Kander and Ebb’s Chicago breaks box office record at the Ambassador Theatre on Broadway
Chicago, Broadway’s longest running American Musical has broken a box office record, achieving its biggest weekly gross at the Ambassador Theatre in its 26-year history.
For the holiday performance week ending January 1, 2023, Chicago grossed weekly ticket sales of $1,299,4004.24, beating a pre-pandemic shutdown gross of $1,260,248.30 for the week ending December 30, 2017.
The production also set a new single performance gross record for the evening performance on Wednesday, December 28 at $159,106.20.
Chicago has grossed over $700 million on Broadway since it opened in 1996 and grossed over $1.6 billion worldwide. It’s been seen by more than 32 million people and played over 32,500 performances worldwide in 36 countries and in more than 500 cities.
This year, the producers of Chicago are also celebrating the work of Broadway legend John Kander, who co-wrote the score to Chicago with the late Fred Ebb. Kander has the distinction of having had a show running on Broadway every season for the last 50 years. He has had presence on Broadway since 1959 when he earned his first credit as the dance music arranger and rehearsal pianist on Gypsy.
With a legendary book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, Chicago is now the #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history.
Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.
Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, Chicago is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording.
Directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Tony Award winner Ann Reinking, Chicago features set design by Tony Award winner John Lee Beatty, costume design by Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by Tony Award winner Ken Billington, sound design by Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer and casting by Stewart/Whitley.
