Crystal solo perf shines

Broadway grosses

By VARIETY STAFF

Broadway grosses and attendance each dipped 3.3% during Week 25 (Nov. 15-21), to $13,888,879 and 213,014 respectively for 31 shows. Figures are down slightly from the equivalent week in 2002 (Week 26, Nov. 18-24), which also had 31 shows; and way down from 2003 (Week 26, Nov. 17-23), when 36 acts brought in $15.1 million and 233,000 tickets.

But one particular show looked maaahvelous. Billy Crystal's one-man play, "700 Sundays," took in a huge $635,476 in just six previews. That total rivals two recent blockbuster plays -- the revival of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" (high of $686,277) and "A Raisin in the Sun" ($659,001), which played seven and eight perfs, respectively, but were in smaller venues than Crystal's.

Twenty-two shows saw decreases. "The Phantom of the Opera" plummeted like an unhinged chandelier (down $92,034 to $509,049), while "Brooklyn" ($341,243), "Bombay Dreams" ($400,832), "42nd Street" ($623,141), "Fiddler on the Roof" ($441,686) and "Wonderful Town" ($513,695) each saw five-figure drops.

"Democracy" ($356,112), "Dame Edna: Back With a Vengeance" ($283,200) and "The Good Body" ($103,095) all lost ground because of opening- night comps. But "Whoopi" opened and managed to inch up a hair to $189,248.

The 20 musicals grossed $11,305,086 for 81.4% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 167,795 at 74.1% of capacity.

The 11 plays grossed $2,583,793 for 18.6% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 45,219 at 66.7% of capacity.

Average ticket prices were $67.37 for musicals, $57.14 for plays and $65.20 for all shows.