Broadway Grosses: A Delicate Balance Breaks House Record In First Week With Help from Glenn Close & John Lithgow

In its first week of previews, the Glenn Close and John Lithgow-led A Delicate Balance broke the box office record at the Golden Theatre. The revival grossed $884,596 (102.25% gross potential) in eight performances and hit full capacity. The record was previously held by Driving Miss Daisy, which took in $732,896 for the week ending December 12, 2010. The Pam MacKinnon-helmed production opens officially on November 20. Meanwhile, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical continued to pack the Stephen Sondheim Theatre by exceeding capacity for the seventh consecutive week. And while it’s not yet at 100%, The Last Ship, which celebrated its opening night on October 26, saw a considerable bump in attendance, up 13.3% to 88.05% capacity—will good notices and word of mouth continue to bring rising tides to the Sting tuner?

Here’s a look at who was on top—and who was not—for the week ending October 26:

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. The Lion King ($1,851,135)
2. The Book of Mormon ($1,610,255)
3. Wicked ($1,489,079)
4. Aladdin ($1,383,638)
5. It's Only a Play ($1,376,686)

UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. This Is Our Youth ($367,824)
4. Rock of Ages ($364,112)
3. Disgraced ($362,147)**
2. Love Letters ($313,629)
1. The Country House ($250,259)

FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. The Book of Mormon (102.65%)
2. It's Only a Play (101.53%)
3. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (100.77%)
4. A Delicate Balance (100.00%)*
5. The Lion King (99.24%)

UNDERDOGS (By Capacity)
5. Les Miserables (66.54%)
4. Once (60.80%)
3. This Is Our Youth (58.86%)
2. Cinderella (51.01%)
1. Love Letters (46.16%)

*Number based on eight preview performances
**Number based on three preview performances and five regular performances

Source: The Broadway League