Great green way
Holiday bright on B'way
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With holiday pilgrims flocking to Rialto offerings over the Thanksgiving weekend, one musical with a green lead -- "Wicked" ($1,715,156) -- shattered the weekly box office record for any Broadway show, ever.
And another tuner with a green title character -- "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" ($1,578,149) -- snuck up into second place, buoyed in part by its 12-perf-per-week playing sked.
Of course, there was plenty of holiday green to go around during Thanksgiving, with eight, count 'em, eight shows in the millionaire's' club, including "Mary Poppins" ($1,313,840), which floated up by more than $575,000 to its first million-plus frame.
Another Disney tuner, "Tarzan" ($919,950) also logged its best sales ever, thanks to the holiday's plentiful family auds.
"Tarzan" even beat out "The Color Purple" ($908,418), usually a regular in the top 10 but this week unexpectedly shut out of it.
Most productions saw box office rises of some sort, and many were sizable bumps. But not everyone felt the love.
"Grey Gardens" ($455,455) dipped, indicating the tuner may be a bit too idiosyncratic and adult for the tourist crowd. Same goes for Nathan Lane starrer "Butley" ($346,289), which fell off by more than $75,000.
Among previewing shows, "The Vertical Hour" ($589,238) drew near-capacity crowds, while "Company" ($428,377) remained about on par with the prior sesh, playing to houses about 70% full.
The season's two newest tuners, though, are still working on finding their auds. "High Fidelity" brought in $308,395 in its first sesh of previews, and "Spring Awakening" ($200,224) played to a bit more than 40% of capacity in its first full week on the boards.
"The Little Dog Laughed" ($193,010) also has yet to catch on, despite strong reviews for lead actress Julie White.
Thanksgiving theatergoers didn't go for ventriloquism, either. "Jay Johnson: The Two and Only" played its final week and brought in just $84,415.
