Biz up; 'Tarzan' 838g
Broadway grosses
With summer tourism kicking into gear, almost every show was up from the previous sesh, which saw a traditional Fourth of July dip.
Disney had a strong week: Both "Tarzan" ($837,723) and "The Lion King" ($1,243,011) broke house records. That's particularly good news for "Tarzan," which opened May 10 with a huge advance but has yet to secure its footing in the wake of mixed reviews.
For the third week in a row, five shows were members of the millionaires' club, with "The Color Purple" ($1,143,887, another house record) holding on to third place behind "Wicked" ($1,438,835) and "Lion King."
Of last season's Tony favorites, "Jersey Boys" ($1,050,974) dipped a negligible $20,000 while playing to more than 100% capacity, and "The Drowsy Chaperone" ($952,371) continued to do strong biz.
On the play side, "The History Boys" ($748,811) brought in full houses, unaffected by the temporary absence of Tony winner Frances de la Tour, who, with castmate Clive Merrison, left the show July 9 due to previous commitments. Both thesps return Aug. 22.
The only closing of the week was "Shining City" ($301,046), which got a rise of about $50,000 before it finished its limited run Sunday.
The 20 musicals grossed $15,148,309 for 89.0% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 224,344 at 87.8% capacity.
The five plays grossed $1,867,584 for 11.0% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 27,041 at 12.2% capacity.
Average paid admission was $77.86 for musicals, $69.06 for plays and $76.78 for all shows.
