'The Wedding Singer' took in nearly $300,000 in four previews, while 'Three Days of Rain' with Julia Roberts scored nearly $1 million.
Hello, Julia.
Julia Roberts' big Broadway bow -- the show's called "Three Days of Rain," in case you hadn't heard -- played its first eight previews last week and racked up a huge $988,198.
That's more than $200,000 above the official gross potential thanks to boffo sales of $250 premium tickets, driving the tally way higher than the potential calculated from the $100 nonpremium top pricetag.
Total also reps a gigantic take for a straight play, putting "Rain" at No. 5 in the top 10. Not even sold-out smash "The Odd Couple" ($896,829) -- whose stars, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, are mere Broadway royalty -- has come so close to the million-dollar mark.
Elsewhere on the Rialto, almost every show not in previews saw a dip, probably owing in part to the weekend's switchover to daylight saving time, which traditionally siphons off biz.
The other new contender of the week, "The Wedding Singer," took in a decent $292,127 for four previews.
"Tarzan" ($307,255) continued to swing, playing four perfs to almost-capacity crowds paying low-for-Broadway ticket prices. (Production's top ticket is $75 during previews.) "Lestat" ($548,301) drew about 80% of capacity in its first seven-perf week.
And coming off a heavily comped opening week, "Well" ($106,151) rose just $15,000 from the prior sesh. Will the near-unanimous critical praise it garnered on Friday fuel a boost?
Contact Gordon Cox at
gordon.cox@variety.com