NEW YORK -- After the bounty of a boffo New Year's, Broadway traditionally settles in for the winter chill. This year, total grosses fell to $16,983,367 for Week 32 (Jan. 2-8), down $8,247,416 from the record-breaking week before.
Of course, that gap is widened by the heightened grosses of the previous sesh and by a roster shortened by three year-end closings.
"The Color Purple," "Jersey Boys" and the sold-out limited run of "The Odd Couple" stayed strong alongside such perennials as "Wicked," "The Lion King" and "Monty Python's Spamalot."
The solid $620,648 tally for "Rent" indicates it's still holding on to a B.O. boost from the film.
Still, some shows began to feel the cold. Of this season's entries, "The Woman in White" took a notable tumble of more than $385,000, and "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" fell more than $80,000, although its number of perfs per week held steady at seven.
Long-running attractions such as "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Beauty and the Beast" also took big post-New Year's hits.
And after holding out through the holidays, "Fiddler on the Roof," "Souvenir" and "Seascape" played their last.
The 20 musicals grossed $14,882,404 for 87.6% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 196,540 at 79.3% capacity.
The five plays grossed $2,100,963 for 12.4% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 29,756 at 72.2% capacity.
Average paid admission was $75.72 for musicals, $70.61 for plays and $75.05 for all shows.
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