Broadway Grosses: Bye-Bye Ariel

When mentioning shows that have closed as part of our weekly grosses roundup, we frequently write that they “went out on a high note.” That’s an understatement in the case of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, which ended its almost-two-year run at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre securely in the top five both in terms of grosses and capacity. (Many of the still-running shows would be thrilled with Ariel & Co.’s numbers!) Overall, the late-August downward trend continued, though the hits continued to do brisk summer business.

Here is a look at who was on top and who was not for the week ending August 30:

FRONTRUNNERS (By Gross)
1. Wicked ($1,609,027)
2. Billy Elliot ($1,398,914)
3. The Lion King ($1,350,770)
4. The Little Mermaid ($1,211,660)
5. Jersey Boys ($1,143,248)

UNDERDOGS (By Gross)
5. 9 to 5 ($579,448)
4. Avenue Q ($456,768)
3. Burn the Floor ($404,506)
2. Next to Normal ($403,524)
1. The 39 Steps ($248,441)

FRONTRUNNERS (By Capacity)
1. Jersey Boys (101.24%)
2. The Little Mermaid (100.52%)
3. Wicked (100.00%)
4. Billy Elliot (99.98%)
5. Hair (97.57%)

UNDERDOGS (By Capacity)
5. The 39 Steps (78.65%)
4. In the Heights (75.05%)
3. Burn the Floor (73.18%)
2. Shrek the Musical (66.69%)
1. 9 to 5 (60.25%)

Data provided by the Broadway League.