Broadway Grosses: Hurricane Irene Wreaks Box Office Havoc as Most Shows Cancel Three Performances

It was an extraordinary week on Broadway, as the majority of shows cancelled three performances on August 27 and 28 in anticipation of Hurricane Irene and the shutdown of New York City’s buses and subways. (To be precise, 18 shows played five performances rather than the usual eight; four shows played six performances; and Billy Elliot only managed to play four shows for the week ending August 28.) The timing of the crisis couldn’t have been worse for the Great White Way, coming as it did on a weekend leading into one of the biggest vacation weeks of the year. Nevertheless, the five frontrunners managed to run up respectable numbers, with The Lion King and Wicked topping $1 million.

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending August 28:

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. The Lion King ($1,081,144)*
2. Wicked ($1,031,290)*
3. Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark ($933,424)*
4. The Book of Mormon ($786,459)*
5. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying ($700,978)*

UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. Chicago ($306,025)*
4. Hair ($241,008)**
3. Baby It’s You! ($199,278)*
2. Rock of Ages ($192,912)*
1. Master Class ($174,822)*

FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. The Book of Mormon (102.43%)*
2. War Horse (100%)*
3. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (98.78%)*
4. The Lion King (98.75%)*
5. Wicked (93.81%)*

UNDERDOGS (By Capacity)
5. Baby It’s You (69.97%)*
4. Memphis (68.16%)
3. Priscilla Queen of the Desert (59.34%)*
2. Sister Act (58.75%)*
1. Hair (48.73%)**

*Number based on five regular performances.
**Number based on six regular performances.
Data provided by the Broadway League.