Broadway Grosses: Merchant Sells Briskly as Overall Box Office Perks Up

Broadway producers breathed a happy sigh as box office numbers experienced a healthy bump from the previous week’s lackluster totals. Six shows topped $1 million, with Memphis just below the magic number at $906,673. Among plays, star-driven revivals of The Merchant of Venice and Driving Miss Daisy continued to thrive, with Merchant topping the capacity frontrunners’ list. Though the show, starring Al Pacino and Lily Rabe, played only six performances in its opening week, it pulled in almost $850,000 at the Broadhurst Theatre.

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending November 14:

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. Wicked ($1,567,087)
2. The Lion King ($1,371,477)
3. Jersey Boys ($1,104,868)
4. Promises, Promises ($1,073,888)
5. The Addams Family ($1,018,637)

UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. Mrs. Warren’s Profession ($266,849)
4. A Life in the Theatre ($206,017)
3. The Pitmen Painters ($203,784)
2. Elling ($188,300)*
1. Colin Quinn: Long Story Short ($132,930)**

FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. The Merchant of Venice (100.82%)***
2. Wicked (98.02%)
3. Jersey Boys (96.49%)
4. The Lion King (92.75%)
5. Billy Elliot (90.76%)

UNDERDOGS (By Capacity)
5. Time Stands Still (60.17%)
4. La Bete (55.59%)
3. Colin Quinn: Long Story Short (54.30%)**
2. American Idiot (53.23%)
1. A Life in the Theatre (37.16%)

*Number based on eight preview performances.
**Number based on one preview and seven regular performances.
***Number based on six regular performances.
Data provided by the Broadway League.