NEW YORK -- Broadway got a nice boost over the Presidents' Day weekend, with grosses climbing around $2.6 million to a robust $16,497,521 for Week 38 (Feb. 13-19).
For individual shows, sales jumps well above $100,000 were the norm. "Beauty and the Beast" shot up nearly $200,000 from the previous week. Both "The Producers" and "Chicago" rose by more than $175,000, and "The Color Purple" saw a bump of about $160,000.
Two smaller-scale tuners, "Avenue Q" and "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," played to auds of more than 98% capacity, an attendance level outdone only by the full houses at "Wicked" and "The Odd Couple."
"The Woman in White" and "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" both played their final week, with last-minute sales driving up grosses by more than $150,000 and $130,000, respectively.
Even "Barefoot in the Park" increased by nearly $75,000, despite a heavily comped, seven-perf opening week that yielded harsh reviews.
The 21 musicals grossed $14,422,540 for 87.4% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 190,521 for 87.2% capacity.
The five plays grossed $2,074,981 for 12.6% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 28,484 at 82.1% capacity.
Average paid admission was $75.70 for musicals, $72.85 for plays and $75.33 for all shows.
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