B'way holds summer B.O. blues at bay
Shuttering prod'ns post big numbers
Tom Selleck came to town in "A Thousand Clowns," which opened Wednesday. Receipts rose $14,591 over the previous session of six previews, with the final cume last week at $194,499 for one preview and six perfs. Gross potential stands at $477,932.
Biggest gains came from shows that had posted their closing notices. Performing at 99% capacity, "Follies" zoomed $76,414 to close with its best figures ever: $470,992. The musical shuttered Saturday.
Closing July 29, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" soared $93,422 to finish with $353,532.
With only six weeks to go, "Riverdance" jumped $75,784 for a final tally of $500,946.
Upping the 'Monty'
Not at peak performance, "42nd Street" and "The Full Monty" nonetheless managed to improve, up $61,746 and $67,050, respectively. Performing at 98.5% capacity, the tapper tuner kicked up $863,872 on its gross potential of $1,009,892. The stripper show, on the other hand, finished with $559,160 against its $628,547 potential. Playing to 91.6% capacity, "Monty" grabbed an average price ticket of $70.11, the second-highest on Broadway. "The Producers" gets $77.26.
After Ann Reinking's one-week stint, "Fosse" experienced Broadway's biggest decline, with its $91,147 slump. "Chicago" fell $31,979 and "Kiss Me, Kate" dropped $26,947 to register its lowest cume to date: $407,133 against a gross potential of $815,592. Smaller five-figure downticks were seen at "The Dinner Party," "Rent" and "Beauty and the Beast," which still managed to perform at 97.2% capacity.
"Proof" and "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" rebounded nicely from their July 4th retreats. They grossed $391,754 and $331,106, respectively.
The Roundabout's "Major Barbara" took in receipts of $218,433, only slightly under the B.O. performance a year ago of "The Man Who Came to Dinner," the company's first offering in its American Airlines Theater.
As usual, the two sold-out shows were "The Lion King" and "The Producers."
