New B'way season's slide
B.O. off 14%; only 'Producers,' 'Lion' up
Only two of 31 shows saw improvement: Those million-dollar-a-week babies, "The Producers" and "The Lion King," grossed marginally more than in the previous week. Mel Brooks' tuner experienced a blip of $106 to finish with $1,020,849, while Disney's long-running hit grew $1,806 to close at $1,006,938.
Several shows endured big six-figure drops, including three skedded to close: "Fosse" (down $168,759), "Riverdance" (down $192,628) and "Jane Eyre" (down $116,618). The latter musical posted its closing notice on Monday after failing to secure one Tony Award. Last week, it grossed only $134,800, its lowest B.O. figures since the show opened in December.
"Bells Are Ringing" also rang in its worst session ever, dropping $55,053 to end the week with $187,783 on its gross potential of $609,868. "A Class Act" has endured weaker weeks, but the first session of the new season was not one of its strongest. The Ed Kleban show slid $41,035, finishing with $117,383 on its $587,587 potential.
"42nd Street" should make good use of its Tony wins. After building for the past few weeks, it suddenly took a different route, with a $102,455 drop that landed the show at a final $628,672. Gross potential looms at just over $1 million.
Two new plays also suffered: "King Hedley II" (down $50,994) and "Stones in His Pockets" (down $51,712), with final grosses for each just under the $200,000 mark.
