date Natasha Yvette Williams joined as Mama Morton and Red Concepcion as Amos Hart. The article compares her opening week with Whitney Leavitt, the Hulu reality star who drew record crowds to the same production last winter and spring before leaving in May and who returns in December for a limited run in Just in Time. Across 26 Broadway productions, total gross was $25,019,859, down about five per cent week on week and 17 per cent from the same point last season, with attendance of 223,921 up one per cent on the week and down seven per cent year on year, while the Broadway Week two-for-one promotion likely cut into grosses; new to the roster was Manhattan Theatre Club's School Girls; Or The African Mean Girls Play, which played to 98 per cent capacity across seven previews for $270,461, other sell-outs were Just in Time and Paranormal Activity, and the top earners were Hamilton, The Lion King, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, MJ and Wicked.
Chicago has been running in revival form since 1996 and has long relied on rotating celebrity casting in the lead roles of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly to keep the long-running production fresh and to draw repeat visitors. Reality television personalities have proven to be surprisingly effective box office draws, as Leavitt's run demonstrated, because their fanbases transfer directly into ticket sales and social media attention. The Broadway Week two-for-one promotion is an industry-wide effort to fill seats in a softer period of the calendar, and it explains why grosses can fall while attendance holds steady. Broadway has been navigating a slower recovery, with season-to-date grosses and attendance both behind last year's pace, and the figures come from The Broadway League.
The numbers show that a single well-promoted casting decision can lift a long-running show from 88 to 100 per cent capacity, which is why producers keep chasing recognisable names from television and social media. For the wider industry, the season-to-date picture is more sobering, with grosses down about six per cent and attendance down one per cent year on year, and the two-for-one promotion trading revenue for fuller houses. Ticket buyers are the group most directly affected, both by rising average prices, including Hamilton's $245.93 average against an overall $111.74, and by the growing presence of celebrity-led limited runs. Weaver's six-week engagement, the December return of Leavitt, and the coming weeks of box office data will show whether the pattern holds or was an opening-week spike.