The Broadway revival Cats: The Jellicle Ball, which reimagined the 1980s musical as a queer ballroom competition, will close on 8 August after around five months, despite critical acclaim and strong takings of roughly $1 million a week before this year's Tony Awards. Producers told cast and crew on 13 July that the show could not generate enough revenue to cover its costs, and industry figures say the closure highlights a wider crisis in Broadway musicals, where rising expenses are outpacing what audiences are willing to pay.

Grosses dipped slightly after the Tonys, where the show won three awards but lost out on best revival, though the figures alone did not suggest an imminent closure. Producers say the problem was less about attracting audiences than persuading them to pay the higher ticket prices needed to cover sharply increased production costs, which have climbed since the pandemic due to supply-chain pressures, higher rent and utility bills, and rising wages for performers, musicians, stagehands and creative staff. Musicals are said to be especially vulnerable given their larger casts and orchestras, and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has urged theatre owners, producers and unions to find a collective solution, warning that Broadway risks becoming as empty as "Hollywood's soundstages." Only a handful of post-pandemic musicals have recouped their investment, and just five new musicals are currently planned for next year.