'Wicked' still soaring

Holiday a gift to Broadway

By GORDON COX

The week between Christmas and New Year's proved a darn good one for Broadway, with the 30 shows on the boards raking in more than $29.1 million.

But it was a wicked good week for "Wicked."

With Gotham receipts hitting a walloping $1.8 million, the tuner not only topped the weekly grosses, it logged the highest-grossing week in Broadway history.

And while it was at it, "Wicked" broke regional best-week records with its productions running on the West End (£873,020, or almost $1.7 million), in Chicago ($1,376,468) and in Toronto ($1,562,593).

On the Rialto, "Wicked" wasn't the only show that benefited from the tourist-fueled bounty of the week between Christmas and New Year's. An astounding 14 productions brought in more than $1 million each.

Several shows help boost sales tallies with an added ninth perf (although "Wicked" broke records with its usual eight). With the $110 ticket becoming prevalent over the past year and premium-priced tickets growing more common, higher grosses are to be expected these days.

But that won't keep producers from getting giddy over the totals.

"Mamma Mia!"($1,478,292) had a holiday surge, clambering up to the No. 3 slot right behind "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" ($1,708,885 for its usual 12 perfs).

The folks over at Disney also had plenty to celebrate. Not only did "The Lion King" ($1,466,909) and "Mary Poppins" ($1,312,448) do the big biz one would expect from hit family fare, but even old-timer "Beauty and the Beast" ($1,302,074) and oft-overlooked "Tarzan" ($1,057,552) joined the millionaires' club for the week.

"Tarzan" was one of four millionaires pushed out of the top 10 by the week's rampant wealth, along with "The Color Purple" ($1,147,115), "The Producers" ($1,102,722) and "Hairspray" ($1,095,725).

Industry fave "Spring Awakening" ($646,286) got a sizable bump, as did two other serious tuners on the boards, "Company" ($613,893) and "Grey Gardens" ($579,108).

Plays felt some holiday love, too, if to a lesser degree. "The Vertical Hour" took in a respectable $570,265, while Nathan Lane starrer "Butley" ($377,141) announced it had managed to recoup its $2.25 million capitalization a couple of weeks before the limited run ends Jan. 14.

Meanwhile, in its final week, "The Wedding Singer" powered up to $889,596.

By closing at the end of the year, "Singer" avoids the cruel month of January, when Rialto sales usually register a major dip. But with such boffo holiday numbers, producers could be tempted to hope January might prove a little less chilly than usual.

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