'Frankenstein' scares up audiences

Estimates put musical at $1.5 million

By GORDON COX

"Young Frankenstein" played seven previews last week, and although there's no telling exactly how much money it made -- producers have bucked Broadway tradition by declining to report sales figures -- estimates put "Frank" B.O. somewhere in the area of $1.5 million.

Of course, there's also talk going around town of plenty of empty seats at the Hilton, where "Frankenstein" started previews Oct. 11. Such chatter speculates that second-party vendors snapped up tickets at the box office but now are having trouble offloading them.

In any event, it was a relatively strong week for the Rialto overall, with total sales up about $1.8 million (incorporating the "Frank" estimates). "Wicked" ($1,449,978) still topped the chart of confirmed numbers, while just below it, "Jersey Boys" ($1,284,622) broke the house record at the August Wilson yet again.

"Curtains" ($819,101) gained almost $270,000 of B.O. traction with star David Hyde Pierce back from a week's vacation, while "The Color Purple" got a nice $115,000 bump.

Among the rapidly expanding ranks of Broadway plays, the revival of "Cyrano de Bergerac" ($667,608), starring Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner, powered along nicely in its first full week of previews with houses about 85% full.

The latest from Tom Stoppard, "Rock 'n' Roll" ($138,107), attracted crowds in its first two previews, bringing in auds at more than 92% of capacity. But Aaron Sorkin's new play "The Farnsworth Invention" ($190,545) started more slowly in its initial seven-preview week.

Over at the Roundabout's Rialto houses, "Pygmalion" ($228,601) took a slide unsurprising for a show's opening week, and "The Ritz" ($301,058), which recently extended, was up more than $50,000.

Otherwise, the box office ups and downs were relatively modest, with few shows changing more than $25,000 in either direction.