'Grinch' grabs top spot

Broadway Grosses

NEW YORK -- In a neck-and-neck photo finish, "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" beat "Wicked" as the top seller on Broadway for Week 30 (Dec. 18-24), the pre-Christmas sesh.

"Grinch" ($1,681,661) edged out "Wicked" ($1,681,134) by a mere $500. And those boffo tallies came even before the week between Christmas and New Year's, when holiday B.O. traditionally goes through the roof.

"The Lion King," "Mary Poppins," and "Jersey Boys" rounded out the week's millionaire's club, while "A Chorus Line" registered exceptionally strong sales for a tuner in a smaller-sized house.

Many shows did solid biz along the Rialto, and of the shows that saw sales dips, most could be explained by a reduced holiday performance sked.

One notable exception was "Company," which saw a dip of more than $125,000 for a full eight-perf week, indicating that the intellectual, Gotham-centric tuner has yet to click with tourists.

Long-runners such as "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Beauty and the Beast" got their usual tourist-fueled bumps, landing them in the top 10 for the holidays.

But while Broadway receipts totaled more than $20 million, expect an even higher tally from the holiday week, when "Grinch" and "Wicked" go head-to-head for the rematch.

The 26 musicals grossed $19,199,040 for 93.7% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 224,789 at 83.5% capacity.

The four plays grossed $1,298,560 for 6.3% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 21,056 at 80.9% capacity.

Average paid admission was $85.41 for musicals, $61.67 for plays and $83.38 for all shows.