'Street' sings as Tony boosts B'way B.O.
'Producers' earns $1,045,841, best sesh ever
The awards exposure turned "42nd Street" into the telecast's real winner, as the show's box office jumped an awesome $177,709, nearly twice the next biggest increase on Broadway last week. With its gross potential at $1,009,892, the revival closed with $806,381, which was good enough to raise its capacity numbers to 101.74%. Average ticket was going for a more than respectable $61.56.
With all those comped Tony voters finally out of the way, "The Producers" captured $1,045,841, its best session ever, at 101.06% capacity. "The Lion King" took in $1,009,013, making it the third plus-100%-capacity show.
Ticket buyers must have liked the Tony clip from "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife." Despite no award wins, the Charles Busch comedy soared $67,916, closing with $342,766.
Three Tony awards for "Proof" pumped an additional $52,941 into the David Auburn drama, giving the production its second-best week to date, at $391,579.
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," winner for best play revival, clocked in only seven perfs last week but still managed to climb at the box office: up $48,861 to close with $357,497. The production's $56.27 average price ticket was the highest for any play on Broadway.
Closing notices caused mid-five-figure surges for three tuners that said good-bye on June 10: The final week looked like $229,650 for "Bells Are Ringing," $165,729 for "A Class Act" and $184,423 for "Jane Eyre.
John Ritter and Henry Winkler's exit from "The Dinner Party" created more dollar action. The Neil Simon drama had the biggest gain for any play last week, rising $74,868 for a final $328,760.
Reba McEntire doesn't depart from "Annie Get Your Gun" until June 22, but that news has already propelled the show's average price ticket to an enviable $78.70, the highest of any tuner on Broadway. The revival shot up $64,235 last week to close with $786,698.
Somebody must like Eric McCormack, new to "The Music Man" as biz soared $95,329.
But so much for this year's new Tony award for best special theatrical event. With no competition, "Blast!" won the honor and promptly declined $1,934 at the box office. There were similar four-figure downticks for the long-running "Cabaret" and "Rent."
More ominous was the $16,537 slump registered by "King Hedley II," despite Tony exposure and Viola Davis' featured-actress win. The August Wilson drama grossed $177,481 against its $563,337 potential, with its $37.44 average-price ticket the lowest on Broadway.
